Language/Bajan/Culture/Barbados-Timeline
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Rate this lesson: 
Timeline of the history of Barbados
XVIth century
| Year | Dated | Event |
| 1511 | 23 december | Barbados first appears on Spanish maps and is referred to by King Ferdinand of Spain as Los Barbudos (Barbados), along with Cobaco (Tobago) and Mayo (unknown). |
| 1512 | July 3 | King Ferdinand mentions that on the islands of Los Barbudos, Dominica, Martino (Martinique), Santa Lucia, San Vincente, La Asunción (Grenada) and Tavaco (Tobago), some Indians called Caribe were captured due to their resistance to Christianity . |
| 1518 | The Spanish crown orders Judge Rodrigo de Figueroa to determine which areas of the region were populated by the Caribbean. Subsequently, the islands considered as non-Caribbean were: Trinidad, Lucaya (Bahamas), Barbados, Gigantes and Margarita. | |
| vs. 1532-1536 | Portuguese explorer Pedro A. Campos discovers completely uninhabited Barbados; the island is claimed by the Portuguese. | |
| 1541 | Spanish commentator Alonza de Santa Cruz talks about the people of Barbados in the past tense. |
XVIIth century
| Year | Dated | Event |
| 1620 | British Captain Simon Gordon may have made a brief landing in Barbados. The Portuguese leave Barbados. | |
| 1625 | Courteen sends Captain John Powell to establish a permanent colony on the island, but the ship returns to England after being unable to locate the island (until 1627). | |
| Courteen sends a second delegate from England, led by Captain Henry Powell (brother of John Powell), to the ship known as William and John . | ||
| July | The passing merchant ship, "Olive Blossom" owned by English merchant William Courteen (and headed by Captain John Powell), landed in St. James Town and erected a cross with the inscription "for James K. of I. and this island "; other personal effects are also left before departure for England. | |
| 1627 | February 17 | Eighty British settlers, with ten African slaves (captured at sea) aboard the ship William and John disembark in St. James Town (until February 20). |
| February 25 | King English Charles I gave Courten, by the way of royal letters license , ownership and title to various lands of South America (Courten that applies to claim the Barbados). | |
| July 2nd | Charles gave James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle , by means of the Royal Letters Patent, the ownership of the Caribbean islands which lie between ten and twenty degrees of latitude. | |
| 1628 | July the 5th | Earl Carlisle, represented by Governor Charles Wolferstone (of Bermuda ), establishes a colony and the capital moves from Courteen Colony in St. James Town to the present location of Bridgetown . Under Wolverstone's authority, the governor appoints a council made up of the principal landowners to assist in the governance of the island. |
| 1629 | Carlisle's service forces arrive in Barbados and arrest Governor Courten. | |
| The colony is divided into six original parishes. A sacristy framework is designed for local government, and parishes are administered by elected landowners who have the authority to tax and perform basic municipal functions, such as road maintenance. | ||
| 1639 | The parliament (the Chamber of Assembly then known as the Chamber of Bourgeois) held its first meeting; it is made up of sixteen landowners chosen by the governor. | |
| 1640 | The cultivation of sugar begins on the island. | |
| 1642 | English Civil War : large influx of British parliamentarians and monarchists on the island (until 1651). | |
| The British parliament sends a fleet to block the ports of Barbados, the island surrenders in December and agrees to recognize Charles II as king (until 1651). | ||
| 1645 | The colony is again divided into eleven parishes, each with two representatives in the House of Assembly. | |
| 1652 | January 11 | The Barbados Charter (Treaty of Oistins) is signed between the inhabitants and the Crown, the articles of which confirm Assembly and freedom of conscience. |
| The House and the Legislative Council (the executive body of government) begin to hold separate sessions. | ||
| 1668 | April 18 | Bridgetown magazine explodes, 80% of Bridgetown (800 houses) is destroyed by a big fire. |
| 1671 | October 3 | Quaker leader George Fox visits the island. |
| 1675 | May | First slave rebellion. |
| 1660 | Charles II knights eleven gentlemen of Barbados. White contract workers (smallholders) were largely replaced by black slaves from West Africa (many from present-day Ghana ) (until 1680). | |
| 1680 | White workers mainly travel to Carolina ( Charleston, South Carolina ) and other islands in western India, including Jamaica . | |
| 1682 | The class of sugar planters becomes dominant. They marry the British aristocracy and buy seats in Parliament. |
XVIIIth century
| Year | Dated | Event |
| 1733 | Harrison College (formerly Harrison's Free School) was founded by Bridgetown merchant Thomas Harrison. | |
| 1745 | Codrington College, named after the late Christopher Codrington, was founded by the Anglican Church . | |
| 1750 | The grapefruit ( Citrus Paradisi ), then known as the "forbidden fruit tree" is (for the first time) recorded through an illustration in The Natural History of Barbados by the Welsh Reverend Griffith Hughes. | |
| 1751 | November | Visit of George Washington , making his only trip outside the American continent (until December). |
| 1795 | The British government establishes a permanent land force in the Eastern Caribbean, based in Barbados. |
XIXth century
| Year | Dated | Event |
| 1816 | April 14-16 | The Bussa Revolt, the largest slave revolt in the history of Barbados. |
| 1831 | Colorless men who meet the conditions of ownership have the right to vote for deputies. | |
| 1833 | The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was passed, ending the practice of slavery throughout the British Empire . | |
| 1834 | Slavery itself is abolished and the descendants of enslaved and freed Africans, who constitute the majority of the population of Barbados, begin a process of penetration into society. Samuel Jackman Prescod becomes the first person of (partial) African descent to be elected to Parliament. | |
| 1835 | Police are trained. | |
| 1861 | March 29 | Introduction of running water to Bridgetown . |
| 1867 | The port police are in place. | |
| 1875 | Rebellions (now known as "Confederacy Uprisings") occur as a result of efforts by the Imperial Crown to establish a Crown Colony government consisting of Barbados and the Windward Islands (until 1876) . | |
| 1881 | The Executive Council is created separately from the Upper House by an act of the local Parliament. | |
| 1882 | The port police are merged with the land police. | |
| 1885 | The attempt to unite the Confederate Island with the Windward Islands is abandoned, the capital of the Windward Islands moves to St. George, Grenada; and the island reestablishes self-government. |
XXth century
| Year | Dated | Event |
| 1928 | May | Introduction of St. Michael's Girls' School. |
| 1934 | Grantley Adams is elected to the House of Assembly. | |
| 1937 | July | Riots in Bridgetown. |
| 1938 | March | Formation of the Barbados Progressive League-BPL (later the Barbados Labor Party). |
| 1944 | Women have the right to vote. | |
| 1946 | Elections: Barbados Labor Party led by Grantley Adams becomes majority leader . | |
| 1951 | Elections: first election by universal suffrage . | |
| 1954 | Creation of the "ministerial" system with a cabinet and the Prime Minister's office. Grantley Adams is appointed first prime minister of the colony. | |
| 1955 | The Democratic Labor Party (led by Errol Barrow ) was formed following a split from the Barbados Labor Party. | |
| 1956 | Elections: Won by the Barbados Labor Party, led by Grantley Adams. | |
| 1958 | January 3 | Barbados joins ten other territories of the British West Indies to form the Federation of the West Indies , led by Grantley Adams as Prime Minister. |
| 1960 | May 31 | The government of the Federation of the West Indies collapses due to internal conflicts, Barbados returns to internal autonomy. |
| 1961 | Elections: won by the Democratic Labor Party, led by Errol Barrow who becomes Prime Minister. | |
| Barbados achieves full internal self-government . | ||
| March 10 | The port of Bridgetown, at a cost of 28 000 000 $ EC is formally completed and inaugurated. Construction began in 1956. | |
| 1963 | The University of the West Indies opens a local campus in Bridgetown Harbor before moving it to Cave Hill. | |
| 1964 | The Legislative Council is replaced by the Senate. | |
| The voting age is reduced to 18 years. | ||
| 1966 | November 30 | Barbados (ruled by Errol Barrow as Prime Minister) gains independence from the UK. |
| 1969 | The Barbados Community College (BCC) is founded by the government of Barbados. | |
| 1971 | The House of Assembly changes to 24 single-member constituencies. | |
| Elections: Won by the Democratic Labor Party, led by Errol Barrow . | ||
| 1972 | May 2 | The local central bank is founded by an act of parliament. |
| 1976 | September 2 | Elections: Won by the Barbados Labor Party, led by JMGM "Tom" Adams. |
| October 6 | The Cubana flight 455 was bombed shortly after taking off from the airport of Bridgetown-Grantley Adams . | |
| 1977 | November 2 | At the end of the Silver Jubilee the Queen , the Concorde (G-BOAE) makes its maiden voyage to Barbados; Queen Elizabeth makes her first supersonic flight in the UK. [1] [2] |
| 1979 | March, 31st | The United States Naval Facility (NAVFAC) officially closes at Harrison's Point, St. Lucia, after it was commissioned on October 1, 1957. |
| nineteen eighty one | The House of Assembly expands to 27 single-member constituencies. | |
| June 18 | Elections: Won by the Barbados Labor Party, led by JMGM "Tom" Adams. | |
| 1985 | March 11 | On the death of JMGM "Tom" Adams, Harold Bernard St. John becomes the third prime minister. |
| 1986 | May 28 | Elections: Won by the Democratic Labor Party, led by Errol Barrow . |
| 1989 | 8 March | The Queen celebrates the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Parliament of Barbados (until March 11). |
| 1991 | Elections: Won by the Democratic Labor Party, led by Erskine Sandiford. | |
| The House of Assembly expands to 28 single-member constituencies. | ||
| 1994 | Elections: Won by the Barbados Labor Party, led by Owen Arthur . | |
| 1999 | Elections: Won by the Barbados Labor Party, led by Owen Arthur . |
XXIth century
| Year | Dated | Event |
| 2003 | The House of Assembly expands to 30 single-member constituencies. | |
| May 21 | Elections: Won by the Barbados Labor Party, led by Owen Arthur . | |
| August 30 | British Airways Concorde is making its last commercial flight between Barbados and London. | |
| 2005 | March 29 | Riot and fire break out in Glendairy Prison prompting the recall of military personnel from surrounding islands to quell the uprising (until March 30). |
| 2006 | March 16 | Caribbean Court of Justice issues first ruling in Barbados defamation case - Rediffusion Service Ltd v. Asha Mirchandani Ram Mirchandani (McDonald Farms Ltd) . The case marks the official end of Barbados' more than 170-year relationship with the London-based Private Council Judicial Committee. |
| 2007 | March 4 | The Cricket World Cup takes place in the West Indies region. Barbados hosts numerous warm-up and Super 8 matches, as well as the final (until April 28). |
| 2008 | January 15th | Elections: Won by the Democratic Labor Party, led by David Thompson . |
| 2010 | January 31 | Prince Harry of the and Prince Seeiso of are organizing the Sentembale Polo charity event in . |
| April 30 | Several countries in the region are hosting the ICC World Twenty20 event , including the finals in Barbados (until May 16). | |
| September 3 | The Tudor Street store, Campus Trendz, is razed by a heinous theft. This leads to a day of national mourning on September 10. [3] [4] | |
| 2011 | June 25 | Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison declared Site of World Heritage of UNESCO . |
| 2011 | September | Introduction of the Sixth Form to St. Michael's School and the Christ Church Foundation School. |
| 2013 | February | Elections: won by the Democratic Labor Party, led by Freundel Stuart . |