| Abbey Green was owned from 1811 by John Boswell, who employed 186 slaves on his coffee plantation. Afterwards Abbey Green was owned by the late Robert Stott of England. Abbey, in the parish of St. Thomas, first known as Abbey Farm, is said have been owned in 1879 by the Hope.
After the English occupation (1655) it was called “Freeman’s Bay”, named after Thomas Freeman, who owned the largest tract of land there. The town was said to be first laid ‘out by Peter Ballette, and was called “Peterborough”. When it finally became known as Morant Bay is uncertain. Airy Castle on the summit of steep hills, is aptly named. It is now a town of some importance. Albion and the sugar became known, and still is known, as’ Albion sugar’.
Albion was owned in 1870 by Juan Grinan, who was born in Cuba. He did much for the sugar industry at the Grinan Estates in Clarendon, and was the first planter to make white sugar. This was done at Amity Hall — there are four Amity Halls in Jamaica: in Amity Hall in St. Thomas was first owned by Thomas Cussans and inherited by his son, Alexander. Embedded in an old tree, which evidently grew through a tomb, is an inscription to Alexander Cussans.
Amity Hall in St. Thomas is said to have been afterwards acquired by Sir Simon Taylor, largest land proprietor in Jamaica in the eighteenth century. He was Member of the House of Assembly for Kingston. A later historical fact concerning the village of Amity Hall, which originally was a part of the Amity Hall estate, was that in the early 19th century the Quakers (Friends) Mission of America began work there, firstly establishing a school for East Indians who worked on the Golden Grove and other estates in that vicinity. The school was in the charge of the pioneer Quaker missionary, Miss Mary White from America, who gave nearly a lifetime of service to Jamaica, working not only in St. Thomas, but in St. Mary and Portland. She died at Amity Hall in 1967 at the age of 102.
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Amity Hall is now owned by F.M. Jones Estates Limited. Bachelor’s Hall is a place-name found in both St. Thomas and in Hanover. Bachelor’s Hall in St. Thomas and Barking Lodge is a property which was owned in 1811 by the heirs of Ambrose S. Carter. Barrant Street And Hospital near Morant Bay, are named after Isaac Barrant, who was Member of the House of Representatives for that parish from 1944 until his death in 1956. He was also Minister of Agriculture and Lands. The Isaac Barrant Memorial Hospital replaced Hordley Hospital, known for many years in St. Thomas.
Bath, St. Thomas, is a thermal spring of curative value, discovered in the 18th century by a slave owned by Colonel Stanton, who granted him his freedom for the valuable discovery. The Bath of the Apostle, St. Thomas, was established here in 1703. In 1749, part of the land was used for the establishment of a town, which took the name of the spring. Belvedere, St. Thomas, is an estate of 2,200 acres. It was owned by Colonel Thomas Freeman, who was the first Speaker of the House of Assembly in the 17th century (Cundall, Historic Jamaica, p. 1 5). The name Belvedere was often applied in England to a summer house with an extensive view, and places of the same name are found in several parishes in Jamaica.
Bowden, St. Thomas, is said to have been named after William Bowden, one of 500 settlers — including Luke Stokes, Governor of the Leeward Islands — who, responding to a call from Cromwell, settled in this part of the island in 1656. Bull Bay was once known as ‘Cow Bay’ and recalls the days of buccaneers — or ‘Cow Killers’ — who roamed the country hunting for wild cattle, which were abundant here. Bull Bay is now a small town.
Bustamante Bridge, St. Thomas, spans the Johnson River at the western entrance to Morant Bay, and was for many years known as Olivier Bridge. It was rebuilt in 1968 and named after the Right Hon. Sir Alexander Bustamante. Cedar Valley, in St. Thomas; is said to be so named because of the cedar trees which once grew there. In the nineteenth century, it was owned by William Williamson of Mount Holstein, who was a native of Scotland. He died in 1853. A building of particular interest is an old court house built in Cedar Valley in 1894.
Corn Puss Gap, above Bath Fountain in St. Thomas, got this odd name from the fact that hikers in these hills, being lost, caught a cat, “corned” it and ate it there. Dalvey was a property first owned by Sir Alexander Grant in 1 811. It is now a village. Duckenfield, in St. Thomas (now a sugar estate), is named after Robert Duckenfield, Member of the Assembly in Kingston, 1731.
Easington was the capital of the parish of St. David before it was merged into the parish of St. Thomas. However, there is still a road, bridge, and civic square which bear this name. In January, 1966 a plaque was erected in the garden and civic square at EASING- TON commemorating the centenary of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1 865. It is inscribed with these words: Golden Grove in St. Thomas had as its first owner Thomas Cussans, and afterwards Sir Simon Taylor, large landed proprietor of the 18th and 19th centuries. Lady Nugent in her “Journal” describes her visit there as follows: “After fording Sulphur and Devil’s River we arrived safe there. It is an excellent house, surrounded by sugar works, cane fields, coconut trees etc.” (Lady Nugent’s Journal,) The Golden Grove Estate still exists, but there is now a town as well, which has an interesting old Episcopal Church.
Hagley Gap is named after “Hagley”, the home of the Lyttletons of Worchestershire, England. Mr. William H. Lyttleton was Governor of Jamaica from 1762 to 1766. Hall Head, St. Thomas, is named after Hall Head in Scotland, claimed to be the country seat of Alexander Gordon, an early Scottish settler in Jamaica. Hampton Court originated in Middlesex, England. It is near the Duckenfield Sugar Estate, and is a small town. Places of particular interest there are the Isaac Barrant Memorial Hospital, named after a well-known politician and labour leader, and the Stokes Hall Basic School, the historic name, Stokes, that of the Governor of Nevis, who in 1656 brought 500 English settlers to this part of the island.
Hebron is named after the town south-west of Jerusalem. Holland, St. Thomas, was first owned by Sir Simon Taylor, one of the largest land proprietors circa 1800. It is thought to be so named because of its similarity to Holland in the Netherlands, with flat lands and a network of canals down which, in the early history of sugar estates in the island, hogsheads of sugar were sent in barges to the seaport. It is now owned by Fred M. Jones Estates, Ltd.
Hordley was owned by an English absentee proprietor, Monk Lewis. On his annual visits to Jamaica, he gave graphic accounts in his books of his slaves and what happiness his visits brought them. His books of Jamaica are to be seen in the Institute of Jamaica’s West India Reference Library, East Street, Kingston.
In east-central St. Thomas, Arcadia is a thriving village. Johnston Mountain located on the lower ridge of what was first known as “John Crow Mountain” (now officially “Blake Mountains”) bears the surname of an early English settler. It is an area where small settlers have their homes and cultivations of bananas and coconuts, and in the centre is a Baptist Church, established within recent years by the Rev. A.E. Brown, B.A., B .D., of the Jamaica Baptist Union. The road to
Judgment Cliff gained this name from an incident which occurred there at the time of the earthquake in 1692. A part of this cliff fell, covering the estate of a notoriously wicked Dutchman, who was buried alive. Leith Hall, near Port Morant in St. Thomas, was named after its first owner, Thomas Leith. This property was acquired by G.E. Marchalleck in 1910, and remained in that branch of the family until 1969, when it was bought by Jasper Marchalleck, who still owns it (1971). There is a Leith Hall Village, facing which is a very old disused cemetery.
Llandewey is a district of some importance. Llandewey is in St. Thomas. This name originated in north-east Wales. Lloyds in St. Thomas may have been named after Lloyds Segree, one of the owners. Lyssons is named after Nicholas Lissons, who came from the island of Anguilla with Luke Stokes in 1665 and received letters of patent in that year for 144 acres near Morant Bay; in 1666 for 120 acres; and in 1669 for 180. This colonist, whose name is variously spelt “Lycence”, “Lissons”, and “Lyssons”, became a Member of the Assembly for St. Thomas.
Monklands was owned in its early history by Monk Lewis, and may have been named after him. Morant Bay, capital of St. Thomas, was a part of the Hatos de Morante of the Spaniards. In Historic Jamaica (1915) by Cundall, we fmd this description given by General Venables in 1655: “Morante is a large and beautiful hato, being four leagues in length, consisting of many small savannahs, and has wild cattle and hogs in very great plenty, and ends at the mine, which is at the cape or point of Morante itself by which towards the north is the port of Antonio”.
Of further historic interest is the fact that an Anglican church is mentioned as existing at Yallahs in 1684, owned by Sir. Joseph Tharpe and his wife Sarah. The Panton family. Circa 1 895 it came into the possession of the Rev, and Mrs. Edwin Mowl of England. Rev. Mowl and his wife arrived in Jamaica in 1884 and were stationed by the Baptist Missionary Society at Linstead in St. Catherine. He was afterwards transferred to the First Church, Montego Bay (now known as Burchell Memorial), but moved to St. Thomas in 1895, where he took charge of the Richmond Vale Baptist sphere of churches. Rev. Mowl died in 1924 and was survived by his wife and five children: Eddie; Kathleen, who married a Mr. Wyatt and lived in Canada, and had one son; Dorothy, who married Alan Mornan; Birdie, who married Charlie Mornan; and Daisy.
Rolandsfield is named after Lord Rolandsfield, the first owner. Rolandsfield is now a Land Settlement. Rose Hall was named after Co1one1 William Rose of the army of Penn and Venables (1655) at his death by a will possessed by Francis Rose. Seaford was first owned by the Duncan McKenzie family, and the Scottish clan is associated with the name “Seaford” as both the Earidom of Seaford (forfeited in 1715) and the Baronetcy of Seaford, Kindale, were held by the McKenzies. Lord Seaford was Governor of Barbados and, early in the 19th century, owned property there.
Serge Island is a sugar estate owned by Serge Island Estate Ltd. Stanton in St. Thomas is thought to have been named after Colonel Stanton, early English settler, whose slave found the mineral spring which became known as “Bath Fountain”, not far from this property. Stokes field And Stokes hall are named after Luke Stokes, a forńierGovemor of Nvis, who answered the call of Cromwell for settlers to Jamaica, then referred to as Cromwell’s ‘beloved plantation’. Luke Stokes arrived in Jamaica in 1656 with his wife and two sons and about 1,600 persons: men, women, children, and servants. The history of the settlers was tragic: Stokes chose to settle on land which had been the site of an old Spanish ranch, the Hato de Morante, which was named Stokesfield after him; it proved to be a very unhealthy spot, and by March, 1656, two-thirds of the original company, including Stokes and his wife, succumbed to the then prevalent fever. Eventually things improved, and the remaining settlers, including Stokes’ sons, recovered and proceeded to build what became a great estate. The first Great House at Stokesfield was abandoned, and what thought to be a more healthy location was chosen: the Stokes Hall Great House was erected there and was in preservation for many years, but now (1972) only a wall remains.
Stokes Hall then passed into the hands of a Mr. Cato, who leased the house to the Church of England for a rectory. In 1900 Stokes Hall was again leased, this time by a Mr. A.C. Bancroft, who lived there with his family until 1920. The Stokes Hall estate is now owned by Jamaica Sugar Estate Limited. Recently a basic school in that area has been named Stokes Hall, thus further perpetuating Luke Stokes’ name.
Stokes Hall was the home of Jacob Stokes, who became a Member of the House for St. David’s, now part of St. Thomas. In 1746 it was mortgaged by another Jacob Stokes, grandson of Luke, to a Daniel McQueen. After the death of Stokes in 1748, the place was taken over by McQueen, who remained there until he died in 1758, after which Stokes’ daughter, Ann, and her husband, Richard Cargill, instituted legal proceedings which resulted in their regaining Stokes Hall. In 1810 the estate was owned by the trustees of Alexander Donaldson. In 1820 it was advertised for sale and described as “containing 1,400 acres of land”, including Hampton Court, which was later purchased.
Sugar Loaf Hill was the Punta de Los Ananones of the Spaniards. The first attempt to construct a Baptist church in Jamaica was made by the Rev. Joshua Tinson at Yallahs in 1822. Because he was denied a licence to preach, he went to Kingston, but returned in 1828. After the acquisition of land, not only a church but also a school were built.
The place-name, Yallahs, could have come from various sources. It may have been derived from the word yalos, meaning “frosts”, because in that locality “the high white cliffs had an appearance of frost”; or it may have been named after Spain’s representative at Habana — de Ayala. However, as Yallahs was the haunt of Captain Yhallahs, a privateer in and about 1671, it could well approximate his name.
Thomas is now a land settlement. In the latter part of the 19th century, Bachelor’s Hall in Hanover was Trinityville is a small country town with a Baptist church in the centre. Wheeler’s Field is named after Thomas Wheeler, one of the early English settlers who came from St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla with Luke Stokes, governor of those islands, to settle in St. Thomas in 1656.
When the island was surveyed in 1663 by Sir Thomas Modyford, then governor of Jamaica, there was a district listed as “Yealot”. White Horses is the Barreras Blancas of the Spaniards. Whitehall was owned in the 18th century by Orlando Hodgson and his wife, Jane. A tablet to his wife is to be seen in Holy Trinity Church at Trmityville in this parish. Whitfield Hall on a range of the Blue Mountain, is an old mountain hostel for hikers to the Mountain, which can be reached from Whitfield Hall in two and a half hours.
Winchester is found in St. Thomas and St. Catherine. Winchester in St. Thomas was owned in its early history by the Phillips family; Yallahs — Village, Bay, River, Point — is a place— name found in St. Thomas. Eleven Miles is so named because it is 11 miles east of Kingston. Eleven Miles Road passes Liandewey in the St. Thomas hills and goes into the heart of the Blue Mountains. Eleven Miles is now an important industrial centre in St. Thomas, the site of a growing series of manufacturing plants and factories, under the aegis of the Jamaica Industrial Development Corporation. Mahogany Grove and Mahogany Vale in St. Thomas, and Mahogany Hill in Hanover. |
Kingston 
