Barrett House - Falmouth Heritage Renewal

What possible connection could the famous sonnet and Jamaica's wealthy 18th century town have in common? Well, both Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the town of Falmouth have the same father!

Edward Barrett Moulton Barrett was a scion of a family whose ancestor, Lt. Hearcey Barrett, had come to Jamaica with Penn and Venables and had received a land grant from Charles II in 1663. By the time of Edward, the family owned vast holdings in St James. With the creation of Trelawny in 1770 their lands spread across two parishes. Cinnamon Hill, Greenwood, Palmyra, Barrett Lands; names still familiar today, were once all owned by the family. Edward's son, also Edward, left Jamaica and went to England where his daughter, Elizabeth, and her eleven younger siblings were born. At least two of her brothers returned home and the eldest actually died at Cinnamon Hill. There was an ongoing lawsuit between Edward and his cousins who lived in Jamaica over inheritances and this resulted in the loss of some, though not all, of his fortune. Descendants of his cousins still live in Jamaica.

When the parish of Trelawny was created, the capital was located at the town of Martha Brae. The parish was extremely wealthy and, recognised the need for a new capital, the Council created a Commission to look into locations with Edward Moulton Barrett as Chairman. Interestingly, the site chosen was on Barrett Lands at Palmetto Point Pen.

Despite Edward wanting to call the new capital Barrett Town, which had been the colloquial name, the Council decided to name it Falmouth for the birthplace in England of Governor Trelawny, after whom the Parish had been named. Falmouth was a planned town laid out on a grid. The town was built, as many towns were at that time, with businesses, wealthy homes and poorer homes all side by side. The wealthy built imposing townhouses in the neoclassical Georgian style, the poorer classes built lovely wooden homes with intricate fretwork and the merchants built their businesses with their homes upstairs. In 1799 the residents petitioned the Government to put in a water supply. This was granted, in the usual way of Governments, based on collection of taxes in the town being able to cover the costs. This system of piped water, in place before that in New York, remained in use for almost 150 years.

In 1794 Edward Moulton Barrett donated a plot of land for the church, St. Peter's Anglican, to be built on and in 1814 land was bought from his heirs to erect the courthouse.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries sugar was King and Jamaica was the world's biggest producer. There were about eighty-eight plantations in Trelawny so that parish was exceedingly wealthy. Falmouth was a free port in regards to tariff on certain items and there were often a dozen ships or more in port, bringing goods from around the world and leaving with sugar. No expense was spared in building Falmouth and the public buildings were as grand as the private ones: the Courthouse alone, built in 1815, cost £20,000 at that time (rebuilt in 1926 after a fire), Town Hall, Post Office, etc. There were five newspapers in operation keeping everyone up to date. The Phoenix Foundry built in 1810 was the second in Jamaica. Here repairs were done to ships and sugar factory equipment and quite likely also ornate ironwork to decorate some of the many mansions. Jamaica's first Masonic Temple was built there in 1798 but was sold almost immediately to the Baptist Missionaries who used it as Manse. It was here that Jamaica's most famous Baptist Missionary and great Abolitionist, William Knibb, resided.

Falmouth Courthouse - Ministry of Justice

Trelawny Parish Church (Church of St Peter the Apostle) - Jamaica Tourist Board

Baptist Manse - Falmouth Heritage Renewal

By 1840 two things happened. The Abolition of slavery in 1838 brought production at some of the less efficient plantations to a complete halt, overall sugar production in Trelawny dropped by more than half between 1838 and 1840. The construction of ships was also changing and steamships began to arrive. This was the end of Falmouth as a shipping port as the harbour was not deep enough, despites attempts made to deepen the harbour. The new railways took products to Montego Bay and the brilliant reign of Falmouth died as quickly as it begun. Houses and businesses were still built but the glory of "the Paris of the Americas" lasted barely half a century. The magnificent Neoclassical town settled into a sleepy country town coming alive only on Market Day. The only significant building after that was the Albert George Market (named for two of Queen Victoria's grandsons) the largest market in the Island, built in 1894.

Since 2005 there has been great controversy over the megalithic cruise ship pier being constructed on reclaimed lands in Falmouth Harbour. Supporters say that it will bring employment and funding to help restore some of the towns former glory. Detractors say that it will be a massive ecological disaster and will turn this once magnificent centre into a theme park. There are good points to both arguments and we will see the results.

Spanish Town

Port Royal
 

Falmouth