The first Bill for the partition of St. James was submitted to the house of Assembly in 1733, but was thrown out to the disappoint of its supporters who had gone so far as to select a name, New Brunswick, for the proposed new Parish. In 1770, however, another Bill for the purpose passed the House of Assembly and Trelawny came into existence, its western boundary marked by a line from the house at Long Bay where a tavern was formerly kept and running due south to the Northern boundary of St. Elizabeth.

Referring to the village of Martha Brae, Long the Historian in 1774 said; "the late partition of St. James has of consequence tended to the establishment of a new town here, which may grow in size in portions as the lands, at present unsettled in the Parish, are brought into culture."

Martha Brae, a mile or so upstream from the mouth of the river of that name, did in fact become the first parochial capital, complete with Court House. It seems fairly certain that it is an English version of a Spanish name adapted from Arawak. On a map of 1680 the name appears as Pera Mater Tiberon.

The size and location of Martha Brae raised early doubts as to its suitability as a permanent capital. A Parish with a seacoast needed a seaport for its chief town and Rock, a shipping place, well supplied with wharves, at the mouth of the Martha Brae River was early considered, but the shallowness of the water at Rock was a drawback, and the Parochial authorities, the Vestry, as it was then called, finally treated successfully with Edward Barrett for the Purchase of 170 acres at Palmetto Point for the New town site, the present Falmouth, Mr. Barrett presenting land to the Church as a gift.

FALMOUTH the name of the 2^nd Capital town of Trelawny was first seen on a map of Jamaica in 1872, the Record Office in London tells us. It is said to have been named after the home town in Cornwall, England, of Sir William Trelawney Governor(1767-72) in whose time the Parish of St. James was divided to make the Parish of Trelawny which took his surname.

Falmouth should be on the itinerary of every visitor and be a place of pilgrimage as well for Jamaicans. Despite the inevitable destruction and neglect this charming, historic, north-coast port – built at a time of great prosperity for the planter class – is still the best preserved late 18^th to early 19^th Century town in the Island and contains many Georgian buildings of interest and charm. It is said that Falmouth was so called, as a further compliment to Governor Trelawney, after his Cornish birthplace(besides being the port from which convoys for the West Indies usually sailed).

Laid out on a regular gird pattern with the Church site in the centre, Falmouth developed so rapidly, that within three years of its formation more 150 houses had been built, mainly town houses for the rich planters, the produce of whose estates was being shipped from the busy prosperous port. There were some 88 estates for the early 19^th Century which produced in 1804 – 13,295 hogheads and 12,295 tierces of sugar and shipped at the wharves of this harbour.

This prosperity was to last a scant fifty years, after which Falmouth’s fortune declined , as fires and hurricanes conspired to destroy many of its better buildings. The real decline came later, however, and stemmed from a number of causes, including the extension of the Railway to Montego Bay which gave port an advantage as a distribution centre, and the increasing use of larger ships which not even the improved conditions of the Falmouth harbour could adequately accommodate. The efforts of Jamaica National Trust Commission and the Jamaica Georgian Society will go far to ensuring the preservation of what remains of this delightful sea-port.

All the old Falmouth buildings are worthy of note and the interested visitor would do well to walk around the town and make his own discoveries. The Court House, facing the sea, is particularly fine. Built in 1815, it was badly damaged by fire in 1926, but successfully restored. The Parish Church of St.Peter on Duke Street was built in 1796, but added to later. Constructed of stone and brick, it is one of the largest churches in the island. It is interesting to note that the oldest mural tablet is to a 22 year old American of Concord, New Hampshire, Capt. Herman B. Harris. There is also a tablet to the Hon. James Stewart, Custos of the Parish and owner of Stewart Castle, a coastal estate a few miles east of Falmouth, where the remains of a remarkable fortified house – now the property of the Jamaica National Trust Commission – stand.

The Presbyterian St. Andrew Kirk, now the United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman, on the corner of Rodney and Princess Streets is a plain building of yellow brick which has suffered from recent alterations. The Government School, now Falmouth All-Age School on Charlotte Street occupies the old Balcarres built in 1811. The fort originally stood near the site of the present Court House. It was named for Earl Belcarres, Governor from 1795-1801.

The William Knibb in 1837 was destroyed by hurricane in 1944 and was restored at the public expense.

A number of other buildings are mentioned elsewhere on this Website.