page_title: Parishes of Jamaica
section_title: Creation of the parishes
hierarchical_section_title: Parishes of Jamaica / History / Creation of the parishes
caption_attribution_description: Map of Jamaica 1671
context_page_description: The parishes of Jamaica are the main units of local government in Jamaica. They were created following the English Invasion of Jamaica in 1655. This administrative structure for the Colony of Jamaica developed slowly. However, since 1 May 1867 Jamaica has been divided into the current fourteen parishes. These were retained after independence in 1962. They are grouped into three historic counties, which no longer have any administrative relevance. Every parish has a coast; none are landlocked.
context_section_description: Under Governor Modyford the island was divided into precincts and parishes and he commissioned a map of the island featuring these. The first parishes were:
  Saint Catherine
  Clarendon
  Liguanea (St Andrew)
  Saint Thomas
  Port Royal
  Saint John
  Saint David
  By 1675, the following parishes had been added:
  Vere (separated from Clarendon in 1673)
  Saint George
  Saint Thomas in the Vale
  Saint Dorothy
  Saint Ann
  Saint Elizabeth
  Saint James
  Saint Mary
  In 1677, An Act for Regulating the Parishes fixed the boundaries of each parish.
caption: 1671 map by Richard Bloome, completed on the instructions of Modyford
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