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] 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.