Editing Cayman Islands (section)

=== Origins and colonization ===
[[File:2 dollar Cayman 1975.png|thumb|2 dollar Cayman 1975]]

{{As of|2017}}, no evidence has been found that the islands had been occupied before their discovery by Europeans.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Keegan |first1=William F. |title=The Caribbean before Columbus |last2=Hofman |first2=Corinne |author-link2=Corinne Hofman |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780190647353 |edition=ebook |location=New York, New York |pages=6}}</ref> The Cayman Islands got their name from the word for crocodile (''caiman'') in the language of the [[Arawak|Arawak-Taíno]] people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce0dc.html|publisher=www.refworld.org |title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Cayman Islands}}</ref> It is believed that the first [[Europe]]an to sight the islands was [[Christopher Columbus]], on 10 May 1503, during his [[voyages of Christopher Columbus|final voyage]] to the Americas.<ref name="History of Cayman Islands">{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/cighome/cayman/islands/history |title=History of Cayman Islands |publisher=Cayman Islands Government |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909232014/http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/cighome/cayman/islands/history |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="britannica.com">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cayman-Islands |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Cayman Islands |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506134919/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cayman-Islands |url-status=live }}</ref> He named them "Las Tortugas", after the large number of turtles found there (which were soon hunted to near-extinction).<ref name="History of Cayman Islands"/><ref name="History of the Cayman Islands">{{cite web |url=https://www.explorecayman.com/about-cayman/history-of-the-cayman-islands |title=History of the Cayman Islands |website=Explore Cayman |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307214219/https://www.explorecayman.com/about-cayman/history-of-the-cayman-islands |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in succeeding decades, the islands began to be referred to as "Caimanas" or "Caymanes".<ref name="britannica.com"/><ref name="History of Cayman Islands"/>

No immediate colonisation followed Columbus's sighting, but a variety of settlers from various backgrounds eventually arrived, including [[pirate]]s, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s army in [[Jamaica]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bauman |first=Robert |date=2007 |title=The Complete Guide to Offshore Residency |page=115 |publisher=The Sovereign Society |isbn=978-0-9789210-9-5}}</ref> Sir [[Francis Drake]] briefly visited the islands in 1586.<ref name="keytocayman.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.keytocayman.com/history/history-islands-that-time-forgot/ |title=Key to Cayman - HISTORY – ISLANDS THAT TIME FORGOT |access-date=7 July 2019 |date=22 January 2016 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301014126/http://www.keytocayman.com/history/history-islands-that-time-forgot/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Cayman Islands National Museum - George Town, Grand Cayman.jpg|thumb|left|Cayman Islands National Museum, George Town, Grand Cayman]]

The first recorded permanent inhabitant, Isaac Bodden, was born on [[Grand Cayman]] around 1661. He was the grandson of an original settler named Bodden, probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers involved in the capture of Jamaica from [[Spain]] in 1655.<ref>{{cite book |first=Keith |last=Thompson |title=Life in The Caribbean |date=2010 |isbn=978-9987-16-015-0 |page=152|publisher=New Africa Press }}</ref>

[[Kingdom of England|England]] took [[English overseas possessions|formal control]] of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, as a result of the [[Treaty of Madrid (1670)|Treaty of Madrid of 1670]].<ref name="britannica.com"/> That same year saw an attack on a turtle fishing settlement on Little Cayman by the Spanish under Portuguese privateer [[Manuel Ribeiro Pardal]].<ref name="keytocayman.com"/> Following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement in what had by then become a haven for pirates,<ref name="History of the Cayman Islands"/> a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s.<ref name="History of the Cayman Islands"/> With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the [[governor of Jamaica]] in 1734, came the introduction of [[slavery|slaves]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gocayman.ky/history.html |title=Cayman Islands History |publisher=Gocayman.ky |archive-date=12 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012073753/http://www.gocayman.ky/history.html}}</ref> Many were purchased and brought to the islands from Africa. That has resulted in the majority of native Caymanians being of African or English descent.<ref name="britannica.com"/>

On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten [[merchant ship]]s, including HMS ''Convert'', an incident that has since become known as the [[Wreck of the Ten Sail]].<ref name="History of Cayman Islands" /><ref name="History of the Cayman Islands" /> The ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wood |first=Lawson |title=The Cayman Islands |date=2007 |publisher=New Holland Publishers, Limited |isbn=978-1-84537-897-4 |page=12}}.</ref> Legend has it that [[George III|King George III]] rewarded the islanders for their generosity with a promise never to introduce taxes, because one of the ships carried a member of the King's family. Despite the legend, the story is not true.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zayas y Alfonso |first=Alfredo |title=Lexografía Antillana |publisher=El Siglo XX Press |year=1914 |location=Havana}}</ref><ref name="History of the Cayman Islands" />