| In the 18th century, the town was a British naval stronghold, and even today, there is evidence of British architecture in the parish square; the Anglican stone church, built in 1840, and the DeMontevin Lodge, 1881 — now a popular guest house on Titchfield Peninsula — and Fort George, 1729, which overlooks the harbours with its cannons pointing towards the sea.
Titchfield Peninsula is also home to the The Titchfield School, 1785, which is one of the oldest and most respected private secondary schools in the Caribbean. The school is located on Fort George.
In the 1700s when sugar cane and coffee were being cultivated by African slave labour, many slaves were able to plan rebellions and escape into the mountainous interior, as the slaves outnumbered their white masters ten to one.
The parish was generally uninhabited, however, and in 1723, the Governor began offering free land to white Protestants, and to free mulattos, Indians or Negroes in an attempt to populate this parish. This seemed only to attract more British, and the Maroons, who were runaway slaves living in the Blue and John Crow Mountains, were determined not to let the British take over the parish.
A series of battles took place in the 1730s, which would end when the British and the Maroon settlement, governed by "Nanny of the Maroon", sign a treaty in 1739. 'Nanny of the Maroon' would later become Jamaica's first and only National Heroine.
Tourism also played an integral role in the development of the Portland. The business began in the mid 19th century, with the exportation of banana. Port Antonio, the capital, was renowned as the 'World's Banana Capital'.
Jamaica's tourism was virtually born in this parish, when banana boats returning from Boston, U.S.A. brought the first tourists to Jamaica.
Another boost to the local economy occurred when Errol Flynn's yacht washed ashore in bad weather. He fell in love with the area and bought property on Navy Island, just off the coast, where he entertained his Hollywood friends. |