LOYALISTS OF THE BAHAMAS

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Most of the Loyalists arrived in the Bahamas between 1783 and 1785. They settled on the islands of New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthra, Exuma, Cat Island, Long Island, Crooked Island, Acklins, Watllings Island (now San Salvador) and Turks and Caicos ( which were then part of the Bahamas).




An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Loyalists and their slaves, encouraged by grants of land, migrated from Georgia and the Carolinas to the Bahamas.It more than doubled the population of the islands.

Carleton Point

One of the first settlements was in March 1784 when a number of refugees from New York and St. Augustine laid out a town called Carleton on the island of Abaco. Some 600 Americans loyal to the British built a settlement named after Sir Guy Carleton, the British commander at New York, who oversaw the evacuation.  However, the settlement was short- lived and abandoned in 1785 after a hurricane hit. Artifacts have been uncovered at the site, and a plaque now marks it.  A bronze plaque was unveiled in September 1983.


Plaque to Loyalists 


A plaque to the first Loyalists who arrived at Hope Town in 1785 is pictured above.


Classes of Loyalists

There were two classes of Loyalists. One group was the farmers who settled on the Out Islands with large families and ten, twenty, or even a hundred slaves.  The second group was officers, merchants, and professionals who went mainly to New Providence and the Northern Bahamas.   

Some early Loyalists settled on Abaco near Marsh Harbor and Maxwell Town, named after the Governor, John Maxwell. 


Further Reference:

Bahamian Loyalists and their Slaves  by Gail Saunders, published in 1983


/ Descendant of Private James Humphrey of Jessup's Rangers in American Revolution, Grandfather served with Royal Irish Fusiliers of 36th Ulster Division in WW I

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