Jews have been in Jamaica since before the conquest of the island by the British in 1655. Many were conversos who arrived with the Spanish and although nominally converted to the Catholic religion secretively observed their Jewish faith.

With the advent of the British this precipitated an influx of Sephardic Jews into the island as the authorities allowed them to openly practice their religion. scroll
1492 Jews expelled from Spain

1492 Columbus sets out on his first voyage

1494 3 May Columbus lands in Jamaica on his second voyage

1508 Columbus family granted propriety rights to the island of Jamaica

1534 St Jago de La Vega established as Capital

1539 Portuguese Inquisition established

1655 10 May British Capture Jamaica from Spanish

1661 Windsor Proclamation brought to Jamaica

1662 October Population 3,653 whites, 552 Negroes, total 4,205

1692 7 June, Earthquake destroyed Port Royal. Edmund Heath's account of the earthquake and of the synagogue falling

1693 June Kingston was laid out

1700 Jewish population approximately 80 (families)

1704 9 January Fire destroyed Port Royal

1704 K.K. Neveh Shalom, Spanish and Portuguese synagogue, consecrated

1720 First book printed under British rule, Daniel Israel Lopez Laguna

1729 Wolmers Free School Established

1735 Jewish population 700-800

1740 Plantation Act passed

1755 Kingston became the capital

1758 Spanish Town restored as capital

1764 Population 166,454 (146,454 slaves)

1775 Population 209,617 (12,737 Whites, 4,093 Free Coloured, 192,787 Slaves)

1785 Population 30,000 whites, 10,000 free Coloured, 250,000 slaves

1709 K. K. Mikve Yisrael, Ashkenasic synagogue consecrated

1815 13 July Fire in Port Royal

1830 Jews granted full civil rights by Jamaican House of Assembly

1831 September 19, Privy Council in England confirms Act removing disabilities of the Jews in Jamaica

1831 December 12, Tankard presented to Moses Delgado to recognize his work on behalf or Jewish rights

1831 28 December Slave uprising in St. James, Trelawney, Hanover, Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Manchester

1832 Rebellion; 200 killed in the field; about 500 executed

1832 7 August Hurricane

1834 1 August Slavery Abolished

1834 13 September First issue of The Daily Gleaner Newspaper

1838 1 August Apprenticeship abolished

1841 Riot in Kingston

1844 Census 377,433

1865 11 October Morant Bay Rebellion

1871 Population 506,154 - Jewish population 2,400

1881 Population 580,804 Jewish population 2,535

1882 11 December, Fire in Kingston destroys Spanish and Portuguese and Ashkenazi synagogues and many buildings

17th August 1885 Cornerstone Laid for new Synagogue on Duke Street
 
19th July 1888   Consecration of the first Duke Street Synagogue...SHAARE SHALOM...GATES OF PEACE

1887 Outbreak of Small Pox to 1888

1889 Population 639,491 Jewish population 2,400

1907 14 January Earthquake, Destroyed Kingston/Port Royal, synagogue Shaare Shalom, Duke Street, destroyed - Loss 2.0 million pounds

1935 The bodies of Jacob DeCordova and his wife Rebecca were re-interred at the State Cemetery in Austin Texas, from Bosque Country. DeCordova was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, on June 6, 1808, founded the Daily Gleaner in 1834, and the city of Waco, Texas. The reburial was to honor those who had contributed to the development of the State of Texas

1957 Jewish population 1,600

1960 Jewish population 600

1962 6 August Independence from Britain

1988 12 September Hurricane Gilbert, winds 120 mph, 80% Houses damaged or destroyed. Roof of Duke Street synagogue blown off

2002 Jewish population 250