Barbados Census

Barbados   Census   Several early censuses and census substitutes are available for Barbados. They have been published and are widely available online. Many early maps identify plantation owners by name, and act as census substitutes for the years they were printed (1650, 1680, 1728, 1747, 1756, 1825). See also Maps.

1638 List of Inhabitants

 * Briggs, Sam. "A List of the Names of the Inhabitants of Barbadoes in the Year 1638, Who Then Possessed More than Ten Acres of Land," The Narragansett Historical Register, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jan. 1885):230-236; Vol. 3, No. 4 (Apr. 1885):282-288; digital version at Family History Archives.

1673 Most Eminent Planters List
The original list is kept in Colonial Papers, Vol. XXX, Nos. 42, 42 I., II., III. at the UK National Archives, Kew, England. Abstracts have been published:


 * Sainsbury, W. Noel, ed. Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, Volume 7, 1669-1674. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1889. Digital version at British History Online. [Barbados entries appear on pages 496 and 497, entry 1101.]

1679 Inhabitants and 1680 Census
The original population listing of Barbados (1679-1680) is held by the UK National Archives (reference CO 1/44, no 47 i-xxii); a copy is available at the Barbados Department of Archives. The collection has been microfilmed: 1162149 Item 1 and published:


 * Hotten, John Camden. The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants; Religious Exiles; Political Rebels; Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years; Apprentices; Children Stolen; Maidens Pressed; and Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700, with Their Ages, the Localities Where They Formerly Lived in the Mother Country, the Names of the Ships in which They Embarked, and Other Interesting Particulars; from MSS. Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England. London: the author, 1874. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books and Internet Archive; 1983 reprint: 973 W2hot 1983 [Barbados census appears on pages 438-464.]
 * Kent, David L. Barbados and America. Arlington, Va.: C.M. Kent, 1980. 972.981 X2b

Brandow published an addendum to Hotten's work:


 * Brandow, James C. Omitted Chapters from Hotten's Original Lists of Persons of Quality ... and Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2001. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

1680 Militia Roll
Brandow abstracted the complete list of more than 5,500 men enlisted in "regiments of foot" and "regiments of horse," in pages 99-212 of:


 * Brandow, James C. Omitted Chapters from Hotten's Original Lists of Persons of Quality ... and Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2001. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

1696 Association Oath Rolls
Not technically a census, the 1696 Association Oath Rolls serve as a census substitute. The original records are found in class C 213 at the National Archives, Kew, England. Gandy published abstracts of oath takers living in British plantations, including Barbados:


 * Gandy, Wallace. The Association Oath Rolls of the British Plantations [New York, Virginia, Etc.] A.D. 1696. London: the author, 1922. Digital version at Internet Archive; reprint: 970 F2L 1995. [Barbados entries begin on page 27]

1715 Census
The original 1715 Census of Barbados is held at the UK National Archives (reference CO 28/16, no 2); a copy is available at the Barbados Department of Archives. The collection has been microfilmed 1162149 Item 2 and 1162150, and published twice:


 * Kent, David L. Barbados and America. Arlington, Va.: C.M. Kent, 1980. 972.981 X2b
 * St. Hill, A. "A Census of the Island of Barbados, West Indies: With the Names and Ages of All the White Inhabitants of the Islands Arranged Under Their Several Parishes: Taken in the Months of October and November, Anno Domini 1715," Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Vol. 4, No. 2; Vol. 4, No. 3. 972.981 X2ba

Slave registers (1817-1834)
Not strictly censuses the slave registers list all slave holders and enslaved people in Barbados. The registers were compiled in 1817, 1820, 1823, 1826, 1829, 1831 and 1834. The registers for 1817, 1820 and 1834 list all slave holders and enslaved people the other registers only list changed in the slave population such as births, deaths, purchases, sales and manumissions. The original compiled in Barbados is not known to survive but the duplicate set is held by the UK National Archives in the series T 71 ; digitised and indexed copy is available on Ancestry (free on registration).