Parishes of Barbados

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The country of Barbados is divided into sub-regions known as parishes.

Terminology

They are legally styled as the "Parish of ("Parish name") as opposed to the American naming convention with the name "Parish" coming after the name.^[1]^[2] The use of the term "parish" derives from the island's religious Anglican history under the Church of England.

History

This system of parish churches was based on the system that of the Church of England and was the visible expression forming the basis of the parliamentary representation in Barbados. The differing size and shape of each parish were primarily influenced by the large plantation estates of cotton, sugar cane and tobacco that existed during the colonial years of Barbados. As various chaples of ease were created during the 17th century across the island, some local churches were elevated to parish church status, leading to the formation of new parishes surrounding those freshly created vestries.

By 1629, the English settlers after landing at James Town formed six original parishes on the island which were:^[3]

The Parish of Christ Church,
The Parish of St. James,
The Parish of St. Lucy,
The Parish of St. Michael,
The Parish of St. Peter, and
The Parish of St. Thomas

By 1645, the land holding of Barbados increased and the shape of the original six were reconfigured giving way to an additional five parishes^[3] Some prior churches of the state within the existing parishes were elevated to the level of Parish Church and as a consequence they formed new parishes around those new vestries:

The Parish of St. Andrew,
The Parish of St. George,
The Parish of St. John,
The Parish of St. Joseph, and
The Parish of St. Philip.

Thus Barbados was converted into the current eleven parishes of today. As was common under the British system, each Parish had a single main parishional church (or cathedral in the case of Bridgetown having been elevated to city status), which acted as a sort of capital for each parish.^[4]^[5] The parishes each held their own Local Government Councils until these were abolished in 1959, following a brief administrative districting experiment within Barbados until 1967.^[4]

Today

Atlantic Ocean

BARBADOS

The nation's capital Bridgetown, which is located within the parish of Saint Michael, may one day be made into its own district.

Within the country, travel is unrestricted to everyone in moving about from parish-to-parish. With the rise of urban sprawl and new construction projects across the country many neighbourhoods and even parishional border-lines today are ill defined.

The eleven parishes are:

Nr.	Parish (short name)	Official (long name)	Capitals	Land Area (km²)	Population (Census 2010)	Density km⁻²	Historic vestry
1	Christ Church	The Parish of Christ Church^[6]	Oistins	57	54,336	868.4	Lead church of the Parish.
2	St. Andrew	The Parish of Saint Andrew^[7]	Greenland	36	5,139	145.9	Lead church of the Parish.
3	St. George	The Parish of Saint George	Bulkeley	44	19,767	406.1
4	St. James	The Parish of Saint James^[7]	Holetown	31	28,498	733.6
5	St. John	The Parish of Saint John	Four Roads	34	8,963	261.0	Lead church of the Parish.
6	St. Joseph	The Parish of Saint Joseph^[7]	Bathsheba	26	6,620	261.7	Lead church of the Parish.
7	St. Lucy	The Parish of Saint Lucy^[7]	Crab Hill	36	9,758	259.1
8	St. Michael	The Parish of Saint Michael^[7]	Bridgetown	39	88,529	2,145.7
9	St. Peter	The Parish of Saint Peter	Speightstown	34	11,300	314.7	Lead church of the Parish.
10	St. Philip	The Parish of Saint Philip^[7]	Crane	60	30,662	342.3
11	St. Thomas	The Parish of Saint Thomas	Hillaby	34	14,249	340.9
	Barbados		Bridgetown	432	277,821	580.1	♦

References

↑ Laws of Barbados, Volume 2, p.573, 286
↑ Barbados Cultural Association of British Columbia - History of Barbados
1 2 "The Barbados Parliament – Parliament History". Barbados Parliament website. Retrieved 2007-05-01.
1 2 Carrington, Sean; Fraser, Henry (2007). "Vestry". A~Z of Barbados Heritage. Macmillan Caribbean - Macmillan Publishers Limited Press. ISBN 0-333-92068-6. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ Alleyne, Warren (1978). Historic Bridgetown. Barbados: The Barbados National Trust.
↑ Laws of Barbados, Volume 2, p.573
1 2 3 4 5 6 Laws of Barbados, Volume 2, p.586

External links

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Parishes of Barbados

Christ Church Saint Andrew Saint George Saint James Saint John Saint Joseph Saint Lucy Saint Michael Saint Peter Saint Philip Saint Thomas

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