Giddy House

Jamaica Dockyard also known as Port Royal Dockyard was a British Royal Navy Dockyard located at Port Royal, Jamaica. It was established 1675 and closed in 1905. The dockyard was initially administered by the Navy Board then later the Board of Admiralty.

Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and commerce in the Caribbean Sea by the latter half of the 17th century. It was destroyed by an earthquake on 7 June 1692, which had an accompanying tsunami, leading to the establishment of Kingston, which is now the largest city in Jamaica. Severe hurricanes have regularly damaged the area. Another severe earthquake occurred in 1907. Port Royal was once home to privateers who were encouraged to attack Spanish vessels, at a time when smaller European nations were reluctant to attack Spain directly. As a port city, it was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals. It was a popular homeport for the English and Dutch-sponsored privateers to spend their treasure during the 17th century. When those governments abandoned the practice of issuing letters of marque to privateers against the Spanish treasure fleets and possessions in the later 16th century, many of the crews turned pirate. They continued to use the city as their main base during the 17th century. Pirates from around the world congregated at Port Royal, coming from waters as far away as Madagascar. After the 1692 disaster, Port Royal's commercial role was steadily taken over by the nearby town (and later, city) of Kingston. Plans were developed in 1999 to redevelop the small fishing town as a heritage tourism destination to serve cruise ships. The plan was to capitalize on Port Royal's unique heritage, with archaeological findings from pre-colonial and privateering years as the basis of possible attractions.

Prinzessin Victoria Luise was a German passenger ship of the Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG) of some 4,409 gross register tons (GRT). She is credited with having been the first purpose-built cruise ship. Launched on 29 June 1900, she served with HAPAG until 16 December 1906 after being accidentally grounded off Jamaica.

Cagway Bay as the English called it following their arrival in Jamaica during the invasion of 1655 had been known to the earlier Taino and Spanish occupiers as Caguay or Caguaya bay.The bay in turn got its name from the Taino name for the sand spit now known as the Palisadoes which protects the bay or, as it is now known as, Kingston Harbour. Edward Long argued in his 1744 History of Jamaica argues that the names were "a corruption of caragua, the Indian name for coratoe, or great aloe, which overspreads the adjacent Saltpan Hill".

Lime Cay is the main islet off the shore of Port Royal Cays, Jamaica. It located in the northeast region of the reef.

The Port Royal Cays is a small group of uninhabited islands or cays off Port Royal, Jamaica, located at 17°55′06.36″N 76°49′11.96″W and arranged in the shape of an atoll with a diameter between 4 and 5 km, and a total area of 12 km². The land area is about 0.03 km². There are eight named cays, including South Cay Rock which is sometimes subsumed with South Cay. Gun Cay, the northernmost, is only 400 metres from the Jamaican mainland. The main cay is Lime Cay, on the northeastern rim. It measures 380 metres northwest–southeast, and is up to 80 metres wide, measuring 2 ha in area. About half of the area is wooded, the rest is sand and coral. On the western beach is a wooden hut. The individual cays, clockwise starting in the north: Gun Cay (northernmost) Lime Cay (largest, most important) Maiden Cay Southeast Cay (easternmost) South Cay (almost connected with South Cay Rock) South Cay Rock (unvegetated, southernmost) Drunkenmans Cay (westernmost) Rackhams Cay (smallest)

Lazaretto Cairn Lighthouse guides vessels westward on their approach to Kingston Harbour. It appears to be a historic daybeacon converted to a lighted aid. It is located on a bluff on the west side of the harbour entrance, opposite Port Royal. It provides the rear light of the Rackhams Cay Range. Its ground is maintained by the Port Authority of Jamaica, an agency of the Ministry of Transport and Works.

The Invasion of Jamaica took place in May 1655, during the 1654 to 1660 Anglo-Spanish War, when an English expeditionary force captured Spanish Jamaica. It was part of an ambitious plan by Oliver Cromwell to acquire new colonies in the Americas, known as the Western Design. Although major settlements like Santiago de la Vega, now Spanish Town, were poorly defended and quickly occupied, resistance by escaped slaves, or Jamaican Maroons, continued in the interior. The Western Design was largely a failure, but Jamaica remained in English hands, and was formally ceded by Spain in the 1670 Treaty of Madrid. The Colony of Jamaica remained a British possession until independence in 1962.

Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre, formerly Fort Augusta Prison, is Jamaica's only prison for women. It was built to accommodate 250 female inmates but has held over 280 on occasions. It has been known to run short of food.It is operated by the Department of Correctional Services for the Ministry of National Security. Fort Augusta was originally an ocean side fortress built by the English in the 1740s to provide the main defence for Kingston Harbour’s west side. It was completed in the 1750s and named Fort Augusta in honour of the mother of King George III. In 1763 lightning struck the fort and its three thousand barrels of gunpowder causing an explosion that broke windows 17 miles away and killed three hundred people. The shocks created a crater which had to be filled before reconstruction could begin. During the American Revolution the fort was occupied by the Duke of Cumberland's Regiment. The remains of the fortress now consists of massive crumbling walls of brick that have been fortified with other materials (including barbed wire).Some years ago, the DCS sold the land on which Fort Augusta sits to the Port Authority of Jamaica. At the time, the DCS had plans to build a 5000 inmate prison that would accommodate both males and females and relieve the overcrowding faced by most prisons in Jamaica. However, while the new facility is long in coming a move is still anticipated so no one is willing to do any renovations to Fort Augusta.On March 2, 2017 Fort Augusta inmates were relocated to the south camp rehabilitation center. In April 2020 it was announced that the Jamaican government intends to use Fort Augusta as a half way house and counselling center for returning deportees.

The Green Bay Massacre was a covert operation on 5 January 1978, in which five Jamaica Labour Party supporters were shot dead after being lured into an ambush at the Green Bay Firing Range by members of the Jamaica Defence Force.

Portmore is a large urban settlement located along the southeastern coast of Jamaica in Saint Catherine, and a dormitory community for the neighbouring cities of Kingston and Spanish Town.

Maiden Cay is one of the main islets off the shore of Port Royal Cays, Jamaica. It is located in the northeast region of the reef, just south of its sister cay, Lime Cay.