The earliest European settlement on Tortola dates back to 1649, when Dutch settlers arrived on Tortola. They lived in relative peace until war broke out between the Dutch and the English in 1665. During that war the English attacked Tortola, destroyed the Dutch settlements, and took 67 enslaved African they found there. This is the first record of the presence of slaves in the British Virgin Islands.

The Dutch returned after the 1665 attack and three years later a report describes the population of Tortola as “80 Irish, English, and Welsh under the Dutch.” The English and Dutch did not remain at peace, however, and during another war in 1672 the Dutch settlement was again attacked by the English. This time, the Dutch surrendered before a drop of blood could be shed. The islands became British, and they remain so today.

The future remained uncertain for settlers of the British Virgin Islands even after the Dutch surrender in 1672. During peace negotiations after the war between England and the Netherlands, it was agreed that the Virgin Islands would eventually be handed back over to the Dutch. This never happened, but the uncertainty over the islands’ future discouraged large-scale settlement and investment. The islands became home to people who could not get land on other, more prosperous, islands.