George Lyons was the captain of the James and Mary and according to a Liverpool newspaper he died in Jamaica in 1820 of the fever ( yellow?) that was prevalent. His son George also died at that time. According to one descendant he was in prison at the time, which is odd being the master of a ship. Can anyone help me find any death record in Jamaica or any details of his death and imprisonment if indeed he was in prison. Thanks Paul

Hi Paul There are any number of reasons a ship captain or master might be in jail particularly relating to trade legalities such as "trading under neutral flag" failure to pay duties, ad infinitum. You might get lucky with George by doing a search online at British History Online. Do a text search on "Calendar of State Papers Colonial" and see if mention is not made in correspondence. Because his surname is quite common in official matters over the history of the west Indies, you will probably have to weed through a lot of hits.... Often if his situation was a matter of debate pleas might be directed to the Committee on Trade and Plantations in England. That correspondence comprises the mass of the "Calendars" Do you know if he is related to any of the Lyons who had interests in Antigua and Barbados? That family had mercantile interests and spread out a lot. There is material on them in History of Antigua, VL Oliver and various other references. I'll poke around abit tonight and see if anything rings a bell The Calendars provide all sorts of information on all sorts of things if one has the patience to explore them Good Luck ChrisCod