The original church was built in 1805. A small building with stone walls, a low shingled roof, high pews and a pulpit facing north. It was built by Hamilton Brown Esq., a native of Ireland who settled in St Ann during Rev. G. W. Bridges time as Rector of St Ann’s Bay Parish Church.
Sacred to the memory of HAMILTON BROWN Esq. Native of the County Antrim, Ireland who departed this life on the 18th Sept 1843 in the 68th year of his age. He was the FOUNDER OF THIS TOWN. Was 22 years one of the Representatives for this parish in the Honble. House of Afsembly [Assembly]. His name will long be cherished.
By 1892 the church had fallen into disrepair. The building of a new church commenced in 1894 and was completed in 1895.
CHURCH YARD
| IMG # | SURNAME | Given Name | Died In |
| AnnSMB22 | ADDISON | John | 1910s |
| AnnSMB41 | ALLWOOD | Minnie Alice | 1960s |
| AnnSMB42 | ARSCOTT | Clara | 1930s |
| AnnSMB20 | BYLES | Arthur Shamrock | 1950s |
| AnnSMB13 | BYLES | Cecil Ewart | 1910s |
| AnnSMB21 | BYLES | Charlotte Louise | 1950s |
| AnnSMB31 | CALDWELL | Annette Adams | 1890s |
| AnnSMB51 | COMAC | David | 1850s |
| AnnSMB63 | COSTA | Charles | 1930s |
| AnnSMB65 | DENNISON | Thomas Eastaway | 1950s |
| AnnSMB10 | DICKENSON | Emily R. | 1960s |
| AnnSMB52 | FISHER | Eliza | 1950s |
| AnnSMB08 | FISHER | Stirling Mowbray | 1930s |
| AnnSMB49 | GAMACK | John | 1840s |
| AnnSMB30 | GIFFORD | George Lawson | 1900s |
| AnnSMB67 | HALL | James Philip | 1920s |
| AnnSMB66 | HALL | James Reginald | 1900s |
| AnnSMB66 | HALL | Louisa | 1910s |
| AnnSMB01 | HARRIS | Cyril Lackland | 1920s |
| AnnSMB19 | HARRIS | Joseph Alexander | 1930s |
| AnnSMB64 | HARTY | Ella Mary Porter | 1880s |
| AnnSMB50 | HAYSOM | Nathan | 1840s |
| AnnSMB32 | HELWIG | Amy | 1890s |
| AnnSMB62 | HIRSCHMANN | Joseph Alexander | 1860s |
| AnnSMB15 | HOLLE | Herbert A. | 1920s |
| AnnSMB24 | HOLLE | Kathrine | 1950s |
| AnnSMB26 | HOLLE | Sara | 1940s |
| AnnSMB25 | HOLLE | Harriet | 1950s |
| AnnSMB47 | HOPWOOD | Alexander | 1930s |
| AnnSMB46 | HOPWOOD | Celeste Ruth Isabel | 1940s |
| AnnSMB07 | HOWARD | Cuthbert W. | 1930s |
| AnnSMB34 | INGRAM | David N. | 1940s |
| AnnSMB35 | INGRAM | Mary Ann | 1930s |
| AnnSMB36 | INGRAM | Thomas Henry Niven | 1940s |
| AnnSMB60 | ISAACS | Alice Anderson | 1860s |
| AnnSMB59 | ISAACS | Eliza Palache | 1870s |
| AnnSMB11 | JUSTIN | Charles T. | 1950s |
| AnnSMB04 | KELLY | C. S. | 1940s |
| AnnSMB06 | KELLY | H. T. | 1930s |
| AnnSMB05 | KELLY | Lorna M. | 1950s |
| AnnSMB03 | KENNEDY | Mary Haughton | 1940s |
| AnnSMB56 | LEVY | Minnie | 1940s |
| AnnSMB40 | MAWBEY | Lawford | 1880s |
| AnnSMB40 | MAWBEY | Mary Ann | 1890s |
| AnnSMB02 | McFARLANE | Clara | 1940s |
| AnnSMB27 | McFARLANE | John Watt | 1920s |
| AnnSMB44 | MICHELIN | Mary Alice Stewart | 1970s |
| AnnSMB45 | MICHELIN | Victor Alfred | 1940s |
| AnnSMB28 | MORRIS | Louis A. | 1900s |
| AnnSMB23 | NORMAN | Annie Louisa | 1950s |
| AnnSMB61 | PALACHE | Alexander | 1840s |
| AnnSMB14 | PARRIS | Bernice Hilda | 1920s |
| AnnSMB58 | PARRIS | Edgar George Orlando | 1940s |
| AnnSMB53 | PURCHAS | Jack Neville | 1950s |
| AnnSMB18 | ROBINSON | Diana Elizabeth | 1950s |
| AnnSMB09 | ROWBOTHAM | Gertrude | 1950s |
| AnnSMB38 | SEGRE | Ralph Augustus | 1940s |
| AnnSMB37 | SEGRE | Violet Louise | 1990s |
| AnnSMB57 | SLADER | Peter Yorke | 1920s |
| AnnSMB43 | SWABY | Ellen Evangeline | 1930s |
| AnnSMB33 | THARP | William | 1840s |
| AnnSMB39 | THOMAS | David Trefor | 1980s |
| AnnSMB16 | THOMSON | Charles Raglan | 1940s |
| AnnSMB17 | THOMSON | Mary Elizabeth | 1920s |
| AnnSMB54 | TUCKER | Edward | 1860s |
| AnnSMB55 | TUCKER | Samuel | 1830s |
| AnnSMB12 | VENTRESSE | Marjorie | 1920s |
| AnnSMB48 | WISHART | James | 1840s |
| AnnSMB29 | WRIGHT | Sarah Ellen | 1910s |
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CHURCH MURALS
CHRISTOPHER HELWIG, a native of Hessen in Germany; died 11 Jan 1867 age 48.
FREDERICK HELWIG, died 29 Sep 1878 age 21
FRANCIS LIONEL ORMSBY, son of J. D. and H.L. Ormsby, died 01 Oct 1877 age 2 years
Captain PETER BLAGROVE, M.C. and Bar, J.P., born 02 Apr 1889, died 15 June 1969. Third son of Colonel H. J. Blagrove and the last of the Blagrove line after nearly 300 years in Jamaica.
HENRY R. GREY Esq., Churchwarden of this parish. Died 24 May 1862 age 58.
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Jamaican Ancestral Records 
My memories of St. Mark’s, Brown’s Town, connect me to Harvest suppers and the Remembrance Sunday when my baby brother was Christened. My only memory of a service is the refreshing ministry of the Church Army when our pastor was on leave. But the strongest sense is not of the services. I feel very strongly the brightness of the building on the highest point of the town centre. The feeling of cool inside on a hot and rainy day.
Who was Peter Blagrove wife?
Peter Blagrove’s wife was Alice Louise Costa daughter of Charles Costa and Julia Jesse Arscott.
Would you know where the Helwig and Lyon families be buried and graveyard name?
Hi David,
Type the surname HELWIG in the search field on the HOME page and you will find a list of where the name can be found.
Have you ever come across the names of Rev David or Alexander Fullerton, Both were buried in Jamaica and lived in St Ann for their adult lives. Rev David Fullerton was the rector of St Ann Parish but we don’t know where they are buried?? 1780 and 1806 respec.
Hamilton Brown was my gtx6 granfather’s executor and friend (of Alexander Fullerton)
My GGG Grandfather John Willis helped with the roof. He passed a weeks later of pneumonia in 1879.
He is buried in St Mark’s Angelican church yard in Brown’s Town St Ann
Hello Jenni. Do you know anything about Hamilton Brown’s family. My Grandmother was born in Jamaica in St Annes at Menard House Plantation outside of Brown’s Town. Her mother was a Brown and family papers talk about a cousin Hammy Hamilton Brown. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Bob Hicks
Ontario, Canada
He was an attorney on many properties and seemed to take over more as the sugar plantations failed once slavery was abolished and was such that when the British recompensed him for slaves freed, he became a multi millionaire! He was said to have loathed blacks although he must have had a black and a white wife as there are descendants of both colours from him! I just had a brief look on ancestry.com and there is his gravestone photographed as well as on the message board, there are other Browns looking for the same relative so you may be related to one of them! He was my gtx4 grandfather’s attorney for all of his 4 years on the plantations and indeed handled his will in Britain in 1806.
try ancestry,com and go backwards from what you know now – it would be worth searching for.. let me know if you need anything else. try wikipedia also.
Jenni
Hamilton Brown
Profile & Legacies Summary
???? – 18th Sep 1843
CLAIMANT OR BENEFICIARY
Biography
Major attorney and resident slave-owner in Jamaica, the founder of Browns Town in St Ann Jamaica, where a memorial has been recorded: ‘Sacred to the memory of HAMILTON BROWN Esq. Native of the County Antrim, Ireland who departed this life on the 18th Sept 1843 in the 68th year of his age. He was the FOUNDER OF THIS TOWN. Was 22 years one of the Representatives for this parish in the Honble. House of Afsembly. His name will long be cherished.’
Hamilton Brown was instrumental in the importing of several hundred labourers and their families from Ireland to Jamaica between 1835 and 1840.
1843 Headstone Hamilton Brown 68yrs No 1 Brown’s Town Jamaica
20 Aug 2014
Brown’sTown, Jamaica
Headstone Inscription Hamilton Brown Esq. Sacred to the Memory of Hamilton Brown Esq. A native of the County Antrim, Ireland who departed this life on the 18th Sept. 1843 In the 68th year of his age He was the founder of this town Was 22 years one of the representatives for This parish in the Hon’ble Hose of Assembly His name Will long be cherished By a grateful community who for nearly HALF A CENTURY Experience the benefits of his generous mind And warm heart. Copied from Ancestry.com.au Find a Grave Memorial# 134630249 Created by T. Scooter & record added 20 Aug 2014. Burial: Saint Mark’s Anglican Church, Brown’s Town, Browns Town, St. Ann, Jamaica.
Thank you Jenni. I’ll try that. Where are you at. I’m in Kingston, Ontario Canada.
I’m in Toronto – rodandjenni@gmail.com
My wife and I are in Georgia until the end of the month but if you are ever in the Prince Edward County Area drop by.
I attended St.Hildas High School, which was affiliated with St.Marks Church. We attended Christmas services there. My great Grandfather was Christopher Helwig. Many happy memories of Browns Town.
My grandfather was the archdeacon. My mother and aunt attended St. Hildas. Only pleasant memories at the rectory and Brown’s Town.
Matthew is your grandfather archdeacon D. Trevor Thomas? My family lived in Browns Town and we were members of St. Mark’s. We knew the Thomases well.
That’s correct Sandra.
I visited St. Mark’s around 2010 and found my grandfather’s (Henry Ridley Grey, dob 1883) birth record naming his parents, Robert Henry Grey and Elizabeth Jones. St. Mark’s has a mural inside the church commemorating the passing of Henry Ridley Grey, warden, in 1862. I believe he is my GGGrandfather. I look forward to revisiting St. Mark’s this summer.
David Grey. When you return in the summer could I ask you to do a few lookups for me at St Marks?