Germans in Jamaica

Germans in Jamaica or German Jamaicans, are Jamaicans of German ancestry. The population was established in the 1830s when the abolition of slavery resulted in a labour shortage on the Caribbean island. Lord Seaford, who owned the Montpelier Estate and Shettlewood Pen in St. James established a European settlement in Westmoreland in order to combat the shortage, and over one thousand Germans migrated to Jamaica.^[1]

Key Information

Regions with significant populations
Westmoreland, Trelawny
Languages
Jamaican English, German
Religion
Seventh-day Adventist
Related ethnic groups
Other Germans, other White Jamaicans
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The German language is no longer used on the island, but some German words have entered the Jamaican vernacular.^[2] Many Jamaicans in Seaford and German Town in Trelawney carry heavy European features such as blue eyes, blond hair, freckles and white skin, as a result of the German genetic influences.^[2]

• Supa Dups
• Sharlene Radlein
• Julian Radlein
• George Stiebel
• Thomas J. Goreau, biogeochemist and marine biologist
• Herbert Eldemire, politician