History of Bequia

the 17th century. According to an early account of the French West Indies, which considered Bequia as part of Grenada, Bequia was too inaccessible to colonize and Caribs or Arawaks used the island for fishing and farming. A few Portuguese and Dutch slave ships en route to Sint Eustatius from West Africa reportedly shipwrecked on the Grenadine reefs.

Bequia was under French control in the 18th century and during the Seven Years War with England, the island was used by the fleets of their Spanish and Dutch allies to take on supplies, while British ships were banned. The Treaty of Paris (1763) produced a significant re-alignment in the map of the Caribbean; St. Vincent and the Grenadine islands, including Grenada, were given to the British in exchange for Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Lucia. The name Petit Martinique comes from this era, as does