Cotton Tree on Spanish Town Road, Jamaica, ca.1875-ca.1940

Photograph of a very large cotton tree (also known as silk cotton tree) on Spanish Town Road in Jamaica. A figure can be seen standing by the trunk of the tree which gives an indication of the size of the tree. Spanish Town is the former capital of Jamaica.; This belongs to a series of Church of Scotland Foreign Missions Committee lantern slides relating to Jamaica. In 1800 the Scottish Missionary Society sent three missionaries to Jamaica. Two died of yellow fever within weeks of arrival but the third became a pioneer missionary. In 1824 a second venture travelled to Jamaica by invitation of local planters to instruct their slaves. Scottish missionaries worked at Montego Bay in the 19th century and in 1836 the first presbytery of the Jamaican Church was constituted here.