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The country of Barbados is divided into sub-regions known as parishes.
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The country of Barbados is divided into sub-regions known as parishes.
They are legally styled as the "Parish of (parish name)" as opposed to the American naming convention with "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.
The system of parish churches was originally based on the system 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 chapels 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]
By 1645, the land holding of Barbados increased and the shape of the original six was 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:
Thus Barbados was converted into the current eleven parishes of today corresponding to the earlier church parishes. 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]
The nation's capital Bridgetown, which is located within the parish of Saint Michael, may one day be made into its own parish.
Within the country, travel is unrestricted to everyone in moving about from parish to parish. With increasing urban sprawl and new construction projects across the country many neighbourhoods and even parishional border-lines today are ill-defined.
The eleven parishes are:
| Short name | Long name | Capital | Land area | Population (census 2010) | Density | Historic vestry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christ Church | The Parish of Christ Church [6] | Oistins | 57 km2 (22 sq mi) | 54,336 | 953.3/km2 |  |
| St. Andrew | The Parish of Saint Andrew [7] | Greenland | 36 km2 (14 sq mi) | 5,139 | 142.8/km2 |  |
| St. George | The Parish of Saint George | Bulkeley | 44 km2 (17 sq mi) | 19,767 | 449.3/km2 | |
| St. James | The Parish of Saint James [7] | Holetown | 31 km2 (12 sq mi) | 28,498 | 449.3/km2 | |
| St. John | The Parish of Saint John | Four Roads | 34 km2 (13 sq mi) | 8,963 | 263.6/km2 |  |
| St. Joseph | The Parish of Saint Joseph [7] | Bathsheba | 26 km2 (10 sq mi) | 6,620 | 254.6/km2 |  |
| St. Lucy | The Parish of Saint Lucy [7] | Crab Hill | 36 km2 (14 sq mi) | 9,758 | 271.1/km2 | |
| St. Michael | The Parish of Saint Michael [7] | Bridgetown | 39 km2 (15 sq mi) | 88,529 | 2,270.0/km2 | |
| St. Peter | The Parish of Saint Peter | Speightstown | 34 km2 (13 sq mi) | 11,300 | 332.4/km2 |  |
| St. Philip | The Parish of Saint Philip [7] | Six Roads | 60 km2 (23 sq mi) | 30,662 | 511.0/km2 | |
| St. Thomas | The Parish of Saint Thomas | Hillaby | 34 km2 (13 sq mi) | 14,249 | 419.1/km2 |
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It is 34 kilometres in length and up to 23 km (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 432 km2 (167 sq mi). It is in the western part of the North Atlantic, 100 km (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea. Barbados is located roughly 13°N of the equator. It is about 168 km (104 mi) east of both the countries of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and 180 km (110 mi) south-east of Martinique and 400 km (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside the principal Atlantic hurricane belt. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown. Inhabited by Kalinago people since the 13th century, and prior to that by other Amerindians, Spanish navigators took possession of Barbados in the late 15th century, claiming it for the Crown of Castile. It first appeared on a Spanish map in 1511. The Portuguese Empire claimed the island between 1532 and 1536, but abandoned it in 1620 with their only remnants being an introduction of wild boars for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. An English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados on 14 May 1625; its men took possession of the island in the name of King James I. In 1627, the first permanent settlers arrived from England, and Barbados became an English and later British colony. During this period, the colony operated on a plantation economy, relying on the labour of enslaved Africans who worked on the island's plantations. The slave trade to the island continued until it was outlawed by the Slave Trade Act 1807, with final emancipation of the enslaved population in Barbados occurring over a period of five years following the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
Barbados is an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, situated about 100 miles east of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Roughly triangular in shape, the island measures some 21 miles from northwest to southeast and about 14 miles from east to west at its widest point. The capital and largest town is Bridgetown, which is also the main seaport.
Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The City", but the most common reference is simply "Town". As of 2014, its metropolitan population stands at roughly 110,000.
The parish of St. Michael is one of eleven parishes of Barbados. It has a land area of 39 km2 (15 sq mi) and is found at the southwest portion of the island. Saint Michael has survived by name as one of the original six parishes created in 1629 by Governor Sir William Tufton.
The Caribbean island country of Grenada is divided into regions known as parishes.
The parish of Saint Lucy is the northernmost area in the country of Barbados. Saint Lucy is the only parish of Barbados out of the eleven to be named after a female patron saint, Saint Lucy of Syracuse. Saint Lucy's shape also resembles a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, east and west. The Harrison Point Lighthouse is located in Harrisons, Saint Lucy between Great Head and Norse's Bay, also in Saint Lucy. To the south lies the neighbouring Parish of Saint Peter.
Errol Walton Barrow, PC, QC was a Barbadian statesman and the first prime minister of Barbados. Born into a family of political and civic activists in the parish of Saint Lucy, he became a WWII aviator, combat veteran, lawyer, politician, gourmet cook and author.
The term British West Indies refers to the former English and British colonies and the present-day overseas territories of the United Kingdom in the Caribbean.
The Diocese of Barbados is one of eight dioceses of the Anglican Communion that is part of the Province of the West Indies.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the nation of Barbados.
The Barbados Police Service (BPS), previously known as the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF), established under the Police Act, of 1961(a) and the Constitution of Barbados, is a part of the government of Barbados responsible for law enforcement. Richard Boyce is currently Commissioner of the Police. The BPS is divided into five operational divisions, namely, the Northern Division, Southern Division, Bridgetown Division, Criminal Investigations Division and Operations Support Division. These are supported by the Administrative Services Division The organisational structure of the BPS is modelled after London's Metropolitan Police Service.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to Barbados:
In 1959 the country of Barbados was changed from the Vestry system, into a more modern system of local government patterned after that of the United Kingdom. Two main sub-regions known as Districts were formed in Barbados, and the majority of the vestry parish councils, which acted as local government were consolidated and transferred into these larger areas and also the Bridgetown City Council. Both were simply known as the Northern and Southern districts, and a third separate area consisted of the City of Bridgetown. Each of these districts were run by Chairmen, and the city with a mayor affiliated with Barbados' political parties.
The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, is an Anglican church located on St. Michael's Row, two blocks east of National Heroes Square; at the centre of Bridgetown, Barbados. The Cathedral is the tallest of the Anglican 's houses of worship within Barbados.
National emblems of Barbados are the symbols that are used in Barbados to represent the independent nation. The emblems reflect different aspects of its cultural life and history.
The Barbados Postal Service (B.P.S.) is the national postal operator of Barbados and operates as a department within the Government of Barbados where it reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Barbados Postal Service (B.P.S.) is headed by the acting Postmaster General, Sheila Greaves, who is responsible for maintaining the island’s postal services, subject to the laws of the island. In 1852, the Postal services for Barbados were reconstituted following the passage of local legislation enabling the delivery of inland postage.
The City of Bridgetown constituency is one of eleven (11) electoral districts in the Parish of St. Michael, and one thirty (30) nationally in Barbados. The Constituency covers a portion of the capital city Bridgetown. The district formed in 1843 is the first electoral district formed after the original eleven in the country. The first representative for the constituency was the national hero the Right Excellent Samuel Jackman Prescod. The member of parliament is Lt.Col. Jeffrey Bostic (Ret.) of the Barbados Labour Party from 2013. The seat is usually won by a slim margin.
University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university campus in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system.
Muriel Odessa "Nellie" Weekes was a Bajan nurse and midwife who was active in women's rights issues. Campaigning for better pay and working in social welfare projects, she turned to politics in the 1940s at a time when most women were not politically active in Barbados. Though she unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the House of Assembly three times in the 1940s, she was elected to the Christ Church Vestry in 1958, serving for many years.
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