The parish of St. Thomas (or as it was formerly called St. Thomas-in-the-East to distinguish it from St. Thomas-in-the-Vale), which now embraces the former parish of St. David, is one of the oldest parishes in the island. Roby points out that, although St. Thomas was so called before the arrival of Sir Thomas Modyford, Doyley’s immediate successor in the Government was Thomas Hickman, Lord Windsor, after whom it may have been called. But many of the parishes in the sister colonies were named after saints, and we need probably seek no further than the desire to establish church districts in the newly acquired lands for the origin of the names of several of Jamaica’s parishes. It was settled by the Spaniards and was thus described by General Venables, of the army of occupation, 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.” There was a settlement at Yallahs (called Yealoth), when Sir Thomas Modyford surveyed the island in 1663. In 1661 Sir Charles Lyttelton recorded that “the regiment of Port Morant, Morant and Yallahs, commanded by Colonel Lynch, is the richest settlement.” In 1671 Sir Thomas Modyford wrote home, in answer to questions as to church matters, that “Mr. Pickering of St. Thomas and St. Davids at Port Morant and Yallahs, is lately dead and they have none to supply his place.” There is no reference to a church, but rather a suggestion that there was none; “but they meet at each others houses as the primitive Christians do.” There is, however, a church shown at Yallahs in “A new and exact map of Jamaica ... dedicated to Sir Thomas Lynch” in “The Laws of Jamaica” of 1684. Therefore the date of the foundation of =Yallahs Church= was between 1671 and 1684. The chalice and patten belonging to this church are amongst the oldest in the island. They are at present deposited in the offices of the Church of England in Jamaica in Kingston. The chalice, 6 inches high, is inscribed: _John Hammond } William Donaldson } Esqrs. Churchwardens of St. David 1739._ The patten, 9¼ inches in diameter, is inscribed: _St. Davids Thomas Rijues James Lobley Churchwardens 1683._ After Cromwell had acquired Jamaica through the blundering of Penn and Venables at Hispaniola, he set about finding colonists for his new plantation, and conceived the idea of inducing settlers in the Leeward Islands to go thither. Amongst those who acted in the matter was old Luke Stokes, governor of Nevis.