Brown’s Town, nestled in the lush hills of St. Ann, is Jamaica’s largest inland market town and a bustling cultural hub with a deep and often complex history. Once known as Hamilton Town, the area has seen everything from colonial power plays and missionary zeal to the growth of education and civic life. To understand Brown’s Town today, we must first meet the people who shaped its past.
The Planter Founder – Hamilton Brown
Brown’s Town was established by Hamilton Brown, an Irishman born in County Antrim in 1776. Arriving in Jamaica as a book-keeper, he rose to become a wealthy plantation owner and one of the most influential figures in St Ann. Over the course of his career, he controlled several estates—including Antrim, Minard, Colliston, and Grier Park—where he enslaved more than 1,100 people.
Brown served in the Jamaican House of Assembly for 22 years, where he staunchly defended the interests of the planter class and opposed the abolition of slavery. He was not only a beneficiary of the system but also one of its most vocal defenders, openly asserting that enslaved Jamaicans were better off than Britain’s working poor and insisting that colonial planters should be left to manage their own affairs.
As a prominent member of the Colonial Church Union, Brown also took direct action against anti-slavery voices. In February 1832, he led a mob that demolished the Brown’s Town Baptist Chapel—part of a wider backlash against churches and missionaries thought to be supporting the cause of freedom. His actions resulted in his removal from the St Ann militia by the island’s Governor.
Following the abolition of slavery, Brown—like many slaveholders—received financial compensation from the British government for the loss of his “property.” He later turned to importing hundreds of Irish labourers under indentured contracts to maintain his estates. Many of these workers, drawn by misleading promises of opportunity, endured harsh conditions that closely mirrored the exploitation of the slavery system they had replaced.
Though he is credited with founding the town and contributing to the construction of St Mark’s Anglican Church, Brown’s legacy is deeply tied to exploitation, violence, and the defence of slavery.
There is also a possible family connection between Hamilton Brown and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. According to her father, Donald Harris, family tradition suggests that Brown may have been an ancestor of his grandmother, Christiana “Miss Chrishy” Brown. Kamala’s paternal grandfather, Joseph Harris—a local landowner and farmer—is buried at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, the very institution founded by Hamilton Brown.
The Baptist Slave & Preacher – James Finlayson
James Finlayson was born into slavery on the Penshurst estate near Brown’s Town. His life took a dramatic turn one Sunday in 1828 when he journeyed 25 miles to Falmouth to sell honey. A Wesleyan minister rebuked him for trading on the Sabbath, sparking an inner conviction he didn’t fully understand. Later that day, he wandered into a meeting led by Rev. James Mann and heard a message that described his life in painful detail. Deeply moved, he left his honey behind and returned home determined to seek spiritual guidance.
Baptised in 1829 by Rev. Samuel Nichols, he became a devout evangelist and was appointed the first deacon of what would become the Brown’s Town Baptist Church. He began travelling 15 miles every Sunday to attend church and soon began spreading the gospel among fellow slaves at nearby plantations like Knapdale and Hilton Hill. Finlayson organised fellow believers from nearby plantations, mentoring and guiding them on their spiritual journeys. His efforts led to the official establishment of the Brown’s Town Baptist Church on 5 June 1831, beginning with 44 members.
Following the Christmas Rebellion, the chapel was destroyed by the Colonial Church Union in 1832, and Finlayson continued services in secret, often in a cave at midnight. When discovered, he was arrested and mercilessly flogged at the House of Correction in St Ann’s Bay for refusing to renounce his Baptist faith. His brutal punishment was documented by British abolitionist Joseph Sturge and used to expose the brutality of Jamaica’s penal system.
Despite his suffering, Finlayson returned to lead his flock until his death in 1865. He collapsed during Sunday service and passed away—a shepherd to the end.
The Evangelist Missionary – Dr James Johnston
Dr James Johnston, a Scottish physician, arrived in Jamaica in 1874 for health reasons and soon settled in Brown’s Town. In 1876, he founded the Jamaica Evangelistic Mission as a breakaway from the Baptist Church and went on to establish nine churches across the island, with Brown’s Town as his religious and medical base.
From his surgery—now the Brown’s Town Tabernacle Church—he travelled regularly to nearby communities offering medical care, with his wife preparing prescriptions. Johnston also served as St Ann’s political representative and became one of the island’s earliest promoters of tourism.
In 1903, he published Jamaica: The New Riviera, featuring his own photographs of Jamaican landscapes, estates, markets, and daily life. He delivered illustrated lectures across Britain, the United States, and Canada to promote Jamaica as a health resort.
In 1915, the Tabernacle Church hosted a meeting of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, where Marcus Garvey was the keynote speaker. Johnston reportedly welcomed Garvey’s ambition, though he found the movement’s proposals lacking in practical detail. Johnston died in 1921, and his funeral procession from Brown’s Town to St D’Acre was followed by thousands.
A Town Transformed
Today, Brown’s Town is best known as a centre of education and community life. Institutions such as St Hilda’s High School, Brown’s Town Community College, St Christopher’s School for the Deaf, and the Servite Convent School continue to serve the region.
Brown’s Town—like many other towns in Jamaica—has a complex colonial history that may be disturbing to modern sensibilities. The legacy of slavery, religious persecution, and colonial violence is deeply embedded in its foundation. In recent years, there have been growing calls to rename Brown’s Town in honour of James Finlayson, whose moral leadership and sacrifice are seen by many as more deserving of lasting recognition than that of its planter founder.
The story of Brown’s Town is ultimately one of transformation—of struggle, survival, and the quiet strength of those who dared to lead under the most difficult conditions.
