Virgin Island History – get started!
Virgin Island History - get started!
Explore the digitised sources from the Virgin Islands in colonial Danish West Indies. Heres how you get started exploring the Virgin Island History.
Working with the Archives
Diving into the documents from the Danish West Indies (Virgin Islands) is a fascinating endeavour. However, it is unfortunately not straightforward. Even though the documents have been digitized, providing new opportunities, there are still many limitations. There are over 5 million documents, and far from all of them have been indexed with relevant keywords.
You need to know what you are looking for, how the archives are structured, and what information they contain. Many of the documents are written in Gothic script and in old Danish or English, which can be difficult to understand. Here on this site, you will find guides that lead you to sources on the most commonly used topics. These guides also provide information on how important archival series are structured, what they contain, and how you can use them to find what you are looking for.
Five tips to get started!
Finding the information you are looking for requires knowledge, language skills, technical competence, and not least, patience and perseverance.
1. Know the Archives
You will never find all the information about a person or an institution in one place. Each piece of information must be sought in the archive created by the person or institution. An archive can contain many series dealing with different subjects. Even though most Danish West Indian archives are housed in the Danish National Archives, you must search each archive one by one.
Start by getting an overview of the archives and what they each contain. You can do this by consulting the list of all the record creators and archival series you can search in.
2. Know what your are looking for
The archives contain millions of documents. Before diving in, consider what type of information can help you in your search:
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- Where a person lived
- The person’s employment
- Whether the person belonged to a religious congregation or community
- Whether the person was married or had children
- Whether the person was involved in legal disputes
- Whether the person was involved in uprisings or other major events
Each of these types of information must be found in different archives and collections.
We can find informations about Maria Elizabeth Yard in several different records. Here are some examples:
- Maria’s year of birth is documented by the census of 1841 for the Danish West Indies (Chamber of Revenue, Danish Department, The Table Commission, archive no. 303, Census of 1841, Danish West Indies, Croix, box no. 1, Christiansted free inhabitants)
- Maria’s letter of manumission, dated 23rd May 1800, is recorded in a list of free coloured men, women and children in Christiansted in 1816 (The West India and Guinea Company, archive no. 678, Subject files: Social and cultural matters, Free coloured men, women and children in the jurisdiction of Christiansted 1816, box no. 3.81.564, case no. 24)
- Maria’s residence in 1805 in a house owned by Sheriff Johannes Woldbye Mouritzen, i.e. no. 1&2 Fisherstreet, is recorded in the land register of St. Croix 1805-1806.(Audited Accounts, West Indian Accounts, archive no. 571, land register for St. Croix 1758-1915, 1805-1806, box no. 86.40)
- That Maria inherited the properties no. 1, 2 and 3 Fisherstreet in 1839 from Johannes Mouritzen is recorded in the Sheriff of Christiansted’s registers of mortgages (Sheriff of Christiansted, archive no. 684, Registers of mortgages 1736-1844, box no. 38.26.41, 1838-1841, page 71-72).
We can find informations about Moses Elias Williams in several different records. Here are some examples:
- That Moses’ mother Cathrine lived on the plantation Castle Nugent is recorded in the census of 1841 for the Danish West Indies (Chamber of Revenue, Danish Department, The Table Commission, archive no. 303, Census of 1841, Danish West Indies, box no. 4, St. Croix country districts)
- That in 1850 the Williams family lived in no. 7 Company Street in Christiansted is recorded in the census of 1850 for the Danish West Indies (Statistics Denmark, archive no. 1308, census 1850, Danish West Indies, box no. 2, St. Croix, Christiansted, King Street – East Street)
- That Moses received his burgher certificates as a butcher in Christiansted in 1865 is recorded in the lists of individuals having been granted citizenship (The West India and Guinea Company, archive no. 678, Subject files: Social and cultural matters, Lists of individuals having been granted citizenship 1799 – 1911, box no. 3.81.588, 27th July, 1865)
- That Moses bought a number of properties in Christiansted during the years 1878- 1888 is recorded in the land registers for these years (Audited Accounts, West Indian Accounts, archive no. 571, land register for St. Croix 1868-1894, box no. 86.95-96 – 86.121-122)
- That Moses in the 1880s was entitled to vote for the elections for the Colonial Council, the supreme authority on St. Croix, is recorded in the West Indian Government’s files concerning The Colonial Council (West Indian Government, archive no. 678, Subject files: Local authorities: cases concerning the Colonial Council, 1883-1894, box no. 3.81.70).
3. Use tools and guides
Click your way to the most important sources in our guides
Five million image files of documents about and from the Danish West Indies have been scanned and made available online. In the guides for each topic, we have gathered links to the most significant sources.
Glossary
Use the glossary with explanations of the most important archival terms and concepts:
Register with links to online sources
Use the searchable register of all digitized sources about and from the Danish West Indies. It contains useful comments on the records and direct links to each archival series on Arkivalieronline:
Seek inspiration in the literature
If digital searches don’t yield results, it might be a good idea to start with the literature on the subject and gain inspiration for your further research. We have compiled the most important publications in this bibliography of works from 2002-2024 on the Danish West Indies:
Search in transcribed documents
Some documents have been transcribed from Gothic script into searchable text via the Danish National Archives’ transcription portal.
You can try to find transcribed documents:. Search in the Collections /Søg i Samlingerne.
4. Ask for advice and guidance
It is important to the Danish National Archives that everyone benefits from the cultural heritage housed in the archives, including users without extensive experience in archive searching and research. The Danish National Archives has produced a range of guides and tools to help you in the process.
If you still have difficulty finding what you are looking for, you can get help and guidance from an archivist.
Write to us at spoerg@rigsarkivet.dk or call +45 33 92 33 10 Monday-Thursday 12-15 and Friday 10-13.
5. Be patient – and persistent
Finding precisely the records and documents that tell your story among five million image files can be a confusing process. At the same time, most of the documents are in Gothic handwriting and an older Danish that at times is incomprehensible.
Nevertheless, the documents are the gateway to our common past and their stories make us wiser about who we were – and why the world is what it is today. Every story counts.
Our best advice for everyone searching the archives is: be patient – and persist!
Guides on the Danish West Indies
Find a person in the Danish West Indies
When you’re looking for a person from the Danish West Indies – now the US Virgin Islands – you need different types of records, depending on which populations group the person belonged to.
Sources on property and ownership in the Danish West Indies
Sources on property relations in the Virgin Islands under colonial Danish rule include sources on estate and places, but also documentation on slave ownership.
Sources on colonial rule in the Danish West Indies
The Danish colonial authority intervened in many aspects of life in the Virgin Islands – in the courts, the barracks, the hospitals, and the schools.
Sources on slavery in the Danish West Indies
Until the abolition of slavery in the Danish West Indies in 1848, enslaved people and the institution of slavery were fundamental aspects of life on the islands. Therefore, information about enslaved individuals and slavery can be found in almost all archival materials from that period.
Literature and collections on the Danish West Indies
Find overviews of the most important sources, publications, and collections about the Danish West Indies that are available outside of the Danish National Archives.
All digitised sources on the Danish West Indies
Go to Arkivalieronline, where you find all the online sources on Virgin Island History.