After Slavery ended in Jamaica they attempted to bring in German and Irish indentured labourers. The experiment wasnt as succesful as expected and this led to CHinese and eventually Indian indenture. I also have ancestors who were of German origin, both from Antigua and Jamaica. The ones in Jamaica re migrated (like your own) to Canada in the 1850's (Draeseke), but the ones in Antigua are still there (Walter). Rory -----Original Message----- From: Barbara Obaker [mailto:bobaker@zoominternet.net] Sent: 24 June 2003 13:18 To: CARIBBEAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Germans in Jamaica I have just received documentation that an ancestor of ours, William OEBBIKA, was baptized at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church in Kingston on November 23, 1834. He was born October 30, 1834 to Ferdinand and Agatha OEBBIKKA. The copy says that Ferdinand was a native of Germany and Agatha was formerly FAIRE (I'm assuming that's her maiden name). It also says that William was born at Woodfield in the parish of St. Ann and the sponsors were William CLARKE and Honoria CLARKE. This information raises a number of questions that I'm hoping some of you who know so much more about the history of Jamaica can answer: 1. Where is/was Woodfield in St. Ann's parish? Was that the name of a plantation? 2. Who were the CLARKE's - were they plantation owners? Clarke certainly doesn't sound German, so I'm wondering if the sponsors were Jamaican citizen's for whom Ferdinand and Agatha worked. 3. When did ships with German workers arrive in Jamaica in 1834? Does anyone know where to find these ship records? Thank you all for your help! Ferdinand and Agatha left Jamaica in 1840 and were living in Maryland by the end of 1840. Barbara Vogele Obaker Allegheny County, PA Researching: PA: Vogele-Frye-Berkey-Seger-Claycomb-Buell-Penrod-Shaffer-Oats-Bittner-Bishop-D ibert-Berkebile-Zimmerman-Ripple-Clark-Obaker-Coughenour-Bennett-Lang-Beatty -Woodward-Klites-Bruck-Whipkey MD: Obaker-Goodwin-Knapp-Stegemuller VA: Hankins-Flippin-DeJarnette-Staples-Sudberry-Mumford ==== CARIBBEAN Mailing List ==== For information on individual islands, research aids, island bulletin boards or history please visit the CaribbeanGenWeb project at http://www.rootsweb.com/~caribgw/

I think Faire is Irish