Saint Thomas, once known as ''Saint Thomas in the East'', is a suburban

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

situated at the south eastern end of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, within the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Surrey. It is the birthplace of the Right Honourable

Paul Bogle Paul Bogle (1822– 24 October 1865)Dugdale-Pointon, T. Military History Encyclopedia good on the Web, 22 September 2008. was a Jamaican Baptist deacon and activist. He is a National Hero of Jamaica. He was a leader of the 1865 Morant Bay pr ...

, designated in 1969 as one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes. Morant Bay, its chief town and capital, is the site of the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865, of which Bogle was a leader. Representative George William Gordon, a wealthy

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

businessman and politician from this district, was tried and executed in 1865 under martial law on suspicion of directing the rebellion. Governor Eyre was forced to resign due to the controversy over his execution of Gordon and violent suppression of the rebellion. Gordon was designated in 1969 as a National Hero.

Brief history

Saint Thomas was densely populated by the

Taíno The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the pri ...

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Great ...

when

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

first came to the island in 1494. The

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...

established

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

ranches at Morant Bay and Yallahs. In 1655, when the English captured

, they organised their new territory into a number of parishes. This was when Saint Thomas Parish was established, administering part of what is now Portland Parish, which was not established until 1722, and excluding what is now the western part of the parish, which was in the historic Saint David Parish. The Crown invited residents from other British

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

to settle here. About 1600 colonists, mainly from

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...

– including the Governor of Nevis, his wife, children – settled there. In a short time, however, two-thirds of them died of tropical fevers. The colony began to rebuild. They imported enslaved Africans to work the sugar cane plantations developed in the area. In 1674, the French Admiral Du Casse, sailed from

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

and landed at Morant Bay on 17 June. For a month, he raided local settlers, killing many and carrying off their slaves. Later, bands of

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

settled in the mountains of St. Thomas.

Saint Thomas in the East

In 1676, when Saint Thomas in the Vale Parish, the parish became known as "Saint Thomas in the East Parish". It retained this name until 1 May 1867 when the parish system of colonial administration was reformed by 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 ...

who introduced A Law to Reduce the Number of Parishes (1867/No.20). In the 18th century they joined with the Maroons in Portland parish to form the Windward Maroons. Slaves long constituted the majority of the population of the parish. In 1834 the British government abolished slavery, ending it fully in 1838 after a four-year "apprenticeship." But decades later, freedmen struggled to gain land to cultivate and generally worked at very low wages. As they generally could not afford to pay the poll tax, so were excluded from voting.

Morant Bay Rebellion

In October 1865, the Morant Bay rebellion took place in St Thomas. Formerly enslaved people and their descendants all over

were discontented about the social injustices, particularly on the question of land

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

. Baptist deacon and preacher

of St. Thomas parish led a delegation of small farmers who walked to present their grievances to

Edward John Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica. Early life Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved t ...

the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Jamaica in the capital Spanish Town, but they were denied an audience. Angered after a case in which a peasant was convicted of trespass on a long-abandoned plantation, on 11 October, Paul Bogle and his followers, armed with sticks and machetes marched to the Court House in Morant Bay where a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

meeting was being held. The authorities read the Riot Act, but the protestors ignored it. A few people began to throw stones at the volunteer

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, who fired into the crowd and killed seven people. Later the

mob Mob or MOB may refer to: Behavioral phenomena * Crowd * Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication Crime and law enforcement * American Mafia, also known as the Mob * Irish Mob, a US crimin ...

reorganized and returned, setting fire to the

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

House and nearby buildings. When the custos, Maximillian von Ketelhodt, and others tried to leave the burning building, the mob killed them. A total of 25 people died on both sides that day. During the next two days the peasants took over St. Thomas parish. The governor declared

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in the parish and ordered troops to suppress the rebellion. More than 430 people were killed outright by soldiers in suppression of the rebellion, and more than 1,000 homes were burned to the ground, leaving thousands of people homeless. They arrested more than 300, executing some and punishing many innocent people.Clinton Hutton, "Review: '' 'The Killing Time': The Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica'' by GAD Heuman, ''Social and Economic Studies'' Vol. 44, No. 1 (MARCH 1995), pp. 191-205, published by Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies; via JSTOR; accessed 13 July 2016
/ref> Representative George William Gordon, who was in touch with Paul Bogle, spoke out for the workers in the House of Assembly in Kingston. The governor ordered him arrested and returned to Morant Bay, where he was tried under martial law for conspiracy and hanged on 23 October. The following day Bogle was captured by

Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were ensl ...

from Moore Town, handed over to the authorities, and hanged. A public outcry in Great Britain led to the appointment of a Royal Commission to investigate events. Although Eyre was forced to resign and twice charged with murder, his case never went to trial. In 1969, the Right Excellent

was named a National Hero of Jamaica, as were George William Gordon,

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

, Sir Alexander Bustamante, and

Norman Washington Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate ...

Geography and demography

Saint Thomas is located at

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

18°05'N,

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...

76°40'W, to the south of Portland, and the east of

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

. With an area of , it ranks as Jamaica's ninth-largest parish. It is very mountainous, with ranges that include the Port Royal Mountains, stretching from above Newcastle in St Andrew, to Albion in St Thomas; the Queensbury Ridge, between the Yallahs and Negro rivers; and to the extreme south, an isolated ridge called Yallahs Hill, with its highest elevation above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. The Blue Mountains form the northern border of the parish. The parish contains large wetlands areas, comprising 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, measuring long; the Morant River, measuring long; and the Plantain Garden River, measuring long. The latter is the only eastward flowing river in the island. The total population of the parish is 94,410. The ethnic makeup of Saint Thomas is 88.2% Black, 7.6% Asian, 3.2% White, and 1% Other. "The parish has a relatively youthful population. Approximately 54.7% of the parish’s population was 29 years or younger: children under 0-14 years accounted for 27% of the population, youths of 15 to 29 years accounted for 27.7%. The working-age population (15-64 years) accounted for 64.1%, reflecting the national distribution. The elderly, 65 years and over, accounted for 8.9%; this figure is lower than the national proportion of 11.1% reported by the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (2010).""Morant Bay/St. Thomas Parish Council, Jamaica"
Prime Business Destinations, 2016; accessed 13 July 2016

Commerce

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

plays a vital part in the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

of Saint Thomas. Sugar and bananas were the main items produced for

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

.The St. Thomas Parish sugar mill Golden Grove closed in July 2019. Most small farmers produce domestic and orchard crops, which provide the main source of employment. Serge Island Dairies is located in the parish. St. Thomas also has many

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

for food processing and electrical equipment. Current efforts are being made by Upliftment Jamaica to create, support and provide opportunities to the people of St. Thomas, and to encourage economic and social transformation on a community and county-wide basis. Over 10,000 people benefit annually from this organization, via year-round projects and events, with numbers rapidly increasing.

Transportation

Roads

The coast of St. Thomas is skirted by the A4, which runs from Kingston to Annotto Bay. The primary secondary road runs east to west along the foot of the Blue Mountains from Golden Grove to

Richmond Vale Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

, with north-south connecting roads linking it to the A4 at Pleasant Hill, Port Morant, Morant Bay, Church Corner, Belvedere, Yallahs, Albion and Eleven Mile.

Rail

Rail transport in St. Thomas was formerly limited to estate light railways, such as the one serving the former Bowden banana shipment port.Aerial view
All have ceased operation.

Sea

The Morant Point Lighthouse guards the easternmost tip of the parish and the island.

Attractions

* Bath Botanical Gardens - one of the oldest

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s in the western hemisphere. Located in the town of Bath * Bath Fountain - mineral spring located in the town of Bath * Blue Mountains - mountain range extending over a portion of St. Thomas parish * Judgement Cliff - sheer cliff face near Easington created in 1692 by the same earthquake that destroyed Port Royal *

Morant Bay Fort Morant is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Angela Morant (b. 1941), English actress * Blake Morant, Dean of George Washington University School of Law * Breaker Morant, (1864–1902), Australian drover, horseman, bush poet an ...

- fort dating back to 1773 * Stony Gut - site of

's former chapel, burned during suppression of the rebellion * Lyssons Beach - public beach located in the town of Lyssons

Education

St. Thomas is home to several secondary institutions of education. Morant Bay High School, established in 1961, was the first of its kind in the parish of St. Thomas. High schools in St. Thomas include: * Morant Bay High School * Paul Bogle High School * Robert Lightbourne High School * Seaforth High School * St. Thomas Technical High School * Yallahs High School

Politics

Saint Thomas Parish is part of two parliamentary constituencies; Saint Thomas Eastern and

Saint Thomas Western Saint Thomas Western is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Jamaica, Jamaican Parliament. It covers the western part of Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, Saint Thomas Parish. It has been repres ...

Notable people

* Isaac Barrant - Politician * Winston Blake - Sound system pioneer, music producer, founder of Merritone Music *

- Baptist preacher, Leader of the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion, Jamaican National Hero * Hanif Brown - Spelling Bee Champion and Spelling Bee Coach * Bushman - Reggae artist * Chronic Law - Reggae artist * Juliet Cuthbert - Olympic and IAAF World Championships medalist *

Len Garrison Lenford Alphonso (Kwesi) Garrison (13 June 1943 – 18 February 2003) was an educationalist, community activist and historian whose life's work was to catalogue the development of the black British identity and its history and promote the works o ...

- Co-founder of the Black Cultural Archives * George William Gordon - Businessman and politician, representative to the House of Assembly, associated with the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion and Jamaican National Hero * Jermaine Hue - Former Jamaican national football player * Dionne Jackson-Miller - Lawyer and journalist * Natty King - Reggae artist * Robert Lightbourne - Politician * Morgan Heritage - Reggae band * Hansle Parchment - Olympic and World Championships medalist *

Popcaan Andrae Hugh Sutherland (born 19 July 1988), known professionally as Popcaan, is a Jamaican singer. In 2008, Popcaan joined Vybz Kartel's Gaza Music Empire. In 2010, he released his breakthrough international hit "Clarks" with Kartel, an ode ...

- Reggae artist * Alvas Powell - National football player *

Tarrus Riley Omar "Tarrus" Riley (born April 26, 1979, Bronx, New York, United States) is a Jamaican-American reggae singer and member of the Rastafari movement.Kenner, Rob (2009)Reggae Singer With a Legacy, a Following and a Mission. ''New York Times''. 21 ...

- Reggae artist *

Toni-Ann Singh Toni-Ann Singh (born February 1996) is a Jamaican beauty queen who won Miss World 2019. She was previously crowned Miss Jamaica World 2019 and is the fourth woman from Jamaica to win Miss World. She is also the longest-reigning Miss World in the ...

- Singer and

Miss World 2019 Miss World 2019, the 69th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 14 December 2019 at the ExCeL London in London, United Kingdom. Vanessa Ponce of Mexico crowned her successor Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica at the end of the event. Backgroun ...

* Skillibeng - Reggae artist *

Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Aust ...

- Reggae artist * Stevie Face - Reggae artist *

Barrington Watson Basil Barrington Watson (9 January 1931 – 26 January 2016) was a Jamaican painter. Biography Born in 1931 January 9th in Lucea, Barrington Watson made his original mark in Jamaica as a football player for Kingston College. However, he ultima ...

- Jamaican painter who maintained a residence at Orange Park near Yallahs in St. Thomas

References

Parish InformationThe statistical Institute of Jamaica

External links

{{coord, 17, 54, N, 76, 26, W, display=title, region:JM_type:adm1st_source:GNS-enwiki Parishes of Jamaica