NEVIS ISLAND ARCHIVES
The NHCS’ Nevis Island Archives holds a substantial collection photos, engravings, paintings, books and government records such as the Nevis Council and Assembly Minutes from the 1740s through to the 1870s, Acts and Laws of Nevis, Leeward Island Legislative Records, Blue Books from 1891 through to 1938, and Leeward Island Gazettes from 1899 to 1953. Additionally, our Archives also hold a number of Parish records. Some of our holdings have been digitised by our partners at the Special Collections and Archives of Hamilton College, and are available HERE.
RESEARCH
The Archives may be accessed by appointment only. NHCS members have free access, and records not already digitised can be searched upon request. For non-members, there is a non-refundable research fee of US$40. Scanning/digitising of records for personal use attract a charge of US$5/hour.
While the NHCS does not offer genealogical services, NHCS Member Christine Eickelamann has been researching colonial records in the Caribbean for the past 20 years, and has produced a guide to pre-Emancipation genealogical research. You can request a copy of her guide from the Society by Email.
ENDANGERED RECORDS
In 2008, a survey of the endangered court records of Nevis was undertaken as part of the British Library Endangered Archives Programme. Endangered records relating to Nevis are currently known to be held at the following locations:
- Supreme Court Registry (vault and office), Charlestown, Nevis
- Registrar General's Office (vault), Charlestown, Nevis
- Nevis Treasury (vault), Charlestown, Nevis
- Methodist Church Office, Charlestown, Nevis
- Anglican Parish Offices of St George Gingerland and St John Figtree, Nevis
- Edgar Challenger International House Museum, Basseterre, St Kitts
Approximately 150 volumes of historic records were digitised thanks to the British Library Endangered Archives Programme with the help of the Supreme Court Registrar and the Nevis Island Administration. They can all be accessed free of charge HERE.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Many researchers and NHCS members have made their Nevis archival studies available online, and include:
Digitising the endangered historic records of Nevis in the Leeward Islands (EAP794)
The Mountravers Plantation Community, 1734 to 1834
Mountravers Plantation (Pinney's Estate) - Nevis, West Indies
Clifton Estate, Nevis: An Account of Absence and Ambition
