First 400 Years — Bermuda completes a yearlong bash celebrating its impromptu founding.

Suppose you were a restless subject of the new United Kingdom looking for adventure at the dawn of the 17th century, when harrowing transatlantic travel meant weeks in leaky steerage, not merely a few hours in economy class. Scotland and England had recently united, Anglicans and Puritans remained at odds, the colony of Virginia was newly founded — but dying out fast — and the first Bermudians would eventually save it for England.

In June 1609, the Virginia Co. launched its Third Supply Relief Fleet — nine vessels from Plymouth, England — carrying supplies, food and roughly 600 new settlers. In July, one ship went down, taking all souls in a hellish tempest. By August, seven vessels made it to Virginia, but without much of their cargo. The flagship Sea Venture — a newly constructed armed merchantman of 300 tons and 16 guns — remained missing and presumed sunk, along with its 140 men, 10 women, handful of children, one dog and much-needed stores of supplies for the sick and starving settlers of Jamestown, Va.

But they did not drown at sea. In addition to the assorted vagabonds, jailbirds, unruly youths and skilled artisans aboard the Sea Venture were Admiral Sir George Somers, commander of the fleet; Sir Thomas Gates, appointed governor of the Virginia colony; John Rolfe, a pioneer in the cultivation of tobacco; and William Strachey, who kept a journal of the voyage. Strachey wrote, “Winds and seas were as mad as fury and rage could make them. The sea swelled above the clouds and gave battle unto Heaven.”

Adm. Somers kept the helm throughout the storm. In monstrous waves, the ship foundered for nearly 36 agonising hours. Waterlogged biscuits clogged the pumps as crew members frantically bailed and attempted to plug holes in the planks with food and anything else at hand. Toward the end, water in the hold had risen to nine feet. All aboard were exhausted and preparing to die. They broke out the liquor.

But just before the battered ship could sink came “the work of a merciful God,” wrote Strachey. On July 28, the Sea Venture crashed onto the rocks of Bermuda, a tiny speck of islands amidst a vast blue ocean, unpopulated by anyone except some wild hogs left by early explorers.

Hardy Pioneers
Who were these fearless pioneers who risked it all, weeks from any land, centuries before GPS, to create the New World? 

Captain Juan de Bermúdez. A Spanish explorer, Bermúdez (d. 1570) veered off course during an expedition in 1503 or 1505 and spotted the islands for the first time. Considering its treacherous reefs and the unnerving cries of its cahows — now Bermuda’s national bird — he named the archipelago the Isles of the Devils and kept on sailing.

Around 1515, Bermúdez returned to explore further, but found no gold and no reason to stay. Except for his name, he left only the hogs, which may have saved the Sea Venture castaways from starvation a century later. They were featured on Bermuda’s first “hog money,” the earliest colonial coinage in the English Americas. 

Admiral Sir George Somers. Born in Dorset, England (1554–1610), Somers won fame in a 1595 expedition, then went on to command several English ships. He was knighted in 1603 by the new King James I of England, and he served in Parliament.

In 1606 he helped to form the Virginia Co. and in 1609 became admiral of its resupply fleet, intended to save the settlement at Jamestown, then the world’s most ambitious colonial expedition. The enterprise was financed privately in London to earn a profit, establish Great Britain in the Americas and relieve the overcrowding in English cities.

After landing unexpectedly on the Isles of the Devils, Somers mapped the islands, recast as the Somers Isles. He supervised construction of the 30-ton Patience, made from indigenous cedar with rigging from the wrecked Sea Venture. After 42 weeks in Bermuda, Somers commanded her and another new ship, the Deliverance. In May 1610, they arrived in Virginia with 142 castaways. Two colourful characters from the Sea Venture, Robert Waters and Christopher Carter, stayed behind, thus dating Bermuda’s continuous inhabitation to July 28, 1609.

Upon landing at Jamestown, Somers found only 60 of the 500 colonists still alive. The supplies he delivered saved their lives and that of the colony. Somers returned to Bermuda to collect more food, knowing the islands had plenty of hogs, fowl and fish. He arrived safely but became ill and died on Nov. 9, 1610. A nephew took his body back to England, but his heart was buried here, according to his wishes.

Today a statue of Somers by sculptor Desmond Fountain stands in St. George’s. The Bermuda Historical Society Museum, on Queen Street in Hamilton, displays several artefacts from his life, including portraits, models of the ships, his Italian sea chest and lodestone, a reproduction of his original map, and early coins and silver. Ask to see the letter from General George Washington requesting Bermuda’s help in the American Revolution. 

Governor Sir Thomas Gates. Gates (1585–1621) took over as governor of Virginia after his unscheduled stop in Bermuda, where he supervised construction of the 80-ton Deliverance, also made from indigenous cedar with rigging from the Sea Venture.

As the appointed official for Jamestown, Gates claimed authority in Bermuda, while Somers felt that he retained authority until the settlers, including Gates, landed in Virginia. Gates left his name on Gates Bay, where the Sea Venture landed.

In Jamestown, the new governor found only 60 settlers left to govern after the winter of 1609–10, which became known as the Starving Time. The condition of his settlement was so poor that it was nearly abandoned, but another fleet arrived just in time to give the colony a reprieve.

John Rolfe. Rolfe (1585–1622) pioneered the cultivation of tobacco in North America. His daughter died while stranded in Bermuda, and his wife died shortly after reaching Jamestown.

The Virginia Co. had found neither precious metals nor other exploitable resources in the colony. The Native Americans grew and smoked tobacco, but it tasted bitter. So Rolfe experimented with seeds from Trinidad and Venezuela that offered a milder smoke, even though Spain had declared the death penalty for anyone selling such seeds to a non-Spaniard. He developed new methods of curing the leaf and enhancing its flavour. In 1614 his first shipments to London became the foundation of North American agriculture.

Perhaps Rolfe is best remembered for his 1614 marriage to Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, who toured England triumphantly as a visiting princess and died there in 1617. Rolfe’s final years were busy as secretary of Virginia and a member of its council. He died suddenly in 1622, possibly in a massacre. He left a son by Pocahontas, a third wife and a second daughter. No one knows what Rolfe looked like, since portraits were painted well after his death. 

William Strachey. Strachey (1572–1621) wrote most of what we know about the voyage of the Sea Venture, the founding of Bermuda and the salvation of Jamestown. Although suppressed by the Virginia Co., his accounts are believed to have provided the basis for William Shakespeare’s The Tempest — reset in Italy — which debuted on Nov. 1, 1611.

Born in Essex, England, he attended Cambridge University. Married and settled in Surrey, Strachey lived on an inheritance, and befriended poets and playwrights. In precarious financial condition, he tried to mend his fortunes in the New World, purchasing shares in the Virginia Co. and sailing on the Sea Venture.

He chronicled the ocean crossing and the accidental founding of Bermuda, which turned out to be paradise, except for three mutinies and a murder (Robert Waters had smashed Edward Samuels with a shovel in a brawl, later to be pardoned). Strachey remained at Jamestown for less than a year, serving as secretary, and returned to England in 1611. He died in poverty. 

The Next 400 Years
Shipwreck survivors founded the Town of St. George. By the end of the 17th century, English immigrants had established communities at Flatts, Crow Lane, Riddell’s Bay and Mangrove Bay. Democracy arrived in 1612 with the first proper English settlers aboard the Plough. Richard Moore served as first governor, and in 1620 Bermuda convened its first legislative assembly, now the world’s third-oldest parliament.

Families adopted maritime trades such as shipbuilding, eventually running speedy sloops for profitable sidelines as privateers. During the War of 1812, Bermudians seized almost 300 ships.

Bermuda made a great vantage from which to smuggle. In 1775, thieves in St. George’s liberated more than 100 barrels of gunpowder sought by American revolutionaries. When the revolution ended in 1783, Great Britain lost all of its harbours between Canada and the West Indies, vesting Bermuda with new military importance. During the U.S. Civil War, Bermudian sloops evaded the Union blockade to sneak goods into the Confederacy. In exchange, they received gold and cotton, which they sold in London for 10 times the price.

Many foreign vessels have foundered on Bermuda’s reefs, becoming targets for scavengers. Bermuda has more sunken vessels than almost anywhere — a treat for divers. And in the early 20th century, with the advent of telecommunications and easier travel, Bermuda practically invented island tourism.

During World War II, Bermuda became a hotbed of espionage. Teams of young women worked as code breakers in the basement of the Hamilton Princess Hotel to decipher transmissions from nearby German ships and submarines. When planes carrying mail landed in Bermuda to refuel, agents rifled through their bags, looking for coded messages whilst the pilots enjoyed their coffee breaks.

After the war, Bermuda went into business, luring British, American and Canadian firms with low tax rates and favourable policies. Today much of the insurance industry is based here. 

400th Anniversary
In 2009, Bermuda threw a yearlong bash to celebrate all that the oldest self-governing British colony had accomplished in four centuries.

On July 28, hundreds gathered at St. Catherine’s Beach to watch “survivors” row ashore in 17th-century costume, re-creating Bermuda’s founding. The actor playing Gov. Gates declared, “I claim these islands, in their entirety, to be English soil.” 

Queen Elizabeth II paid her respects in November 2009, 56 years after her first visit, saying, “In 1609, the storm-lashed crew and passengers from the shipwrecked Sea Venture could not possibly have imagined the future Bermuda. No one could have anticipated how Bermudians would repeatedly and successfully reinvent themselves over the following 400 years. In that time, Bermudians excelled, among other things, as tobacco farmers, traders in salt, privateers and builders of fast schooners.

“Tourism in this mild climate, so close to North America, remains a vital part of your economic life. More recently, Bermuda has been a successful pioneer of the highly specialised reinsurance business.”

At a December 2009 gala attended by the governor, premier and other dignitaries, Bermuda 2009 Chair Conchita C. Ming proclaimed, “We are definitely the ‘mouse that roared.’ There have been well over 150 events, exhibits and projects — the large events: Bermuda Festival, Tall Ships, Somers Day, Emancipation Day, the Tattoo and, of course, the visit from Her Majesty a week ago — to the smaller events: book displays, flowers adorning Kings Square and shipwrecked salvage specials.”

The organising committee raised $1.2 million from the private sector, including the Bank of Bermuda Foundation, ABIR and Butterfield Bank. The government matched that figure and provided additional support. Sponsorship in kind came from Fairmont Hotels, Corporation of Hamilton, Appleby, Deloitte, Total Marketing Communication, Digicel, Key Tech, and Butterfield and Vallis.

Bermuda History Timeline

1609		Sea Venture Wrecks To re-supply the needy colonists of Jamestown, the Sea Venture set sail from Plymouth, England, for the Virginia Co. The ship leaked badly and went astray in a giant storm, then wrecked near the present-day town of St. George, accidentally founding modern Bermuda.
1611		The Tempest William Shakespeare's now-classic play, The Tempest, debuted in November. It was based in part on the harrowing voyage of the Sea Venture, its wreck on the reefs and the founding of Bermuda.
1612		Settlers on the Plough The first purposeful English settlers arrived in Bermuda aboard the Plough. Richard Moore was selected as the islands' first governor.
1620		New Parliament Bermudians inaugurated their first legislative assembly, now the world's third-oldest parliament, behind those of Iceland and Great Britain. Bermuda would become a crown colony 64 years later.
1648		Bermudians Settle Eleuthera The name of the Bahamian island of Eleuthera derived from Bermudian settlers, who called themselves Eleutherian Adventurers after the Greek eleutheria, meaning "freedom." Bermudians also settled the Turks and Caicos, resulting in British dominance of the region.
1700		New Communities English settlers in Bermuda had branched out from St. George's and established small communities around Flatts, Crow Lane, Riddell's Bay and Mangrove Bay.
1775		Smuggling a Revolution Smugglers broke into a military supply building near St. George's and stole more than 100 barrels of gunpowder for the revolutionaries of the American colonies.
1783		American Revolution Ends As the American Revolution ended in 1783, Great Britain lost all its North American harbours between Canada and the West Indies, vesting new military importance in Bermuda, where the British Army and the Royal Navy remained until 1995.
1812		Privateers and the War Having developed speedy sloops, Bermudian privateers operated with British approval to plunder foreign vessels. During the War of 1812, they seized almost 300 ships.
1815		Hamilton as the Capital Bermuda moved its capital from St. George's to Hamilton in an effort to catch tax-evading privateers who had hidden their treasures in coves, caves and basements around Hamilton Harbour.
1846		First Lighthouse Before the islands' first lighthouse was built, countless vessels ran aground on the reefs — today a prime destination for wreck divers — and were stripped while sinking, sometimes even before rescue efforts were mounted.
1860s		North vs. South Fast Bermudian sloops made big money in the U.S. Civil War by evading the Union blockade of the Confederate states to supply matériel and pick up gold and cotton, which they sold in London at a fabulous profit.
1940s		World War II A hotbed of espionage during World War II, Bermuda played a critical role for the Allies. Women worked in the basement of the Hamilton Princess Hotel to intercept the transmissions and crack the codes of German vessels plying the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile, other agents were rifling through mail bags as transatlantic planes refuelled.
1950s		Bermuda Business Booms After World War II, tourists discovered Bermuda, and the business sector began to grow steadily. Low taxes and favourable policies lured British, American and Canadian firms to headquarter in Bermuda. Today the insurance industry dominates.
2009		400th Anniversary Bermuda completes 400 years of continuous habitation as a self-governing British territory. Anniversary celebrations include a tall-ships challenge, royal birthday, re-enactment of the Sea Venture landing, theatrical production based on The Tempest, opera sung under the stars, Gombey festival, military tattoo, boat parade and other such festivities.

Read more about Bermuda's tours and attractions in Sightseeing, or get a quick listing of activities to help you Experience Bermuda.

Dolphin Quest Make your Bermuda trip even more memorable with dolphins! Dolphin Quest offers fun, interactive dolphin swim programs for all. Book your adventure today!

Oleander Cycles Have a fun-filled vacation with a cycle from Oleander. If you can ride a bicycle, you can easily ride an Oleander scooter. See all of Bermuda...reserve one today!

Elbow Beach Cycles See the best of Bermuda-secluded beaches, wonderful wildlife, fantastic forts. Amazing adventures around every bend. Pick your scooter or hybrid electric bike from Bermuda's newest rental fleet.