It was Christopher Columbus who first sighted the Cayman Islands, but it was Sir Francis Drake who was the first recorded visitor to the island. While Columbus named the islands Las Tortugas due to the number of sea turtles he saw, Sir Drake named it after the crocodiles.
The Cayman Islands fell under the British rule under the Treaty of Madrid, along with Jamaica. This happened as settlers from Jamaica came into Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. The islands became a strategic British base in the Caribbean, although it also became a hideout for pirates. Permanent settlement finally happened in the Caymans in 1730.
The Cayman Islands became a dependent of Jamaica, though it was effectively able to govern itself. After 165 years, the Cayman Islands became independent from Jamaica, though it acted like a Jamaican parish. When Jamaica became independent in 1962, the Cayman Islands sought for independence one more, and became a direct dependency to the British Crown.
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