Trelawny (Jamaican Patois: Trilaani or Chrilaani) is a parish in the county of Cornwall in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Elizabeth and Manchester in the south. Trelawny is known for producing several Olympic sprinters.

History

In 1770, the wealthy planters in St James and St Ann succeeded in having sections of those parishes become the parish of Trelawny as they were too far from administrative centres. Trelawny was named after Sir William Trelawny, 6th Baronet, the then Governor of Jamaica, whose prominent family had originated at the manor of Trelawny in the parish of Pelynt in Cornwall, England. The first capital was Martha Brae, located inland from Rock Bay.

Trelawny is best known for its sugar estates and sugar cane mills. It had more sugar estates than any other parish, so there was need for a sea coast town to export it. Falmouth became a thriving seaport and social centre. The town had two of its own newspapers; The Falmouth Post and The Falmouth Gazette.

Trelawny was also home to the largest group of Jamaican Maroons. A 1739 treaty between the Maroons and the English gave the Maroons freedom and land, which effectively put a stop to their raids on the plantations. However, a second Maroon uprising in 1795 led to about 600 Maroons being exiled to Nova Scotia, Canada, and later to Sierra Leone in Africa, in 1800.

In 2007, the opening ceremony for the ICC Cricket World Cup was held in Trelawny Parish.

Geography

Trelawny is located at latitude 18°15'N, longitude 77°46'W. It has an area of 874&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, making it the fifth largest parish on the island. It has a population of 75,558 as of 2012.

Trelawny Parish is the birthplace of several track and field athletes: Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Marvin Anderson, Ricardo Chambers, Omar Brown, Michael Frater, Lerone Clarke, Dane Hyatt, Rosemarie Whyte, Michael Greene, Inez Turner, Debbie-Ann Parris, Sanya Richards, Ben Johnson and Warren Weir. It is also the birthplace basketball players Samardo Samuels and Kentan Facey.

The supercentenarian Violet Brown (1900–2017), who was at a time the oldest verified living person in the world, was born and resided in Trelawny. Other notable citizens include DJ Kamau Preston, dancehall artists Anthony B and Charly Black, scholar Rex Nettleford, and American footballer Atari Bigby.

References

  • The Political Geography of Jamaica
  • Falmouth News – Trelawny, Jamaica