"Indian Coolies, newly arrived." Photograph of a group of Indian workers having newly arrived in Jamaica. The group consists of men, women and children. They are gathered in a clearing and there are trees visible behind them. The term Coolie is a historical word used to describe manual labourers from Asia, particularly China and India, in the 19th century and early 20th century. Between 1838 and 1917 many thousands of Indian workers were brought to Jamaica. This belongs to a series of Church of Scotland Foreign Missions Committee lantern slides relating to Jamaica. In 1800 the Scottish Missionary Society sent three missionaries to Jamaica. Two died of yellow fever within weeks of arrival but the third became a pioneer missionary. In 1824 a second venture travelled to Jamaica by invitation of local planters to instruct their slaves. Scottish missionaries worked at Montego Bay in the 19th century and in 1836 the first presbytery of the Jamaican Church was constituted here.
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