Saint David Parish was one of the historic

parishes of Jamaica The parishes of Jamaica are the main units of local government in Jamaica. They were created following the English Invasion of Jamaica in 1655. This administrative structure for the Colony of Jamaica developed slowly. However, since 1 May 1867 ...

created following colonisation of the island by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. It was in the east of the island in Surrey County Saint David Parish was one of several parishes abolished as part of the administrative reforms introduced following the

Morant Bay rebellion The Morant Bay Rebellion (11 October 1865) began with a protest march to the courthouse by hundreds of people led by preacher Paul Bogle in Morant Bay, Jamaica. Some were armed with sticks and stones. After seven men were shot and killed by th ...

. The new Governor,

John Peter Grant Sir John Peter Grant, GCMG, KCB, (28 November 1807 – 6 January 1893), was a British colonial administrator who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (1859–1862) and as Governor of Jamaica. Life John Peter Grant was born in London on 28 ...

, arrived in 1866. The colony was losing money and when the arrangements of the existing parishes was looked at, a great disparity in populations and sizes was found. Thus in 1861 St David had a population of 6,452 living in an area of 76.5 square miles, while

Saint Elizabeth Parish Saint Elizabeth, one of Jamaica's largest parishes, is located in the southwest of the island, in the county of Cornwall. Its capital, Black River, is located at the mouth of the Black River, the widest on the island. History Saint Elizabe ...

covered 448 square miles with a population of 37,777. Grant set out to make savings by rationalising the Parishes, reducing their number from 22 to 14. To this end the Jamaican Legislative Council passed A Law to Reduce the Number of Parishes (1867/No.20) under which Saint David Parish was merged with the bulk of Saint Thomas in the East Parish from 1 May 1867 to form Saint Thomas Parish.

References

External links

Our Parishes.
gleaner.com

Parishes of Jamaica 1866 disestablishments {{Jamaica-geo-stub