Databases
All information included within any of the databases was sourced either from the National Archives of Jamaica, Spanish Town, (hereafter NAJm) Patents Book 1B, 4 and 6, or else from Donny L. Hamilton, Port Royal Wills, http://nautarch.tamu.edu/portroyal/archives/wills.htm.Port Royal Project, Nautical Archaeology Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. March 14, 2001
Please click on the 'Word' button to download the database of land ownership in Port Royal. This database contains the transcriptions of land awarded to Port Royal residents between 1661 and 1677. Alternatively if you know the name you want to search for you can submit the details in the box below to bring up any matches. If you do not know the name you want to search for and instead want to see all data then please leave the boxes blank and just press 'search'.
The transcriptions also allow us to see the development of the English language over this period. For example, in the sixties directions are primarily if not wholly reffered to as 'Northerly' 'Southerly' etc whereas in the seventies more complex directions start to come in to place such as 'North East' and 'South West'. All information within the database was sourced from the National Archives of Jamaica, Spanish Town, (hereafter NAJm) Patents Book 1B, 4 and 6
Please click the PDF files to the left to download a database of plots drawn to the measurements dictated in the manuscipts used, due to the size of the files it had to be split in two. From the plots it is clear to see that the first settlers on Port Royal were awarded far more land. As time went on and population density increased the quantity of land awarded was far smaller as can be seen with the later plot drawings. This resulted in housing being incredibly built up and likely affected the volume of damage caused by the earthquake due to the reliance of dwellings being built upon each other.
The final database below corroborates material from Patents and other transcribed manuscripts including Wills and Probate Inventories from The Port Royal Project in order to identify further information about corresponding residents of Port Royal such as their professions. When combined, the manuscripts allow a bigger picture of an individual to be created such as their full name and status, land they were awarded and where and their proffesions, some of which indicate what their land may have been used for such as a shop.