From Stock Daily Dish

Cayman Islanders hunt for descendants of their first settler who left Cornwall for the Caribbean paradise 450 years ago

Inhabitants of a Caribbean paradise island have launched a quest to find the descendants of their ancestor – in Cornwall.

A man named either Bodden or Bawden, from the West Country, became the first recorded settler of the islands in 1658 with grandson Isaac Bodden being dubbed the first inhabitant in 1700.

Bodden found his way to the islands having sailed from Portsmouth in 1654 as part of a 3,000 strong force that invaded Jamaica during the Anglo-Spanish war.

Rather than returning to the UK once the fighting was over, he found his own little slice of paradise and settled down there.

Bodden is still a common surname among Cayman Islanders, ensuring the legacy of their founder lives on.

Now the islanders, backed by local MP Scott Mann, are trying to find Bodden‘s relatives on this side of the Atlantic.

The hunt is seen as a unique chance for someone in Cornwall to find out whether their forefather founded a country.

The Cayman Islands are one of the largest British Overseas Territories with almost 60,000 inhabitants.

Despite being separated by 4,600 miles of ocean, Cayman Islanders feel they have a bond with the people of Cornwall.  

The populations of both places have grown based on fishing, farming, shipbuilding and salvage – and both have historic links with the golden age of piracy.

Eric Bush, Cayman Islands Representative to the UK, is leading the search.

He said: ‘As native Caymanians, we are very aware of our British nationality and heritage from a young age.

‘Wherever you go, there are pictures of the Queen, and the reality is that the islands‘ ultimate authority is still the UK government, represented by the Governor.

‘However, very few of us in Cayman were aware that our original British links are in fact from Cornwall, which also happens to be the part of the UK geographically closest to us.

‘As we have been looking at the connection, what has been extraordinary is how similar our native cultures have been, over the past 400 years or so.

‘From aspects of both our language and dialect, to boat-building, to fishing, to salvage, to inventive cooking – Caymanians, to a significant degree, have been carrying on living like Cornishmen, but in the middle of the Caribbean.

‘We hope that this Cornwall-Cayman project will bring our people closer together, and enable a true link between our two great lands.‘

Scott Mann, Tory MP for North Cornwall, said: ‘It is wonderful to think there could be Cornish men and women who don‘t realise that their ancestor helped found a country.

‘They may be in Truro, Penzance or Bodmin and their blood relations are 5,000 miles away having made a new life and created their new “Cornwall” in the Caribbean.‘

Julie Seyley from Cornwall Council‘s Culture Team is now exploring how the county‘s culture has developed many thousands of miles away.

She said: ‘It is exciting to see how these two countries with so much interlinked history have developed on either side of the world.

‘We understand that there are still elements of the Cornish culture which can still be found in the Cayman Islands and yet most Cornish people have no idea of connection they have with the Islands.‘

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