In the year 1900 the present writer published a small volume entitled “Studies in Jamaica History,” giving the records of certain historic sites in the colony. In its issue of October 27, 1908, the Editor of the “West India Committee Circular,” commenting on the appointment of a Royal Commission to enumerate and report upon the historical monuments in England, drew attention to the need for the preservation of historic sites and buildings in the West Indies, and stated that a letter on the subje

1 . Administrations during temporary absences of Governors have not been included....

Studies in Jamaica archæology and history naturally fall into three main groups: Aboriginal, Spanish and English. Though, owing to the high form of civilization there attained, research has in Egypt revealed very full information concerning the condition of life in the Nile valley thousands of years before the Christian era, it has hitherto told us very little about the aborigines who inhabited Jamaica a little more than 400 years ago. How long they had been here when Columbus discovered the isl

The chief interest of Port Royal lies rather in the silent witness which through two and a half centuries she has borne to the naval activities of the island of Jamaica, and in a measure to those of the British fleets which have from time to time visited these waters, than in any part which she has played in the internal domestic development of the colony, although she has now and again sent to the Assembly such notable members as William Beeston, Samuel Long, Marmaduke Freeman, Peter Beckford,

The parish of St. Catherine derived its name from the queen of Charles II., who was king of England when the parish was formed. In the first act in which it is mentioned it is correctly spelled Katharine. It consists of what before the passing of law 20 of 1867 constituted the parishes of St. Catherine, St. Dorothy, St. John and St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. St. Thomas-in-the-Vale was probably named after Sir Thomas Lynch. St. Dorothy, Roby, in his “Memorials of the Cathedral Church and Parish of St.

That there was a collection of houses on or near the spot where Kingston now stands, some years before its formation into a town and parish, is evident, but it is also evident that Gardner’s application of the name to “the little village of Kingston” in 1673 is based on imagination. In the map of Jamaica in “The English Pilot” of 1689 in the inset of “the draft of the Harbor of Port Royal” is marked Liganea, with seven small houses and one larger one where Kingston now is, and one larger one hal

The parish of St. Andrew was originally called Liguanea, and the name still lingers round the plain. It now consists of what before the passing of law 20 of 1867 comprised the parish of Port Royal and the parish of St. Andrew, less the parts known as Smith’s Village, Hannah’s Town, Fletcher’s Town, and the town of Port Royal. There are no towns in St. Andrew; the principal villages being Halfway Tree, Gordon Town and Stony Hill. The earliest known reference to Halfway Tree on record occurs in th

The parish of St. Thomas (or as it was formerly called St. Thomas-in-the-East to distinguish it from St. Thomas-in-the-Vale), which now embraces the former parish of St. David, is one of the oldest parishes in the island. Roby points out that, although St. Thomas was so called before the arrival of Sir Thomas Modyford, Doyley’s immediate successor in the Government was Thomas Hickman, Lord Windsor, after whom it may have been called. But many of the parishes in the sister colonies were named aft

The parish of Portland was named after the Duke of Portland, who was Governor of the colony at the date of its formation. It includes the old parish of St. George and part of St. Thomas, from which it was originally taken in 1723. St. George derived its name from the patron saint of England. Roby thinks that the name might have received additional appropriateness from the fact that George was the Christian name of the Duke of Albemarle, Sir Thomas Modyford’s relative and patron; as also of Colon

The parish of St. Mary was probably so called from the port, Puerto Santa Maria, thus named by the Spaniards, now known as Port Maria: but Roby points out that Modyford’s daughter’s name was Mary, and it was immediately next to the parish of St. George, the name of her husband being, as we have seen, George Nedham. It includes the former parish of Metcalfe, as well as a part of the old parish of St. George. At Gray’s Inn , near Annotto Bay, are to be found remains of an old Spanish house, one of

The parish of St. Ann is rich in associations with the aboriginal inhabitants, the Spaniards, and with the early history of the British occupation of the colony. It was in St. Ann that Columbus discovered Jamaica; it was in St. Ann that he spent a twelvemonth while waiting for help from Hispaniola; it was in St. Ann, at Ocho Rios, that two engagements of note with the Spaniards were fought; it was from St. Ann that the last remnants of the Spaniards left the island, while the last battle of impo

The parish of Trelawny derives its name from Sir William Trelawny, the Governor, who died in Jamaica in 1772. It was taken out of part of St. James in 1770. Falmouth was a town of considerable importance, and is more regularly laid out than any other town in the island, except Kingston. The court house, a building erected in the days of Jamaica’s extravagance, is lofty and spacious and affords accommodation for nearly all the parochial officers. It contains full-length portraits of General Sir J

The parish of St. James, which was one of the second batch of parishes formed in Jamaica (the others in the batch being St. George, St. Mary, St. Ann and St. Elizabeth), was so named by Sir Thomas Modyford in 1664–65, probably after James, Duke of York; and he may at the same time have intended, as Roby suggests, to perpetuate the memory of his brother, Sir James Modyford. The parish of Hanover was made out of parts of Westmoreland and St. James in 1725–26, and Trelawny was made out of parts of

Kingston and Port Royal excepted, Hanover is the smallest parish in area in the island. When it was formed the Assembly wished to call it St. Sophia in honour of the mother of George I, but in this it was overridden by the Council, and the name was chosen with reference to the reigning family in England. In the “Jamaica Almanac” for 1751 it is called, German fashion, Hannover. In the Church of Lucea is a monument to Sir Simon Clarke, 7th baronet (d. 1777) by Flaxman. The inscription runs: “In th

Westmoreland, which became a parish in 1703, was probably so called because it is the westernmost parish in the colony. The chief town was formerly called Queen’s Town (now Cross Path) and contained a church and many inhabitants, but in 1730 Savanna-la-Mar (“the plain by the sea”) rose into fame. Its sad fate in the hurricane of 1744 can never be remembered without horror. “The sea bursting its ancient limits overwhelmed that unhappy town and swept it to instant destruction, leaving not a vestig

The parish of St. Elizabeth was probably named in honour of Elizabeth, Lady Modyford, the daughter of William Palmer, whose tombstone is in the cathedral. It is one of the largest parishes and one of the most important. In the parish church at Black River are memorial tablets recalling to the memory of the living the many good qualities of the departed St. Elizabeth gentry. The handsomest are those on either side of the chancel to the memory of Caleb Dickenson and Robert Hugh Munro, founders of

Manchester was separated from the adjoining parishes of St. Elizabeth, Clarendon and Vere in 1814, and was named after the Duke of Manchester, who was Governor of the island at the time; while the chief town, Mandeville, was named after his eldest son. The parish is more noted for its agricultural than historic associations. Mandeville is much frequented by visitors from the United States and Canada and Great Britain. The court-house is said to have cost upwards of £20,000. In the churchyard is

22. D.O.M.L. In piam memoriam dni dni Andrer, Knight, Rotulorum Custodis et Supremi Judicis communium placitorum in Provinciis Clarendon et Vere in Jamaica, et turmae pedestris centurionis, qui obiit 42 o aetatis anno, 19 o julii, 1683....

Arms —... on a fess ... between three bulls heads erased ... (each with a ring in its nose ...) a fret between two eagles close.... [In Lawrence-Archer; now in great part covered up.] It may be thus translated: To God, the best and greatest, praise. In affectionate memory of Sir Andrew Knight, Custos Rotulorum: and Chief Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the Parishes of Clarendon and Vere in Jamaica, Captain of a troop of infantry, who died in the 42nd year of his age, 19th July, 1683....

Rich in this world’s goods was Andrew: richer in his renown for virtue and learning: and therefore the richer in honours. The Gods above had given him more, had not the fates unconquerable gainsaid it by laying low the worthless burden of human toil. Yet unless the Gods above and his destiny, faithful to itself, proved wanting, a funeral now holds his body, his soul soaring on high is in heaven. James Barclay, gives vows and dedicates this. 23. Here lyes the body of John Favell, Esqr., who died

30. Sacred to the memory of Walter Comrie, eldest son of Walter Sterling Comrie, late of the parish of Westmoreland, obt. 12 October, 1880, aged 46 years. 31. This tomb was erected by Mr. Daniel Callaghan, consignee, and Messrs. Anderson Thomson & Co., owners of the barque Vere of London in memory of their loyal friend and servant Archibald Boyd, who traded regularly to Jamaica in command of the above vessel for many years. He died at Pusey Hall in this parish on the 24th December 1862,