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Cayman Timeline
1
Through
History
Cayman Islands
Discovery of the Islands
1503
May 10, 1503 Christopher Columbus and his men were the first to sight and describe Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. This sighting gave Spain a claim to the islands by right of discovery. Over the next century and a half, the Cayman Islands were given their permanent name.
Sir Francis Drake
1585-6
The first people known to have stopped on the islands more than a few hours were the sailors from Sir Francis Drake's expedition to the West Indies.
Dutch Crew
1630
The first people recorded having stayed more than a few days were a Dutch crew shipwrecked for sixteen weeks on Grand Cayman.
Captured
English captured Jamaica from the Spanish.
1655
England's claim
1662-70
England's claim to the Cayman Islands, asserted as early as 1662, was finally acknowledged by Spain in the Treaty of Madrid in September 1670.
Permanent settlement
When permanent settlement in the Cayman Islands began on Grand Cayman
1670-1730
Pop. & Governor
1780-1800
The population grew at first by slow natural increase and through the arrival of some small-scale planters and their slaves from Jamaica. With little external help or governance, they managed their own affairs, led by men of such reputation. The most important of these was locally known as "Governor Bodden."
First Legislature
1831
By 1831 as emancipation of slaves approached throughout the British empire, the first elected legislature was set up, consisting of appointed Magistrates and (in separate body) Vestrymen chosen by free adult males.
Dependency of Jamaica
1863
By June 1863 an imperial Act was passed by Westminster Parliament, which formally declared the Cayman Islands a dependency of Jamaica.
Jamaican independence
Jamaica achieved independence in 1962 after World War II.