Jost Van Dyke - History

History

Despite rumours that the island's name comes from that of a 17th century Dutch privateer, Joost van Dyk, who used its harbours as a hideout, there is no factual evidence supporting this claim. Just who Jost Van Dyke's namesake is remains a mystery. John C. Lettsome (of Little Jost Van Dyke), founder of the Medical Society of London is Jost Van Dyke's most noteworthy resident.

Although the English captured the BVI in 1672, it seems that Jost Van Dyke was mostly ignored until the mid-18th century. A map drawn of the BVI in 1717 by Captain John Walton does not depict either Jost Van Dyke or Little Jost Van Dyke.

The remains of a sugar works on the ridge above Great Harbour provide archaeological evidence that some sugar cane was under cultivation and processed, though probably not in any great quantity.

In 1815, 140 acres (0.57 km2) were under cotton cultivation, producing 21,000 pounds annually. There was a population of 428 (25 whites, 32 free persons of colour and 371 slaves). By 1825, cotton production decreased to 17,000 pounds, while the population increased to 506 (34 whites, 76 free persons of colour and 397 slaves).

Similar to other islands in the region, JVD and the BVI saw gradual and irreversible economic decline throughout the 18th century. Curiously though, the population of Jost Van Dyke continued to increase (probably due to the freedom of travel enjoyed by the former slave population after Emancipation in the BVI in 1838). Thereafter, many BVI islanders regularly sought work at the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's coaling whaves in St. Thomas, (today- United States Virgin Islands). By 1853, Dookhan (1975) attributes a population of 1,235 residents on Jost Van Dyke, 196 of whom died of a cholera outbreak in that same year.

From the Emancipation Era forward, the community of Jost Van Dyke subsisted mainly on small scale fishing and subsistence agriculture. Charcoal-making was a practice that began during the plantation era, when strong fires were vital for sugar and rum production, and charcoal making emerged as a primary industry for the BVI during the Post-Emancipation years. Between the 1920s and 1960s, an estimated 20,000 tons of charcoal were exported from the BVI to the US Virgin Islands. (1998. Penn-Moll, Verna,Coals of Fire: The Development of the Caribbean Fireplace Technology with Traditional Customs, Myths and Sayings.)

According to island residents, on JVD, people would work collectively to build charcoal pits, a practice that occasionally continues to this day. The pits were often a social gathering place, women might use the heat of the fire to bake bread or roast breadfruit while the men might play dominoes around the pit.

Maritime resources were also extremely important historically to the people of Jost Van Dyke, and the island has emerged as a fishing village. The desire for trade and social interaction with nearby islands stimulated the development of seafaring skills. Sailing, fishing, rowing and boat construction flourished. Small, locally constructed sailing vessels the "Tortola Boat" flourished in the BVI until about the 1960s when they were replaced with motorized craft.