Charlotteville

{{Short description|Village on Tobago}} {{Other uses}} [[Image:Tobago_WI_Charlotteville.JPG|right|thumb|Charlotteville seen from Fort Cambelton]] [[File:Charlotteville - August 2013 (60).JPG|thumb|Charlotteville is located on the northern tip of the island of Tobago.]] '''Charlotteville''' is a village lying on the northeastern tip of [[Tobago]] on [[Man-o-War Bay, Tobago|Man-o-War Bay]].

==History== {{Main|History of Tobago}} The first European settlement on Man-o-War Bay was part of the colony of [[Nieuw Walcheren]] established by Jan de Moor, the [[burgomaster]] of [[Vlissingen]] in the Netherlands.<ref name="Boomert">{{Cite book|title=The indigenous peoples of Trinidad and Tobago : from the first settlers until today|last=Boomert|first=Arie|date=2016-01-15|isbn=9789088903540|location=Leiden|oclc=944910446}}</ref>{{Rp|115–119}}<ref name="Anthony">{{Cite book|title=Towns and Villages of Trinidad and Tobago|last=Anthony|first=Michael|publisher=Circle Press|year=1988|location=Port of Spain}}</ref>{{Rp|55–59}} The first settlement, established in 1633, was abandoned, but the settlement was reestablished by fresh settlers from the Netherlands in 1639.<ref name="Anthony" />{{Rp|55–59}} New Walcheren was destroyed by the Spanish from Trinidad in 1636, and most of the colonists were executed.<ref name="Boomert"/>{{Rp|109–111}}

After various failed attempts at European colonisation, Tobago was designated a neutral island in the 1748 [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle]].<ref name="Boomert"/>{{Rp|125–128}} The [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763 ended Tobago's status as a neutral territory and brought it under British control, and a [[plantation economy]] was established on the island.<ref name="Niddrie">{{Cite journal|last=Niddrie|first=D. L.|date=1966|title=Eighteenth-Century Settlement in the British Caribbean|journal=Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers|issue=40|pages=67–80|doi=10.2307/621569|issn=0020-2754|jstor=621569}}</ref> By the middle of the 19th century, the area now occupied by Charlotteville was dominated by two sugar estates, the Pirates' Bay Estate and the Charlotteville Estate which together consisted of approximately {{Convert|11000|acre|ha|abbr=}}. These estates, which were purchased by the Turpin family in 1853, constitute Charlotteville.<ref name="Anthony" />{{Rp|55–59}}

== Geography == {{unreferenced section|date=October 2019}} The history of the village is closely linked to sugar farming, and Charlotteville's harbour was also of importance for the town's development. In more recent times fishing has been important for Charlotteville's economy.

Charlotteville has one of the few remaining [[tamboo]] bamboo bands in which rhythms are produced by banging [[bamboo]] on the ground. This originated in [[slavery]] times when slaves were not allowed to play musical instruments. Today a [[saxophone]] player is in the band.

There are a few small restaurants. There are no large hotels; there are only a few small guesthouses and apartments to rent. There is a beach in the village and Pirate's Bay is twenty minutes' walk along a track.

Hidden at the other side of the village is Pirates Bay, also known as "Little Italy" for its popularity in playing football.

== Notable people ==

* [[Jearlean John]], politician raised in Charlotteville.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-20 |title=Ordinary? No WAY! |url=https://trinidadexpress.com/features/woman/ordinary-no-way/article_ec5a54a6-8c97-11e8-91b7-bfefeb13310f.html |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Trinidad Express Newspapers |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Populated places in Tobago]] [[Category:Villages in Trinidad and Tobago]]