The Grenada Handbook is a wonderful primary resource for Grenada genealogists and historians/history buffs alike. Published between 1896 and 1946 (no issues were printed from 1919-1920 and 1922-1926) and compiled by the Colonial Secretary, the Handbook offers a wealth of information about Grenada’s history and the way in which the Colony was structured.
This from Allister Hughes’ website:
“These handbooks were published from 1896 to 1948, and include a vast wealth of data, from pictures of the “First Motor Car in Grenada,” to a Chronicle of Events for the prior year, lists of registered medical practitioners, foreign consuls, cocoa and nutmeg dealers, a map of the Grand Etang Forest Reserve, financial statistics, lawyers fees, and a directory of all businesses in the colony.”
I’ve been quite excited to see several of the names I’ve been following in them.
For those interested in biology and botany, the Grenada Handbook also lists Grenada’s flora and fauna and tracks the island’s weather.
You are truly lucky if you own one or more of the Handbooks, since they are rare books that retail for around $400 each. I don’t own any of the issues and rely on libraries and interlibrary loan to get my hands on them.
1897 and 1902 are available online from Google Books. You can download a PDF from there if you are in the US. If you are outside of the US, it’s always possible to use an online proxy like Zend (though, before someone flames me, I am not advocating this) to do so.
New York Public Library has 1896-1927 (minus the years when the handbook wasn’t published) on microfilm.
Hard copies are available in/from the following libraries:
CANADA
CISTI – National Research Council Library (Ottawa, Canada) has 1896-1906, 1909-11, 1912, 1914-21, 1927. It costs $25 in Canada to borrow a book for 6 weeks. It’s $45 outside of Canada.
Toronto Public Library (Reference Library) has 1909 and 1927.
McGill University has 1897 in its Rare Books/Special Collections (McLennan Building).
CARIBBEAN
Can anyone confirm whether the Grenada Museum and/or Public Library have Handbook issues?
University of the West Indies in Trinidad has holdings
The Barbados Museum and Historical Society has holdings.
UK
University of London has 1927 (Institute of Historical Research)
Cambridge University Library has 1896-1927 and 1946.
Oxford University has 1896-1907 and 1927.
UNITED STATES
Harvard University (Widener Library) has 1897, 1902, 1905, 1912, 1921 and 1927.
Boston Public Library has 1946-
Boston College Library has 1897
The Schomburg Center (New York – Part of New York Public Library) has 1927.
Columbia University Library has 1896-1927 and 1946-
NYU has 1896 and 1946
Yale University Library has 1946
Cornell University has 1897.
University of Pennsylvania has 1900.
University of Chicago has 1900, 1902, 1912, 1921 and 1946.
Detroit Public Library has 1946 and 1927.
Stanford University has 1917/18, 1921 and 1927
This is definitely not an exhaustive list – but hopefully it’s a start…