Chicago Addick living in Bermuda
Thursday 30 July 2009
  Happy 400th birthday Bermuda Yesterday we were in St George's witnessing the ritual ducking of a nagging woman (photo). My ex-wife will be unhappy to know that my son loved it. "Dunk her again," he ordered the Town Crier in charge of this kangeroo court. He duly did. After, we went splashing about ourselves on St Catherine's Beach, a beautifully secluded bay overlooked by the dramatic St Catherine's Fort and the sadly unused St George's Golf Club. It is here by the way that the long debated new Park Hyatt hotel will be built and it's a beautiful spot at this very eastern point of the island.

Our timing was a bit off as the day before on the very same beach there was a re-enactment of the landing of survivors and first settlers from the washed up ship, the Sea Venture 400 years ago to the day. The Sea Venture was on it's way to Jamestown in the Virginia with crucial supplies for the newly established colony but it became separated from the other ships it sailed with on July 24th, 1609 after sailing a more northerly route it encountered a serious storm, probably a hurricane. This area of the seas was known as treacherous and the Bermuda Triangle struck not for the first and certainly not the last time.

So, on Tuesday evening actors rowed to shore at St Catherine's Beach in longboats manned by Sea Cadets in period costume. A service was held on the beach followed by the unveiling of a cross symbolising the one that was left by the survivors before they departed Bermuda for Jamestown. The celebrations featured 150 sailors, including the crew of the visiting Royal Navy destroyer HMS Manchester.

Back in 1609 the survivors, included the Admiral of the Fleet and Bermuda's founder Sir George Somers and one of histories greatest privateers Christopher Newport plus a dog, 138 men and 10 women remained on this sandy isle for 9 months building two replacement boats from the remnants of the Sea Venture wreck and cedar from trees found on the island.

Two of crew were left on Bermuda to claim the land for England while the two ships continued their journey to Jamestown. Being left behind was meant as a punishment for renowned mutineer Christopher Carter and muderer Robert Waters, who had earlier killed a fellow crewman with a shovel but was later pardoned. Carter and Waters are considered the first ever Bermudians.

Meanwhile when the two new ships, Deliverance (there is a life-size replica of the ship in St George's) and Patience arrived at Jamestown in May 1610 they found death and misery as members of the rest of the fleet had floundered against starvation, disease and unfriendly Native Americans. Just 60 of the 330 men had survived but Somers' men had brought fresh food supplies from Bermuda, mainly salted pork from hundreds of pigs found on the deserted island.

Bermuda's maybe a British colony but it has played a important part in America's history too. In fact I would say despite the many Union Jack's fluttering around the island many of today's generation feel more American than British, encouraged probably by the countries Premier, who "was on vacation" for the 400-year celebrations. The Queen sent her wishes "Bermuda's history is a testament to the resourcefulness and resilience of the people who call Bermuda home, characteristics shown by the early settlers and through the ages. I am proud of your achievements," but refused to pay her respects in person due to the recent spat between Government's over Premier Brown's decision to resettle four former Guantánamo Bay prisoners without asking Britain’s permission.

Anyway it is a fine achievement for a tiny island 600 miles from anywhere. Happy birthday Bermuda. Click for the full story of the settling of Bermuda.
 
|



<< Home
About Me
After living in Chicago for four and a half years, I moved to the beautiful if bewildering island of Bermuda in July 2008. This blog is about being an exiled and depressed Charlton Athletic fan and whatever else the day brings.
CAFC Links
  • Charlton Athletic FC
  • CAFC Player
  • Forever Charlton
  • CAFC Picks
  • CASC
  • City Addicks
  • Community Trust
  • Fans Forum
  • Charlton Life
  • / forum
  • Charlton Scrapbook
  • Addicks Downunder Forum
  • Fellow Addick Blogs
  • Addicks Diary
  • Doctor Kish
  • New York Addick
  • All Quiet in the East Stand
  • SE3 Addick
  • Jakartass
  • Charlton Athletic Online
  • Views from an Iberian Valley
  • Charlton North Downs
  • Blackheath Addicted
  • Drinking During the Game
  • Kings Hill Addick
  • A Red Divided
  • Deepest Darkest
  • All in a Day
  • Johnny73
  • Confidential Rick
  • Charlton Casual
  • Many Miles....
  • Croydon Addick
  • Stickleback
  • And Nothing Else Matters
  • Out in the rain
  • Hungry Ted
  • Bermuda - all 21 square miles of it
  • The Royal Gazette
  • Weather forecast
  • Discover Bermuda
  • Bermuda National Trust
  • Bernews.com
  • Bermuda Blogroll
  • Bermuda Shorts
  • Jen in Bermuda
  • Daily London fix
  • Diamond Geezer
  • Onionbagblog
  • 853
  • The Cabbies Capital
  • A piece of my heart still in Chicago
  • Chicago Tribune
  • Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Chicago Bears
  • Chicago Blackhawks
  • Chicago White Sox
  • Chicago Cubs
  • Chicago Fire
  • My Chicago stuff
  • Andersonville
  • Bucktown
  • Chinatown
  • Evanston
  • Gold Coast
  • Greektown & Little Italy
  • Lincoln Park
  • Lincoln Square
  • The Magnificent Mile
  • Old Town
  • Oak Park
  • River North
  • Roscoe Village
  • South Loop
  • Streeterville
  • Ukrainian Village
  • Wicker Park
  • Wrigleyville
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • My Bermuda exploring
  • Paget Parish
  • Southampton Parish
  • Town of St George
  • Ten things to do with a child
  • Travelogue
  • Atlanta
  • Bahamas
  • Beachy Head
  • Beaver Creek, Colorado
  • Bermuda
  • Buenos Aires
  • Californian Hwy 1
  • Charleston
  • Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Dubai
  • Eastbourne
  • Ft Lauderdale, Florida
  • Grand Canyon
  • Hiroshima
  • Honolulu
  • Houston, Texas
  • Kohler, Wisconsin
  • Kyoto
  • Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
  • Las Vegas
  • Lille, France
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico
  • Miami Beach
  • Mt Fuji & Hakone, Japan
  • Munich
  • New Orleans
  • New York
  • Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Oman
  • Orlando
  • Palm Springs & Joshua Natl Park
  • Park City, Utah
  • Reykjavik
  • Route 66 and Hoover Dam
  • San Francisco
  • San Diego
  • Santa Fe
  • Saugatuck, Michigan
  • Sedona, Arizona
  • Sonoma & Napa Valley
  • St Petersburg, FL
  • Taos, New Mexico
  • Tokyo
  • Uruguay
  • Washington DC
  • The good old days?
  • The men in charge Parts I
  • / II / III / IV / V
  • Carlisle (a) 1986
  • Luton (a) 1989
  • Sunderland (h) 1975
  • Stoke City (a) 1994
  • Crystal Palarse (a) 2000
  • Norwich City (h) 1987
  • Coventry City (a) 2001
  • Barnsley (h) 1985
  • Bristol City (a) 1994
  • West Brom (a) 1995
  • Hull City (h) 1976
  • Burnley (h) 1978
  • Nottingham Forest (a) 1989
  • Sheffield Wednesday (h) 1986
  • Ipswich Town (a) 1981
  • Birmingham City (a) 1993
  • Hereford United (a) 1989
  • Interesting stuff
  • We're not on the telly much but who is?
  • Football Pyramid
  • Football Ground Guide
  • The Political Economy of Football
  • The Fiver
  • London 2012
  • TV Cream
  • Nice cup of tea and a sit down
  • Banksy
  • www.flickr.com
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from ChicagoAddick. Make your own badge here.
    And not so interesting
    Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com Powered by Blogger
    EMail me
    ChicagoAddick@Gmail.com
    Follow me on Twitter
  • ChicagoAddick
  • CAFC on Twitter
  • Archives
    June 2004 / July 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / November 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / August 2007 / September 2007 / October 2007 / November 2007 / December 2007 / January 2008 / February 2008 / March 2008 / April 2008 / May 2008 / June 2008 / July 2008 / August 2008 / September 2008 / October 2008 / November 2008 / December 2008 / January 2009 / February 2009 / March 2009 / April 2009 / May 2009 / June 2009 / July 2009 / August 2009 / September 2009 / October 2009 / November 2009 / December 2009 / January 2010 / February 2010 / March 2010 / April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 /