Wesley, Dominica
Wesley (15°34′N 61°19′W) is a village in Saint Andrew Parish in north-eastern Dominica. It situated between the old estates of Eden and Londonderry and 1 1/2 miles southeast of Woodford Hill. Like many other villages along the east coast Wesley developed after Emancipation on hilly land along the boundary between the two estates as labourers sought to establish independent holdings for themselves away from the plantations where they had formerly lived and worked.
Wesley | |
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  Wesley Location in Dominica | |
| Coordinates: 15°34′N 61°19′W | |
| Country |  Dominica |
| Parish | Saint Andrew Parish |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 1,756 |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (UTC) |
Wesley has a population of over 2000 people. It is the home of the North Eastern Comprehensive School better known as the NECS after the closing of the St. Andrews School in 2006.[1]
History
In the mid 19th century, Charles Leatham, owner of Eden, sold several small lots in this area. His estates had been centres for early evangelization by Wesleyan missionaries and by as early as 1837 religious and night school gatherings were being held in a large estate building on Londonderry estate. Methodist influence grew further when free labourers were introduced into the estates of the north-east from Antigua, Montserrat, and other Leeward Islands to replant the sugar estates in cocoa and limes. The Montserratians and Antiguans left a significant cultural influence in Wesley.[2][3]
By the 1860s the settlement was referred to as Wesleyville. By local accounts the village was either named after an eccentric woman called Ma Wesley, who dominated the area, or after the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.[3] Eventually the area was simply called Wesley, while the district continued to be called by its old French parish name, La Soie (La Swa). At the end of the 19th century the Roman Catholic Church began to make a move to evangelize the area, but so strong was the Protestant influence that it had to buy land for the first church by using one of its faithful to purchase the land in his name and then to declare it for the church after the sale was completed. Tensions between the two faiths were high for a time. In the 1940s and 1950s large-scale land settlement schemes in the interior organized by the British government enabled villagers to buy Crown Lands and free themselves of dependency on the estates. This coincided with the beginning of the banana boom and Wesley benefited materially from this development. Economic growth enabled villagers to improve their housing and send children to secondary schools in Roseau. In 1979 the opening of St.Andrew's High School provided such education closer to home. National political changes also had an effect on the general changes in the community.
In October 2021, the gravestone of former owner of the Eden Estate, Joseph James Wells, was discovered in the Wesley community at the entrance road in an area that was being cleared for parking equipment that was to be used for the construction of an international airport.[4]
Amenities and attractions
- Lakwa Waterfall
- Randy's Restaurant
- Jan's Ideal Spot
- Little's Green Bar
- Caribbean Flavor Cuisine
- The Happy Box HQ
- Right now Shopping and bar
Churches
- Catholic
- Seventh-Day Adventisy
- Pentecostal
- Baptist
- Seventh Day Church Of God
- Methodist
- Christian Union Mission
References
- Commonwealth of Dominica, Population and Housing Census — 2001. Roseau, Dominica: Central Statistical Office, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Kennedy Avenue, 2001.
- Honychurch, Lennox (2003). "Inter-Island Migration and Cultural Change: The Impact of Montserratians on Dominica". University of the West Indies.
- McCanse, Anna (2011). Dominica (Other Places Travel Guide). Other Places Publishing. p. 168. ISBN 9780982261972.
- "173-year-old grave found on land associated with Dominica's international airport". The Sun. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
For the definition of town, village, etc see Settlements in Dominica. | |
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