White Barbadian

White Barbadians or European Barbadians are Barbadian citizens or residents of European descent. The majority of European Barbadians are descended from English, Portuguese, and Scottish settlers and Irish indentured servants and settlers,^[1] who arrived during the British colonial period. Other European groups consisted of the French, Germans, Austrians, Spaniards, and Italians. In addition, some of those considered to be European Barbadians are of partial White ancestry and vice versa. CIA World Factbook estimates that there are some 20,000 white Barbadians in the country.^[2]

At first, Indigenous constituted the majority of the Barbadian population. Post-colonization Europeans constituted the majority, with the island being used as a penal colony much as Australia would be later, until the transition of the Barbadian economy to one based on sugarcane production; importation of African slaves to the island altered the demographics of the island, making European Barbadians a minority. During much of the colonial period, whites formed the island's political and economic elite. Since independence from Britain in 1966 when most European Barbadians left for the United Kingdom^{[citation needed]}, most political power has shifted to the black majority.^[3]

Among European Barbadians, there exists an underclass known as redlegs; the descendants of indentured servants, and prisoners imported to the island, redlegs have historically formed a disadvantaged group within Barbadian society.^[4][5]

Notable European Barbadians[]

• Sir James Drax (d. 1662), a pioneer sugar grower and 'plantocrat' (born in England before settling in Barbados)
• Theodorious Paleologus (c. 1660–1693), sailor and privateer, last surviving male descendant of the Paleologus dynasty
• Stede Bonnet (1688–1718), pirate
• Robert Lettis Hooper (d. 1738/9), politician and jurist in colonial New Jersey
• Humphrey Fleming Senhouse (1781–1841), officer of the Royal Navy
• Tony Cozier (10 July 1940 – 11 May 2016), journalist and West Indian Cricket Commentator

See also[]

• Irish indentured servants

References[]

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