The Indentureship Collection, 1845-1958
This collection covering the period, 1845-1958, addresses the system of indentureship of East Indians and Chinese in Jamaica. These archives were part of the records transferred to the Jamaica Archives by the Colonial Secretary’s Office (1B/5/92) and the Protector of Immigrants Department (1B/9) which was established to oversee the immigration of labourers into Jamaica.
The collection outlines the application process that Calcutta-based Indians desirous of working in Jamaica were required to pursue. The fonds also provides information on each emigrant. Of interest in these applications is that East Indians signed their applications with a thumb print.
Ships’ records for the period, 1845-1916, also form part of this collection. The entries in these records provide information on the names of the ships on which immigrants travelled between Jamaica and Calcutta; the number of migrants (East Indians) on board; medical reports on East Indians; the number of deaths on a voyage; and, items received from the Agent General for Emigration to Jamaica in Calcutta. The collection also details the number of indentured servants who returned to India after their contracts, those removed as a result of vagrancy and correspondence re applications from aliens for admission and naturalization during the period, 1909-1940.
Additionally, the collection includes correspondence for the period, 1909-1958, between the Immigration Department, the Secretary of State, the Protector of Immigrants and the Agent General in Calcutta. Annual reports for 1904-1954, from the Immigration Department are also included in this fonds. These documents outline the operations and expenditure of the Immigration Department to maintain immigrant labour.
Also provided by this fonds is information on the importation of Chinese labourers in 1884 via the steamship (SS) «Prinz Alexander». Information on the removal of some indentured Chinese who were considered to be vagrants is also provided. These removals took place between 1921 and 1924.
The Indentureship Collection was inscribed in the Memory of the World, Regional Register for Latin American and the Caribbean in 2010.