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

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

situated at the south eastern end of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, within the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of Surrey. It is the birthplace of Paul Bogle, 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 The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

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 are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

Arawak The Arawak are a group of Indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. The term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to different Indigenous groups, from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno (Island Arawaks), w ...

when

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

first came to the island in 1494. The

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

established

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

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 Portland (), with its capital city, capital town Port Antonio, is a Parishes of Jamaica, parish located on Jamaica's northeast coast. It is situated to the north of Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, St Thomas and to the east of Saint Mary 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 A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

to settle here. About 1600

colonists A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

, mainly from

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an 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 the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

– 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 forced enslaved

Africans The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Sahara ...

to work the sugar cane plantations developed in the area. In 1674, the French

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Du Casse, sailed from

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

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 and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...

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 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 Portland (), with its capital city, capital town Port Antonio, is a Parishes of Jamaica, parish located on Jamaica's northeast coast. It is situated to the north of Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, St Thomas and to the east of Saint Mary 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 A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

, 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 type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

. Baptist deacon and preacher Paul Bogle 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, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand's New Munster province, and Governor of Jamaica. Early life Eyre was born in ...

the

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

of Jamaica in the capital

Spanish Town Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...

, 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 of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

meeting was being held. The authorities read the

Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled ...

, but the protestors ignored it. A few people began to throw stones at the volunteer

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, who fired into the crowd and killed seven people. Later the mob reorganized and returned, setting fire to the

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

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 replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

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; 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 House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

in Kingston. The governor ordered him arrested and returned to Morant Bay, where he was tried under martial law for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

and hanged on 23 October. The following day Bogle was captured by

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

from Moore Town, handed over to the authorities, and hanged. A public outcry in Great Britain led to the appointment of a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

to investigate events. Although Eyre was forced to resign and twice charged with murder, his case never went to trial. In 1969, Paul Bogle was named a National Hero of Jamaica, as were George William Gordon and three others.

Geography and demography

Saint Thomas is located at

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic 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 t ...

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 lett ...

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

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

. 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 mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The Blue Mountains form the northern border of the parish. The parish contains large

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

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 The Plantain Garden River is a river in the parish of St Thomas on the island of Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater ...

, 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 encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

plays a vital part in the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

of Saint Thomas.

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

and

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s 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 a ...

.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 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. Th ...

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

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

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. is ...

s in the western hemisphere. Located in the town of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

* Bath Fountain – mineral spring located in the town of

* 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 * Lyssons Beach – public beach located in the town of Lyssons * Morant Bay Fort – fort dating back to 1773 * Reggae Falls - waterfall and attraction formed from a man-made dam in the community of Hillside, adjacent to Seaforth * Stony Gut – site of Paul Bogle's former chapel, burned during the suppression of the rebellion

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: * St. Thomas Technical High School * Morant Bay High School * Paul Bogle High School * Robert Lightbourne High School * Seaforth High School * Yallahs High School

Politics

Saint Thomas Parish consists of two parliamentary constituencies: Saint Thomas Eastern and Saint Thomas Western.

Notable people

* Winston Blake – Sound system pioneer, music producer, founder of Merritone Music * Paul Bogle – Baptist preacher, Leader of the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion, Jamaican National Hero * Bushman – Reggae artist * Juliet Cuthbert – Olympic and IAAF World Championships medalist * Len Garrison – 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 * Natty King – Reggae artist * Morgan Heritage – Reggae band * Hansle Parchment – Olympic and World Championships medalist * Popcaan – Reggae artist * Alvas Powell – National football player * Tarrus Riley – Reggae artist * Toni-Ann Singh – Singer and Miss World 2019 * Skillibeng – Reggae artist * Barrington Watson – Jamaican painter who maintained a residence at Orange Park near Yallahs in St. Thomas

References

Parish Information

The 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