Blanchisseuse
Encyclopedia
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. It is located about midway along the north coast of Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
on the northern slope of the Northern Range
Northern Range
The Northern Range is the range of tall hills across the northern portion of Trinidad, the major island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The hills rise abruptly from the lowlands of northern Trinidad , but only the two tallest peaks, El Cerro del Aripo and El Tucuche top 900 m...
, about 24 km north of Arima
Arima
The Royal Borough of Arima is the fourth largest town in Trinidad and Tobago. Located east of the capital, Port of Spain, Arima supports the only organised indigenous community in the country, the Santa Rosa Carib Community and is the seat of the Carib Queen...
.
The village was settled by the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
following the Cedula de Pobulación in 1783.
When Captain Frederick Mallet was charting and surveying the island of Trinidad following its capitulation to the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
in 1797, he was told that the village had no name. Observing the women washing clothes in the river, he simply wrote on his survey chart: "Ladies River". Later, the settlers called the place after the washer-women the surveyor had seen, "Blanchisseuse" being the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "washer-woman".
The difficult terrain meant there was little development or expansion, and no roads. The settlement was a clearing with thick forests and mountains
Northern Range
The Northern Range is the range of tall hills across the northern portion of Trinidad, the major island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The hills rise abruptly from the lowlands of northern Trinidad , but only the two tallest peaks, El Cerro del Aripo and El Tucuche top 900 m...
behind and the sea in front.
There is now a road from Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
(North Coast Road) and it is a beautiful drive to Blanchisseuse. Drivers will be well advised to drive carefully especially when the road is wet. Always keep to the left when approaching and going around the many sharp corners. Lookout for land slips along the way during the rainy season. It is also home to the Isshindo Martial Arts Cult.