In 1787, the first sugarmill in Trinidad is constructed in an area northeast of Port of Spain by Picot de la Peyrouse, a French Nobleman who came to the island in 1778.

La Peyrouse was one of many French planters who migrated to the island after the passage of the Cedula of Population in 1783.

At this time, the sugar industry was already relatively well established in Tobago, with 10,000 hogsheads of sugar being exported in 1774. The industry of that island would go into decline due to a number of factors including the Bankruptcy of the British firm that ran all aspects of the sector, a hurricane in 1847, issues with labour, and competition from European beet sugar.

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