His Worship Mayor William “Willie” Vernon became the first mayor of the town of Montego Bay as a result of a change in the law governing the status and operation of the local authority.

The first transition from vestry, which held its meetings at the Saint James Parish Church up to the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865, and to the St James Parochial Board (1887), was changed again to the Saint James Parish Council in 1956. And the title of the political head of the council was altered to read “Chairman of the Saint James Parish Council and Mayor of Montego Bay”.

Protocol directs that in formally addressing the mayor, the ascription ‘His Worship or Your Worship should precede the title of mayor. Among the many concerns of Willie Vernon was the need for a permanent playing area for the people of the town of Montego Bay — already recognised as Jamaica’s tourism capital and a place which began to grow in national and international significance.

It was perhaps fortuitous that Sir Francis Moncriff Kerr-Jarrett decided to change the use of the land area, including what is now Jarrett Park, from a golf course to a housing estate which was subdivided around the road ways of Jarrett, Thompson, McCatty, and Tate streets. The playing area for the new development remained in the control and discretion of Sir Francis and depended on the custos’s mood. The golf course was rebuilt on the Fairfield property.

In 1957, after reportedly intense negotiation between Custos Kerr Jarrett and Mayor Willie Vernon, a deal was struck for the St James Parish Council to purchase the same playing field — now named Jarrett Park — for 6,500 pounds. This amount for the sale of Jarrett Park was confirmed by two former secretaries, Keith Armstrong and Dahlia Magnus, who had seen the document at the St James Parish Council prior to the 1968 fire. The claim that the naming of the park was a condition precedent to the deal has absolutely not been established up to now.

What is certain, contrary to the belief of some Montegonians, is that Jarret Park is purchased property. It was not a gift!

Custos Kerr-Jarrett was more generous the following year when it became clear that the rapid expansion of the town imported the need for a much larger capacity of potable water for the residents. That the Creek supply had outlived its usefulness was impatient of debate and the time had come to explore other sources of water suppy. Appleton Hall source was gradually coming on stream. Again, Mayor William Vernon approached Sir Francis — (knighted after he gave the airport lands to the British Crown as a refueling stop during World War II for cargo planes and fighter jets flying across the Atlantic back to Europe) — to purchase the Fairfield water supply for Montego Bay. The deal was done over a handshake at a cocktail party in 1958 for one shilling! A gift, indeed!

It is to be noted here again that this city and its port, the main economic driver, have seen activities for 507 years shared between the Spanish and British occupations, including the modern era beginning in the second half of the 19th century. As a matter of interest, Montego Bay was home to a prominent Spanish Governor, Alonzo de Miranda (1607-1611), after whom Miranda Hill is named. He built the fort next door to the entrance to his official residence to protect same… and this fort continued in use by the English during the period of invasion, capture and occupation.

The pattern of the evolution of the port city of Montego Bay has shown that various players and families in both the private and public sphere have along this lengthy continuum spanning centuries played sincerely their part in the building of this city called Montego Bay.

It is pointless, therefore, for any single individual family or politician to claim credit — as some are wont to do — for all the successful multifaceted outcomes of which is this place.

Of concern is the pity one who knows better must feel with which the transmission of the knowledge of Montego Bay and Jamaica’s history have been mishandled. This is partly due to the machinations of some who find aspects of our history to be too embarrassing to them, and invest huge resources in seeking to obscure it by dishonest redactions and by the tactic of romanticising and glamourising even the most merciless, painful and atrocious periods of British backed plantocratic ruler.

Slavery was maintained through the whip, the gun, the places of beatings and torture (eg… the Cage in Sam Sharpe Square), and burning alive (lynching… named after Jamaican planter Willie Lynch) in town squares and on plantations, of our ancestors on this island.

A case in point in respect to the deception regarding our history is the impunity and cruelty with which the Maroons, including those in Southern St James, motivated by intermittent financial inducements from the white planter class, badly treated the rest of the black population.

The Clinton Black (not his real name) forgeries called History of Jamaica taught us that the Maroons are our heroes, despite the evidence from blacks’ own historical record to the contrary. But whatever the reasons, one thing is certain: As each generation progressively moves to the ultimate destination of “the greater majority”, the evidence is compelling that the intergenerational knowledge of the community history is being lost, and rapidly too. This needs not be case.

Here is an opportunity for the history or social studies/science departments particularly of the secondary and tertiary educational institutions in the West to seize. I have, after some 40 years of research at the Public Records Office and the London Museum; University of Southampton, England; the New England States, particularly the University of North Carolina, USA; and elsewhere, and through my writings, bridge many of the gaps providing clarity to our people by rolling away the clouds of darkness, thereby allowing the light of truth to shine through to all. It is my hope this will make the collective job about our Jamaican history, particularly for future generations, less confusing (which was conspiratorially and deliberately made so) and therefore much easier going forward.

But such a barefaced weight of shame clothed in the garment of rampant intellectual dishonesty led by Clinton V Black, appointed archivist of the Anglophone Caribbean, and based in Jamaica, in 1952.

The Jewish history is, for the most part, the Jamaican negro’s holy scripture through the Bible, Talmud and other sources. And I admire the Jews for placing their history for thousands of years front and centre of their lives, and ensuring that the succeeding generations lock step with that history and learn from it. The negroes must know our history both local and global also.

The Jews, through their success on all fronts, have shown the importance of a people not only knowing but understanding their history.

I assert strongly that quality thought and decisions in respect to one’s personal life and that of the communities in which we live, depend heavily on the knowledge of ourselves and our local social history.

Mayor William Vernon made sure that Cottage Road remained so named in remembrance of the clubhouse for the golf course in the Jarrett Park area and a place referred to by the golfers back then as the Cottage.

He wanted to be certain also that future generations did not think that although the sport facility — Jarrett Park — is so named, that it was given freely to Montego Bay through the generosity of the Kerr-Jarretts. But Jarrett Park was purchased by the St James Parish Council under the leadership of Mayor Willie Vernon at a very high price back in those days.

Subject to the approval of his family, some citizens have flagged the idea that Jarrett Park should be renamed the “Willie Vernon Park” or whatever appropriate designation that elevates the service and name of our first mayor of the town of Montego Bay.

I was first Mayor for the city of Montego Bay from 1981 to 1986. Others argue that it cannot be ascertained with specificity what were the totality of the agreement between Sir Francis Moncriffe Kerr-Jarrett and Mayor Willie Vernon in respect to the naming of the park since the documents that could assist us with that information were destroyed by the 1968 fire which razed the municipal building.

Was the naming of the park a precondition for sale which was thought not necessary to be written into the sales agreement between the parties? If this was so, the gentleman that Mayor Vernon is reputed to be would have warranted his word given to stand.

The third column of the argument which supports the first is that Sir Francis, the astute businessman who took advantage of the mayor and the town’s people in the negotiations regarding the sale of Jarrett Park, came away with the whole hog. But this third tendency in the argument seem highly speculative at best.

The bottom line is that Jarrett Park was not a gift. It was purchased by the citizens of St James through first citizen Mayor Willie Vernon on behalf of all the people of the parish. Yes, this pivotal monument in the life of the city is an example of the long-term consequences of discernment due to the clarity of a higher-level thought.

Thanks to the late Mayor William “Willie” Vernon. And congratulations to the hardworking Mayor Homer Davis and JLP constituency caretaker for Southern St James who on National Heroes’ Day at an awards function held at King’s House, Kingston, received the national honour of Commander of the Order of Distinction (CD).

Mayor Davis has received the baton handed to him and has run the race which was set before him. Such a satisfying experience when a mayor of a city in Jamaica does not go unnoticed.

It is a tough and demanding job — the city being a major international gateway to the country and renown tourist resort with an activist demanding and oftentimes cynical citizenry.

The occupant of the mayor’s chair cannot be a weakling nor a coward, but must be respectful. For indeed, the ‘First Citizen’ is the ‘First Servant’.