Westmoreland Jamaica

As Jamaica’s westernmost parish, Westmoreland often seems remote from the centre of government and  commerce of Kingston or even the bustling tourist city of Montego Bay. But to the people of Westmoreland their parish IS the centre of the universe with enough unique features that make it as a parish special and unforgettable. Westmorelanders will point to:

• The longest serving Prime Minister in P.J.Patterson who was not only born in,but represented the parish in Jamaica’s parliament
• The longest and finest stretch of white sand beach IN THE WORLD in Negril
• Only parish in Jamaica where rice-growing has been a consistent agricultural activity for over 150 years
• Only parish that has a settlement comprised of one single ethnic group – German Town
• Only parish where in addition to the Tainos, Ciboney Indians were found to have settled at the time of  the arrival of the Europeans
• The only parish whose capital Savanna-La-Mar has been completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt on not one, but two occasions.

And to the above they will add trivia like the parish and capital both with the longest spelling names and the parish with the most pedal cyclists and motor bikes!

Geographically, Westmoreland’s unique feature is the over 40 square kilometres (10, 000 acres) of morass that takes up 5% of the total extent of the parish, containing plant and animal materials collected over centuries. It also serves as  a natural sanctuary for a wide variety of wildlife and birds.

The parish was founded in 1703 and for the first 50 years of its existence its capital Savanna-La-Mar, meaning literally ‘Plain by the Sea’ – Sav-la-mar for short and ‘Sav’ to the initiated – was twice destroyed by hurricanes in 1748 and 1780. And in 1790 it is reported that a tidal wave swept up the beach for nearly a mile. The town was to have a respite from natural disasters for 122 years  until  November 1912 when, after nine days of continuous rain another hurricane struck, almost wiping out the town. All this is hardly surprising as ‘Sav’ was built on a strip of land running down to the sea between mangroves and swamps which hem it in on both sides. The town literally ends in the sea. Talk about unique!

The parish’s Georges Plain  is drained by its main river the Cabaritta which is almost 40 km long and can actually accommodate ships weighing up to eight tons. There are several smaller rivers among them, the Negril and Roaring Rivers.

Westmoreland’s rich alluvial plain accounted for it being a natural choice for growing sugar, making it one of the chief sugar producing parishes up to the present. An inventory in 1722 numbered the estimated estates at 73 but by 1854 that number had declined to 34 in the aftermath of full Emancipation in 1838. Today, the Frome Central Factory is the only outstanding reminder of how dominant a part sugar played in the economy of the parish and how much it has influenced the economic, social and political direction not only of Westmoreland but the entire country. It was on the Frome estate that the first sparks of the labour riots of 1838 went flying as protests by workers over poor wages and working conditions resulted in a number of deaths and which quickly spread to other parishes, including the capital Kingston. These riots were to bring to national attention future leaders Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley; give birth to the modern Trade Union movement; result in the formation of Jamaica’s two political parties; lead to constitutional change and the introduction of Universal Adult Suffrage in 1944; progress to self-government in 1959 and eventually political  Independence and sovereign status in 1962.

It all began in ‘remote’ Westmoreland.

Sugar was also a determining factor in the make-up of the local population in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

The withdrawal from the estates by the former African enslaved after emancipation in 1838 led to a shortage of labour on the sugar estate which the proprietors and the colonial authorities attempted to solve by importing indentured labour. The first source they tapped was Europe which resulted in over 1000 Germans settling in various parts of the island. In Westmoreland, Seaford Town was established by the government (on a donation from a Lord Seaford) and settled exclusively by immigrants from Northern Germany in 1839 on 500 acres on the Montpelier Mountains. Many left for the USA at the end of their indenture but enough remained in the town to leave their distinctive stamp –blonde hair blue eyes  and Catholic,  still visible today.

When the European indenture experiment failed, the authorities turned to the Chinese but this was equally unsuccessful and so India became their next target. Westmoreland was a major settlement for Indian indentured immigrants and many stayed in the parish after the end of their indenture, some becoming engaged in rice growing in the waters of the Great Morass. Unlike the German and Chinese immigrants, the Indians inter-married with the native African population creating beautiful offsprings who were locally described as ‘Coolie Royals’ A reminder of the parish’s Indian heritage is to be found in the names that survive to the present day –Malahoo, Ramjas, Sattahoo, Rampasad, Cheddisingh, Tingling, Potopsingh and Tulsie to name a few.

Sugar remains an important economic activity in Westmoreland but the parish’s economy is much more diverse today with a range of other crops as well as cattle rearing and fishing. There are said to be around 20 fishing villages in and around the parish with the main ones being in Negril, Little Bay, White House and Bluefields.

The most decisive change to the economy of Westmoreland however, has been brought  about by tourism centered on Negril and its 7-mile strip of white sand beach –at one time regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world. Starting in the 1950s Negril grew from a small fishing village to become the new ‘Eden’ of the US Hippie cultural revolution of the late 1960s. Today some of the world’s largest hotel chains, mainly of the all-inclusive variety,  sit side by side with over 200 small properties most of them locally owned and operated.

Westmoreland is also at the forefront of South Coast tourism for which the area from Whitehouse to Bluefields is developing into a new enclave for development. Here the tourism product (with the exception of Sandals Whitehouse) is built around small boutique properties and on integration into the local community, much like Treasure Beach further along the coast in neighbouring St Elizabeth. Long before Bluefields was ‘discovered’ as a potential resort area, the small beach was a favourite among local Jamaicans who travelled from as far as the parish of Hanover to enjoy its peculiar beauty. Bluefields also has historical provenance; it was a favourite assembling place for fleets and convoys in the 17^th century and it was from here than Henry Morgan sailed to the sack of Panama in 1670.

Earlier, mention was made of the fact that Westmoreland was the birthplace of former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. The parish has also produced another outstanding Jamaican of the same surname. H. Orlando Patterson is author of the groundbreaking work The Sociology of Slavery  and the iconic novel Children of Sisyphus which was the first work to describe in graphic detail life in the Dungle of West Kingston. Patterson has gone on to an outstanding academic career as a Harvard Professor and a respected commentator and analyst for the major media networks  and news magazines in the USA.

A less well-know daughter of the parish but one who has also  received international recognition is Dr Cicely Williams who was born in Kew Park, Darliston in the parish. Dr Williams is noted for her discovery and research into Kwashiorkor, a condition of advanced malnutrition and for her work as an advocate of breast-feeding for infants in preference to condensed milk. She has the distinction of being one of the first women to be admitted into the medical programme of Oxford University in the UK and was one of the first batch of female doctors in that country.  How many Jamaicans have heard of Dr Cicely Williams from the parish of Westmoreland or are aware of the fact that she was the first to receive the national honour of Order of Merit from the government of Jamaica?

What else you didn’t know………

• Peter Tosh (Winston Hubert McIntosh) was born in Grange Hill Westmoreland; a member of the famous Wailers, Tosh also had an outstanding solo musical career as an unapologetic campaigner for equal rights and justice before he was murdered in 1987 at the relatively young age of 42.
• The Westmoreland Building Society , the first of its kind to be established in Jamaica was founded in 1874 by the Revd Henry Clarke to allow persons from varying socioeconomic backgrounds to access savings and loan services. This institution was to merge many years later with other building societies to create the Jamaica National Building Society the largest in Jamaica whose services now include commercial banking as JN Bank.
• The Mannings School in Savanna-La-Mar is the second oldest High School in Jamaica. It was established in 1738 and began as a school only for white boys. Mannings is today a prestigious co-educational institution with a high reputation in academic and sports serving the people of Westmoreland

Does anyone know the reason or have an explanation why the town of Savanna-La- Mar has the largest number of pedal cyclists as well as the largest number of motor cyclists living in Jamaica?