About

Hello everyone – My name is Robert Hodgson and I live in West Bromwich, England. Welcome to my family history blog To Jamaica And Beyond.

To Jamaica And Beyond is the result of an 18 year study looking into the history of my ancestors that lived in Great Britain, Africa, Jamaica and America.

Everything to be written about them has been thoroughly researched and checked as much as possible using verbal and documentary evidence.

Over the many years of research, I have gathered a huge collection of documents, photographs, certificates etc and have also used many other resources to obtain information, including;

  • Face to face interviews
  • Telephone conversations
  • Handed down stories
  • Original documents
  • Visited properties and places
  • Archives
  • Burial places
  • Donated items
  • Books and newspapers
  • Online websites
  • Parish registers
  • Birth, marriage and death certificates
  • Photographs
  • Wills and deeds
  • DNA tests

This blog will guide you through the lives of my black and white ancestors – on my father’s side. I have an African and British ancestry and will be recording a historic timeline of their events – this will be displayed in a chronological date order. Revealed will be the experiences that my ancestors faced when they were taken from Africa and left Great Britain. It is history, as it happened. The story will ultimately span nearly 600 years and will cover the period 1494 to the present day.

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2016 – My DNA results showing my British and African roots

Locating information concerning my black ancestors has been a lot more difficult to find, especially during the slavery period. It has been less productive than searching for my British ancestors due to records not being kept by the colonial governments.

Aside from being a family history, the story also includes a social and political aspect which will help to give more depth to the overall story. A selection of these historic events will include;

  • The discovery of Jamaica
  • Ownership of colonies
  • African slavery
  • The battle for Jamaica
  • Development of the Plantation industry
  • Colonial wars
  • Abolition of the slave trade
  • Abolition of slavery
  • Black freedom
  • Jamaican Independence
  • Development of DNA

Stories and information will be added on a regular basis.

Thank you for taking the time to read To Jamaica And Beyond

Hope you enjoy reading it….