Antigua and the Antiguans A Full Account of the Colony and its Inhabitants

Antigua was named by Columbus in 1493, and permanently colonised by the British in 1632. The next two hundred years were full of upheaval that shaped the Caribbean island's identity: bloody battles, agricultural progress, British immigration and the establishment and then the abolition of the slave trade. The British-born author adopted Antigua as her home, and her love for the island is evident in both volumes. Legends, stories and particular island features of interest are introduced through the author's experiences and anecdotes, giving a full picture of Antigua at the turn of the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, when the island's population and landscape changed rapidly and irrevocably. Volume 1 includes a comprehensive exploration of the struggles faced by the British during colonisation, and the contribution of several aristocratic families to the advancement of the island's legal, administrative and agricultural systems. Personal recollections give life to a complex history.

Preface; 1. General description of the island; 2. History of the island continued; 3. Rupture between France and England; 4. Governors; 5. Governor Col. R. Williams; 6. Governor Colonel Christopher Codrington; 7. Governor Colonel Daniel Parke; 8. Governor Walter Hamilton; 9. Governor William Mathew; 10. Governor William Mathew; 11. Governors; 12. Governors; 13. Governors; 14. My first voyage to Antigua; 15. The extent of Antigua; 16. Scenery of Antigua; 17. The seasons at Antigua; 18. Description of the town of St. John's, the capital of Antigua; 19. Description of the church of St. John's; 20. Court-house; 21. Morning; 22. Early rising and 'Jamie Thomson'; 23. Zulmiera, the half-Carib girl, a legend of the Savannah; 24. Continuation of the legend; 25. Conclusion of the legend; 26. Towns; 27. Forts and fortifications; 28. Remarks upon the aboriginal Americans.

A two-volume portrait of the first two hundred years of Antiguan history since British colonisation. Memoirs, legends and documents are used to follow the British aristocrats who established the infrastructure of the island during colonisation and the rise of the slave trade, and show how Antigua's identity was shaped.