Featured Database: Passengers From Balearic Islands to Florida 1768

PASSENGERS FROM THE BALEARIC ISLANDS TO FLORIDA IN 1768 (MINORCA AND MAJORCA)

Andrew Turnbull, a Scottish-born physician and wealthy member of the East Florida Society in London which was formed in 1766, conceived a plan to bring colonists of Greek, Italian, Minorcan and Turkish origins to Florida in the hopes of cultivating the land. Great Britain had acquired Florida around 1763.

The Turnbull venture

On March 31, 1768, a fleet consisting of eight ships left Mahon, Minorca with over 1400 passengers. The fleet arrived in Gibraltar on April 3, 1768, then left Gibraltar on April 17, 1768. Of the 1403 passengers who had left Gibraltar, only 1,255 managed to reach the coast of East Florida as 148 of them perished on the high seas. Three children were born at sea: Eulalia Elquina (Alzina); Antonia Arnau; and Benito Buenaventura (unknown parents).

Four of the ships which carried some 700 immigrants, arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on June 26, 1768. The other four vessels had been carried off course by strong currents, but they eventually reached St. Augustine little by little, arriving one after the other, during the month of July, 1768.

Thanks to Researcher & Contributor Lucie Servole Myers, the names of these immigrant Minorcan settlers to Florida who sailed on the 8 ships has been published on Olive Tree Genealogy website. Lucie used several sources to reconstruct passenger names and all sources are provided online

The ships and number of passengers:

AMERICAN SOLDIER 145
BETSEY 120
CHARMING BETSEY 232
ELISABETH 190
FRIENDSHIP 198
HENRY & CAROLINA 142
HOPE 150
NEW FORTUNE 226

TOTAL: 1,403 (men, women, and children)

Interested descendants can also choose from the list of Passengers from Spain; Passengers from Greece; Passengers from Corsica; Passengers from Canary Islands; Passengers from Italy; Passengers from Balearic Islands

Minorcans to Florida 1768

Thanks to the hard work of Lucie Servole Myers, Olive Tree Genealogy has an original research project reconstructing names of colonists of Greek, Italian, Minorcan and Turkish origins to Florida in May 1768.

Eight ships sailed under the direction of Andrew Turnbull. Lucie has reconstructed the names of 431 passengers on board the 8 ships. This is a wonderful database and I owe a big thank you to Lucie for allowing OTG to publish this online for all to use.

The ships are organized in the following immigrant groups:

Passengers from Spain

Passengers from Greece

Passengers from Corsica

Passengers from Canary Islands

Passengers from Italy

Passengers from Balearic Islands

Good luck to everyone looking for an ancestor! As always, this Olive Tree database is available for free for all researchers.