Everything about Saint Thomas Parish Jamaica totally explained
Saint Thomas is a
parish that's situated at the south eastern end of
Jamaica, in the
county of Surrey. It is the birth place of The right Honorable
Paul Bogle, one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes.
Morant Bay, its chief town and
capital, is the home of the
Morant Bay Rebellion, of which Bogle and
George William Gordon were leaders.
Brief history
Saint Thomas was densely populated by the
Tainos/
Arawaks when
Christopher Columbus first came to the island in
1494. The
Spaniards established
cattle ranches at Morant Bay and Yallahs. In
1655, when the
English captured
Jamaica, residents from other British
colonies were invited to settle here. About 1600
colonists, mainly from
Nevis —including the Governor of Nevis, his wife, children — settled there. In a short time, however, two-thirds of them died of
fevers.
In
1674, the
French Admiral Du Casse, sailed from
Santo Domingo and landed at Morant Bay on
June 17. For a month, he wrought havoc on the settlers there, killing many and carrying off their slaves. Later, bands of
Maroons settled in the
mountains of St Thomas and they eventually joined with the Maroons in
Portland to form the Windward Maroons.
The Morant Bay rebellion
St Thomas is also the home of the famous Morant Bay Rebellion, in
1865. The ex-slaves all over
Jamaica were discontented about the injustices being meted out to them, particularly on the question of land
tenure.
Paul Bogle led a delegation of small farmers that walked 45 miles to present their grievances to
Governor Eyre in
Spanish Town, but they were denied an audience. On October 11, Paul Bogle and his followers armed with sticks and
machetes went to the Court House where a
vestry meeting was being held. The
Riot Act was read, but was virtually ignored. A few people began to throw stones at the volunteers, who fired into the crowd killing seven people. Later the
mob reorganized and returned, setting fire to the
Court House and nearby buildings. When the custos Maximillian von Ketelhodt and others tried to leave the burning building, they were killed by the mob.
George William Gordon, who was in touch with Paul Bogle, tried to improve the lot of the workers by speaking out in the
House of Assembly. However, he was taken by boat to Morant Bay, where he was tried for
conspiracy and
hanged on October 23. The following day Bogle was captured by the Maroons, handed over to the authorities, and hanged.
Over 430 people were killed or executed by soldiers in the rebellion, and over 1,000 homes were burned to the ground. Public outcry led to the appointment of a
Royal Commission to investigate the events. In
1969, the Right Excellent
Paul Bogle was named a National Hero, along with
George William Gordon,
Marcus Garvey,
Sir Alexander Bustamante and
Norman Washington Manley.
Geography and Demography
Saint Thomas is located at
latitude 18°05'N,
longitude 76°40'W, to the south of
Portland, and the east of
St. Andrew. With an area of 742.8
square kilometres (286.8 square
miles), it ranks as Jamaica's ninth largest parish. It is a very mountainous parish, and the ranges include the Port Royal Mountains, stretching from above Newcastle in St Andrew, to Albion in St Thomas; the Queensbury Ridge, between Yallahs and Negro River; and to the extreme south, an isolated ridge called Yallahs Hill, with its highest elevation 2,394 feet above
sea level. Its northern border is the Blue Mountains.
There are large wetland areas, which include the coastal area between Morant Bay and Hector's River. There are also many cliffs and beaches.
There are three main rivers in the parish; the Yallahs River, 36.9
kilometres (22.9
miles long, the Morant River, 21.9 kilometres (16.1 miles), and the Plantain Garden River, 34.9 kilometres (21.9 miles) long. The latter is the only one in the island to flow eastward. One of the two famous spas in Jamaica
Saint Thomas is divided into the following: 88.2% black, 7.6% Asians, 3.2% whites and 1% others
Commerce
Agriculture plays a vital part in the
economy.
Sugar and
bananas are the main items produced for
export. Most small farmers produce domestic and orchard crops and this is the main source of employment. Serge Island Dairies is also found in the parish. St. Thomas also has many
factories for food processing and electrical equipment. Current efforts are being made by
Upliftmentjamaica.org to create, support and provide opportunities to the people of St. Thomas, and continue on going transformation in the community and the country as a whole. Over 10,000 people benefit annually from this organization, via year round projects and events, with numbers rapidly increasing daily.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Saint Thomas Parish Jamaica'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://saint_thomas_parish__jamaica.totallyexplained.com">Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
