=Negril Harbour= is sometimes called Bloody Bay, said to be due to the
killing of whales there in former times. In it is a tomb of George
Murray (d. 1804), custos, who laid the foundation-stone of the church in
1797. At =Cross Path= is the tomb of Colonel John Guthrie (d. 1739),
custos of the parish and colonel of the militia, who reduced the rebel
negroes who had for many years harassed the island; at =Dryworks= there
is the tomb of Colonel William Williams (d. 1723), custos of the parish,
who had rendered valuable services during the hurricane of 1772, and
William Lewis (d. 1774), grandfather of Matthew Gregory Lewis; On the
roadside near =Kew Park= is a soldier’s tomb with the following
inscription:
In the rear of this stone lie the remains of Obediah Chambers, late a
private of the Light Infantry Company W.I.R. which, on the 5th of
January 1830 fell into an ambush of rebellious slaves, near this spot,
by whom the deceased was cruelly butchered.
A brave man, & valorous in course of life here, who died a Soldier &
an honest man.
This stone is erected by the Officers & N.C. Officers of the 6th
Battn. Coy.
At =Harmony Hall= is the tomb of John Lewis (d. 1820), chief justice and
custos of the parish, and also of Mary Lewis (d. 1813). At =Three-Mile
River= Estate is a mausoleum with a large marble slab “to the memory of
James Graham, late of this island” (d. 1795), erected by his friend John
Wedderburn. =Drummond= and =Indian Head= both have caves with Arawâk
remains.
XIII
ST. ELIZABETH
The parish of St. Elizabeth was probably named in honour of Elizabeth,
Lady Modyford, the daughter of William Palmer, whose tombstone is in the
cathedral. It is one of the largest parishes and one of the most
important. In the parish church at =Black River= are memorial tablets
recalling to the memory of the living the many good qualities of the
departed St. Elizabeth gentry. The handsomest are those on either side
of the chancel to the memory of Caleb Dickenson and Robert Hugh Munro,
founders of the Munro and Dickenson’s trust, which to-day maintains two
of the principal schools in the island. The Maroon township called
Accompong on the northern boundary of the parish has been referred to in
the account of the neighbouring parish of St. James.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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