Saint Patrick Parish, Grenada

Guide to Saint Patrick Parish family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Information
Saint Patrick is one of the six main† parishes of Grenada, covering some 17 sq mi (44 km2) of the northern tip of the island and currently has a population over 10,000. Known for it spectacular coastline, the parish has several fine bays faces a number small islands to the north, famous beach being Bathway. The principal town in St. Patrick is Sauteurs. One of the most famous landmarks in the town is the Leapers' Hill, where legend has it that the indigenous Caribs jumped over the cliff and into the sea to escape colonization by the French.

Several volcanic cones and craters are located within this parish, such as the Punchbowl and Lake Antoine, which has a length of 1.55 kilometres.

For much of the last century, the parish was heavily agricultural with several large estates accounting for a significant share of cocoa and Nutmeg production in Grenada.

History
The parish had already aquired the name Sauteurs or Jumpers by its original French inhabitants of 1649, obviously after the event of the leaping Caribs, and only after it was ceded to the British by the Treaty of Paris in 1763 was parish renamed "'Saint Patrick'" using their convention of naming administrative divisions after the local pastoral church.

In the 18th and the 19th centuries Irvin's Bay was a working harbour for shipping Sugar and other produce grown from nearby estates including Bay House were shipped to England and France. On Wednesday, 1st of May 1857, the sailing ship Maidstone arrived at Irvin's Bay, Grenada carrying the surviving 289 Calcutta Indians, they were subsequently transported to the eighteen sugar estates (Grand Bacolet, Hope, Crochue, Carriere, Conference, Belmont, Mount Rose, Mount Renil, Chambord, Plain, Mornefendue, Lafortune, Snell Hall, River Sallee, Marli, Mount William, Dupuesue, and Samaritan) principally in St. Patrick to help labour shortages.

† There is a seventh parish called Carriacou on the nearby island of Carriacou.