The great Christopher Columbus played a role in Montserrat’s history too.

Somewhere around November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat on his second voyage, believing the island was unoccupied due to raids by the Caribs.

The name ‘Carib’ is derived from the Spanish word, caribales. On his second voyage in 1493 Columbus referred to Dominica as Isla de Caribales (Isle of Cannibals).

Columbus found the Caribs extremely savage.

They were cannibals not from necessity, but from choice and ate those they killed in fighting and those they kept as prisoners.

Why? They believed that the courage and strength of the victim passed into the body of the eater, and they rubbed the fat from a roasted body into the skin of a young warrior to give him courage.

According to history, there is evidence of Carib cannibalism and it is very strong. For example, in 1564, the Caribs of Dominica ate the crew of a Spanish ship, and in 1956 the Caribs of St. Vincent did the same to the crew of a French ship. (Want to go deeper, check this link out Ms. Rodgers’ History BGCSE students.)

Back to Montserrat. Columbus named the island Santa María de Montserrate, after the monastery outside Barcelona that it reminded him of.

To this day, most online systems, customer representatives, even mailing systems still confuse Montserrat, in the British West Indies, with Montserrat, in Barcelona, Spain.

The Irish were one of the earliest settlers that arrived on Montserrat in 1632, when they were evicted from St Christopher by its British Governor. The Irish were deported to the Caribbean by the thousands; as indentured servants, by Oliver Cromwell. These indentured servants ranged from political and military prisoners, to orphans, widows, and the unemployed who would be a financial burden.

While Montserrat was under English control in 1632, the anti-Catholic violence in Nevis led a group of Irish who had been forcibly transported from Ireland, to settle in Montserrat. This is where the Irish lineage in the island originated from.

As if that were not enough, the French attacked the island in 1712. Side note:Today, in Montserrat, there is a famous tourist attraction called ‘Runaway Ghaut’. For those that are new to this word, a ‘ghaut’ is a ravine that carries rainwater from the mountains right to the sea. There is a saying in Montserrat that if you drink from the water of Runaway Ghaut, you are bound to return to Montserrat. Here’s the story of how Runaway Ghaut got its own history.

Runaway Ghaut got its name as a result of the French invasion that occurred in 1712. This ghaut was the escape route for the French, when they were driven off the island by the English.

Later, in 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, France briefly captured Montserrat after supporting the American rebels. It is claimed that during this French invasion, at Frenchman’s Creek, Captain George Whyke, with a force of 60 men, held up the French force of 3,500 men, long enough for many inhabitants to flee to safety in the mountains.

The island was returned to Britain under the 1783 Treaty of Versailles. But as it turns out, Montserrat was not yet safe or secure from further French invasions.

In 1805, the French invaded, yet again, and a ransom was paid to make them leave.

Non-native settlers of the island imported enslaved Africans and built an economy based on the production of sugar, rum, arrowroot, and Sea Island cotton, by cultivated on large plantations.

On 17th March 1768, the slave on Montserrat planned a revolt where the intention was to deprive the plantation and estate owners of their strength and power.

This revolt was led by an African man named Cudjoe. He was a former slave who had escaped. As the legend has it, the slaves anticipated that their Irish slave masters would be drunk because of the celebrations of their patron saint, St. Patrick. Makes sense to me, when you consider Irish culture.

It was this state of drunkenness that the slaves planned to use to their advantage during the planned slave uprising. Unfortuantely, the planned rebellion was discovered, and the Irish overseers were ready.

As a result, Cudjoe was captured, and nine slaves were hanged. But, Cudjoe was treated quite differently, as the ring leader. He was decapitated, and his head was hung on a silk cotton tree. I know right. The scars of the emotional wound still needs to be healed. By the way, any visitor to the island can visit this silk cotton tree in Cudjoe Head. Yep, seriously.

It wasn’t until 1834 that slavery was abolished in Montserrat. As the country advanced into the 19th century, it experienced the falling of sugar prices, which caused the island’s economy to suffer.

By 1869, the Sturge family created the Montserrat Company Limited and began planting lime trees and commercially produced lime juice, which became renowned in the trade industry. This was their way of ‘leading’ by example. They wanted to prove that money can be made without the blood, sweat, and tears of enslaved Africans.

The Sturge family also set up a school and sold parcels of land to the inhabitants of the island. This gesture caused many of the inhabitants of the island to become land owners.

Today, due to the large numbers of Irish descendants and the revolt, Montserratians celebrate St Patrick’s Day as a public holiday.

Between 1871 to 1958, Montserrat was administered as part of the Federal Crown Colony of the British Leeward Islands.

This was followed by the island becoming a member of the province of the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962.

In 1960, the island was able to vote for its very own and first Chief Minister! William H. Bramble became the first Chief Minister of Montserrat, making history.

Today, it is governed as a United Kingdom Overseas Territory, with its own elected government. (That’s a whole different post!)

Don’t forget to play the video below and get a glimpse of Montserrat in all its glory, past and present!