C AY M AN PHOTOS.COM
G R A ND
FROM PRIVATEERS TO MASTER FISHERMEN by Marjorie Klein
The wide beaches and cool caves of Grand Cayman echo with the rich history of its early inhabitants: turtles, crocodiles, pirates, sailors, soldiers, settlers and slaves.
Seagoing men have long been drawn to the Caymans.
BEGINNINGS
British army defeated Spain in 1655. The
the perfect hideout. Some pirates never
Christopher Columbus first spotted
Treaty of Madrid brought the Caymans,
made it to land, their ships having been
the islands he called Las Tortugas on
as well as Jamaica, under British rule
lured onto the reefs by the beacon fires
May 10, 1503, when his ship was blown
and made Grand Cayman a destination
of the Caymanians, who strenuously
off course from Panama to Hispaniola on
for settlers.
resisted these invaders.
his final trip to the New World. The three islands, so populated with tortoises that they looked like rock piles, became a
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By 1700, the first royal land grant in
RULE BRITANNIA: THE SETTLERS SETTLE IN
Grand Cayman signaled permanent settlement, followed by others throughout
way-station for sailors to replenish their
The first influx arrived: emigrants from
the island. The first recorded inhabitant
freshwater supply and stock up on turtle
England, Holland, Spain and France, plus
was Isaac Bodden, grandson of the
meat. Perhaps the presence of turtle
refugees from the Spanish Inquisition
original settler, a soldier from Cromwell’s
on the menu resulted in the animal’s
and deserters from Cromwell’s army.
army for whom Bodden Town was
decline; by 1586, crocodiles had become
Privateers, the genteel name for pirates
named. Other districts can be traced
so dominant that Sir Francis Drake, the
such as Sir Henry Morgan who had
back to that period of settlement as well,
first recorded English visitor, renamed
their governments’ permission to plunder
including Hog Stys, once the site of a
the islands caiman (the Carib word for
ships — ostensibly to retrieve wealth
pigpen whose name — thankfully — was
“crocodile”), from which their present
stolen from their country — discouraged
changed to George Town in the early 18th
name Cayman is derived.
these early settlers, many of whom high-
century in honor of King George III.
The Cayman Islands’ population stayed
tailed it back home. Blackbeard, as well
In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht officially
the same — comprising primarily sailors
as other pirates, found the caves, nooks
ended privateering (although freelance
and pirates — until Oliver Cromwell’s
and crannies of Grand Cayman to be
pirates continued to attack ships
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES FUN ASHORE
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