History
Barbuda has a rich and cultural past intertwined with that of its sister island, Antigua. Frequently visited, the remains of many early voyages to Barbuda are evidenced by the numerous shipwrecks lying just off the island’s coast. Fossil records indicate that Barbuda first emerged some 15 to 20 million years ago. Barbuda is a limestone island that emerges from the eastern extreme of the shallow, hourglass-shaped Barbuda Bank. Barbuda is unlike most of the other limestone Caribbean islands because it lies 30 miles east of the axis of the island arc.
The Ciboney were the first to inhabit the island of Barbuda in 2400 BC, but Arawak and Carib Indians populated the island when Christopher Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493. This journey was followed by multiple failed attempts to colonize the island by the Spanish and French.
Finally, after being successfully colonized by the English in 1666, Sir Christopher Codrington leased Barbuda in 1685 and established large sugar plantations on the island, produced food on their land in Barbuda, and also transported slaves as labour for their sugar plantations on Antigua. There was more than one slave rebellion at Codrington during the 1740s, during which slaves rose against managers. All the slaves were freed in 1834.
Today, much of the Codrington family’s influence is still observed. Situated on the highest part of the island, the Codrington House ruins represent a popular local attraction. “Codrington” is also the name of the island’s only town.
The first map of Barbuda was made in the second half of the eighteenth century. At that time there were substantial buildings in the Highland area, a castle in Codrington, a fort at River, now known as the Martello Tower, and houses at Palmetto Point, Coco Point, and Castle Hill. The map shows eight catching pens for holding captured runaway slaves, indicating that this was a serious problem. There were several defensive cannon gun battery units around the island perimeter. There was a large plantation in the Meadow and Guava area and another large plantation in the Highlands area.
On November 1, 1981, the island gained its independence as an integral part of Antigua and Barbuda, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. In a 1989 election the Barbuda Independence Movement received too few votes to qualify for a seat in the national parliament.