Brief History
The earliest inhabitants of Westmoreland were the Arawak and Ciboney Indians. The Ciboney were first to arrive from the coast of South America around 500 B.C. They were also known as “cave dwellers” and lived along the cliffs of Negril. The labyrinth of caves and passageways beneath what is now the Xtabi Hotel in Negril are one of the first known settlements of Ciboney Indians in Jamaica.
Christopher Columbus stopped at Westmoreland on his second voyage when he landed in Jamaica. One of the first Spanish settlements was also built at what is now Bluefields in this parish.
The parish was named Westmoreland in 1703, because it was the most westerly point in the island. Savanna-la-Mar, a town by the coast, replaced Banbury as the capital in 1730.
In 1938, riots at the Frome sugar estate, changed the course of Jamaica's history. The changes that came in the wake of these riots led to universal adult suffrage in 1944, as well as a new constitution, which put Jamaica on the road to self government and eventually independence. The two national heroes, Sir Alexander Bustamante and Norman Washington Manley, emerged as political leaders during this time.
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