1600-1899 Preview

Date

July 24 – late August 1609

Overview

The Sea Venture was the flagship of a fleet sent by the Virginia Company in 1609 to resupply the struggling Jamestown colony in Virginia. Caught in a hurricane, the ship became separated from the rest of the fleet, took on water, and was deliberately run aground on one of Bermuda’s coral reefs by Admiral Sir George Somers to avoid sinking. All on board survived and spent about nine months on the islands. During this time, they built two small vessels (the Deliverance and Patience) from Bermuda cedar and salvaged materials in order to continue their voyage to Virginia. Some of the survivors chose to stay behind in Bermuda.

Significance

1. The wreck incidentally led to the permanent British settlement of Bermuda.
2 . The story helped to maintain England’s interest in its American colonies by supplying a dramatic tale of providence and survival.
3.It is widely believed that William Shakespeare’s The Tempest was inspired in part by the Sea Venture story (especially the letters of William Strachey)
4. The availability of natural resources (timber, food) in Bermuda became well known, influencing the decision to colonize formally.

Location

Off the reefs of Bermuda; near St. George’s / St. Catherine’s Point

Learn more

*The Ship That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America by Lorri Glover & Daniel Blake Smith
*Encyclopedia Virginia entry on Sea Venture
*Bermuda Tourism / gotobermuda.com history pages

Date

July 11, 1612

Overview

Three years after the Sea Venture wreck, in 1612 the Virginia Company officially extended its charter across the Atlantic to include Bermuda. On 11 July of that year, a group of approximately 60 settlers (men, women, and children) under the command of Captain Robert Davis, along with Bermuda’s first governor, Richard Moore, arrived aboard the ship Plough.They initially landed on Smith’s Island, joined a few who had remained behind since the Sea Venture survivors, and then moved across the harbour to establish the town of St. George’s. They began building homes, planting crops, learning which plants thrived, finding water sources, and adapting to the local climate/environment.

Significance

1.This marks the true beginning of Bermuda as a settled English colony, not merely wreck survivors.
2.The establishment of St. George’s as the first town and capital set patterns of settlement, architecture, and governance that persist.
3. It initiated the economic, social, and political systems (land allotments, church establishment, community organization) that would define Bermuda

Location

Smith’s Island, then St. George’s, Bermuda

Learn More

1.Bermuda’s public history articles (e.g., Celebrating Bermuda’s First Permanent Settlers)
2.History of Bermuda entries in Britannica
3.Local resources in St. George’s Historical Society Museum

Date

1612

Overview

The church was established immediately after the founding of the settlement.

Significance

Oldest surviving Anglican church in continuous use outside the British Isles; a symbol of Bermuda's colonial heritage.

Location

St. George’s, Bermuda

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Date

1612–1614

Overview

The first fort was built on the site from wood in 1612. This was replaced by a stone fort in 1614.

Significance

One of the first coastal artillery forts in the New World played a key role in Bermuda's defense.

Location

St. George’s Island, Bermuda

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Bermuda Maritime Museum

Date

1615

Overview

Investors (largely the same adventurers behind the Virginia Company) formed the Somers Isles Company to manage Bermuda as a commercial enterprise. The Company ran the colony for decades, allocating land as shares (the “tribes” / parishes) and appointing governors.

Significance

Company rule shaped land tenure, labour systems (indentures, early use of enslaved labour), and commercial priorities; its policies left structural marks on Bermuda’s parishes, property patterns, and political tensions

Location

Colony-wide (administration from St. George’s).

Learn More

Somers Isles Company histories; surveys like Richard Norwood’s (census/survey work tied to Company administration).

Date

1616 (survey completed)

Overview

Richard Norwood carried out a major survey and census that measured and divided the islands into the land lots that later became parishes. This technical work underpinned property, taxation, and political representation.

Significance

Norwood’s survey created the cadastral foundation of Bermuda — shaping settlement patterns, parish identities, and local governance structures still recognizable today.

Location

Island-wide (surveying of the archipelago).

Learn More

Somers Isles Company records and secondary studies of early Bermuda land division

Date

1620s onward

Overview

Captive Africans were brought to Bermuda, initially via privateers who captured Spanish and Portuguese ships. They were forced into labour on farms and in shipbuilding.

Significance

Enslaved Africans profoundly shaped Bermuda’s culture, families, and traditions. Their descendants form a major part of the population today.

Location

Colony-wide

Learn More

Bermuda National Museum; works on Bermuda’s Black history

Date

August 1, 1620

Overview

On August 1, 1620, Governor Nathaniel Butler convened Bermuda’s first elected Assembly (which later became the House of Assembly) in St. Peter’s Church, in the town of St. George’s. That same period saw the completion of the State House (constructed in 1620–1621), the first purpose-built home for the Assembly and one of the first stone buildings in Bermuda outside fortifications. The building was intended to reflect a style borrowed from more temperate climates and mirrored some Renaissance architectural influences, though adaptations later had to be made (e.g. roof shape) because of the island’s rain patterns.

Significance

1. This established formal government and local legislative power early in Bermuda’s colonial history.

2. It created institutional foundations for lawmaking, representation (at least among settlers of property), which over time evolved toward more inclusive governance.

3. The State House remains a symbol of Bermuda’s colonial legacy and is one of the island’s oldest surviving public buildings, contributing physically and culturally to the identity of St. George’s.

Location

St. George’s, Bermuda — the building now known as the State House (originally for the House of Assembly) and St. Peter’s Church for the first meeting.

Learn More

1.Bermuda Parliament’s history pages (Parliament.bm)
2. State House, Bermuda articles and heritage listings
3. Museum and historical society documents in St. George’s

Date

Mid-1600s onward

Overview

Bermudians developed fast, agile vessels built of native cedar, perfectly suited for privateering, trade, and fishing.

Significance

The cedar sloop made Bermuda famous as aShipyards across the island seafaring people, with ships in demand worldwide.

Location

Shipyards across the island

Learn more

Maritime Museum exhibits; naval history texts

Date

1649–1651

Overview

After Charles I’s execution, Bermudians split between Royalists and Parliamentarians. Skirmishes and political conflict erupted until Parliament regained control.

Significance

Revealed Bermuda’s deep ties to England’s political struggles and reinforced local self-identity.

Location

St. George’s and parishes

Learn more

Colonial correspondence; British Library collections

Date

1684

Overview

Dissatisfied settlers petitioned for change; King Charles II dissolved the Somers Isles Company, placing Bermuda directly under royal control.

Significance

Shifted power from a company elite to Crown governance, setting up a more standard colonial administration.

Location

St. George’s (administrative centre)

Learn more

Colonial records; Bermuda National Trust

Date

1707 (Crown Colony status tied to the Acts of Union on 1 May 1707)

Overview

Originally settled under company charters (first Virginia Company, then the Somers Isles Company), Bermuda’s corporate-control arrangement ended in 1684 when the Crown revoked the Company’s charter. From then until 1707, it was an English colony under the Crown. When England and Scotland united their parliaments under the Acts of Union in 1707, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain, Bermuda officially became a colony of Great Britain.

Significance

1. This solidified Bermuda’s status directly under British control rather than being managed by a private or joint stock company.

2. It meant Bermuda was part of the wider British imperial system, with obligations, protections, and identity tied to Great Britain. That influenced its laws, trade, military significance, and governance.

3. It set the stage for Bermuda being treated as a strategic military asset for the British Empire in later wars.

Location

Entire territory of Bermuda, with administrative centers in St. George’s (earlier) and later Hamilton.

Learn more

1.“History of Bermuda” entries in Britannica / official Bermuda Government websites.
2.Articles on the Acts of Union 1707

Date

August 1775 (notable gunpowder removal episode)

Overview

During the American Revolutionary period Bermudians sympathetic to the Patriot cause covertly removed gunpowder from British stores in St. George’s and shipped it to America — an episode that shows the island’s complex loyalties and the importance of local elites and merchants

Significance

Demonstrated Bermuda’s strategic stores and the influence of colonial merchants; the incident had wider implications for the revolution’s early campaigns and illustrates Bermuda’s role in Atlantic-era conflicts.

Location

St. George’s (gunpowder stores / warehouses).

Learn more

Smithsonian and specialist articles on Bermuda’s role in the American Revolution.

Date

1790–1793

Overview

The government of Bermuda set aside 145 acres for its future seat, officially incorporated in 1793 by an Act of Parliament.

Significance

Became the capital of Bermuda in 1815; central to political and military developments.

Location

Hamilton, Bermuda

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Date

1809 (Admiralty acquisition / works begin) — major works continue through 19th century (dock completed later)

Overview

After losing continental ports, Britain purchased Ireland Island and began building a major naval base (the Royal Naval Dockyard) to control Atlantic sea lanes. The works were extensive — involving land reclamation, convict labour, forts, and decades of construction

Significance

Transformed Bermuda into a strategic imperial naval hub — reshaping economy (military employment and infrastructure), population movement (west-end development), and long-term geopolitical importance. The Dockyard was central to Bermuda’s 19th-century identity as “Gibraltar of the West.”

Location

Ireland Island / West End (Royal Naval Dockyard).

Learn more

Date

1812-1814 (Dockyard building began in the 1790s; major role during War of 1812)

Overview

In the years leading up to the War of 1812, Britain recognized Bermuda’s strategic location in the North Atlantic and began building up dockyard facilities, especially at Ireland Island. During the War, Bermuda served as a launch point for British naval and amphibious operations against the United States, including the Burning of Washington, DC, and the Attack on Baltimore. Thousands of troops were deployed from the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda, making Bermuda a central staging area.

Significance

Cemented Bermuda’s status as a key British naval and military stronghold in the Atlantic.

Resulted in large-scale fortifications and infrastructure investment (dockyards, garrisons, forts), which provided economic stimulus and population shifts.

These developments shaped Bermuda’s geography (military camps, ports, roads) and its economic dependence on military presence and maritime enterprise.

Location

Ireland Island (Dockyard), Hamilton (later capital — moved 1815), various fortifications across Bermuda including St. George’s and other strategic points.

Learn more

1. “The History of Bermuda’s Royal Naval Dockyard” (GotBermuda) article. 2. Studies of military architecture and “Fortress Bermuda” over time.

Date

January 1815 (official move)

Overview

As Hamilton grew (founded in the 1790s), the colonial government officially transferred the seat of government from St. George’s to Hamilton in 1815 — marking a political and economic shift to the central island and the Pembroke area.

Significance

The move consolidated commerce and government closer to the main harbour and to the defensive focus around the Dockyard, accelerating Hamilton’s rise as the island’s commercial and administrative heart.

Location

Hamilton (Pembroke Parish).

Learn more

City of Hamilton histories; local archival materials on the 1815 transfer.

Date

c. 1820s–1860s (convict labour used heavily 1820–1863)

Overview

Thousands of convicts (transported from Britain) were used in building the Dockyard and other works — often housed in hulks and living in harsh conditions — as part of the imperial effort to create a major naval base.

Significance

Left a difficult social legacy (exploitation and hardship) and materially enabled the Dockyard’s expansion; the labour built infrastructure that later shaped local economies and demographics.

Location

Dockyard / Ireland Island / Camber areas.

Learn more

Dockyard museum pages and academic treatments of convict labour in imperial dockyards.

Date

August 1, 1834

Overview

When the Slavery Abolition Act passed in the British Parliament in 1833 came into effect in 1834, slavery was ended legally in Bermuda and other British colonies. On that date, enslaved people were declared free. Bermuda's local legislature, noting its own conditions, decided not to adopt the “apprenticeship” system used elsewhere in the empire, which would have temporarily kept many former slaves bound. Instead, emancipation in Bermuda was more immediate.

Significance

1.It fundamentally changed Bermuda’s social structure; formerly enslaved people gained legal freedom, though the economic, social, and racial inequalities persisted.

2.It led eventually to annual commemorations, cultural traditions such as Cup Match (cricket matches between St. George’s and Somerset) tied to Emancipation.

3. Shaped Bermuda’s racial relations, communities, laws and public memory.

Location

All of Bermuda; particularly meaningful in parishes like St. George’s and Somerset.

Learn more

“Bermuda’s Black History: The 19th and 20th Centuries” (The Bermudian)

Date

1830s–1850s

Overview

Newly freed Bermudians founded friendly societies, lodges, and churches, creating networks for education, welfare, and community.

Significance

Laid the foundation for Black Bermudian leadership and social resilience.

Location

Hamilton, St. George’s, rural parishes.

Learn more

Bermuda heritage groups; National Museum exhibits.

Date

February 1835

Overview

The American ship Enterprise, carrying 78 enslaved Africans, entered Hamilton Harbour in Bermuda in February 1835. Because slavery had been abolished in Bermuda the previous year, Bermuda authorities refused to clear the ship without addressing the status of its human cargo. Local citizens and court actions led to 72 of the 78 enslaved persons being freed by the Bermudian Courts, while the rest returned to the U.S.

Significance

1. Demonstrated Bermuda’s legal commitment to the newly established abolition of slavery.

2. Became a moral and legal precedent, reinforcing that formerly enslaved people had rights under Bermudian law.

3. Added to Bermuda’s international reputation in debates over slavery, aspects of human rights, and reinforced the island’s place in the network of abolitionist sentiment.

Location

Hamilton Harbour, Bermuda.

Learn more

“Enterprise (slave ship)” article/history records.

Date

19th century (major outbreaks in 1843, 1853)

Overview

Bermuda suffered severe yellow fever epidemics, particularly among British troops stationed at the Dockyard.

Significance

Shaped public health measures, quarantine practices, and the development of military cemeteries.

Location

Dockyard, Hamilton, St. George’s.

Learn more

Medical histories of Bermuda; Dockyard cemeteries.

Date

1861–1865 (Civil War years)

Overview

Bermuda’s harbours and shipping networks became staging points for Confederate blockade runners and commerce during the American Civil War. Merchants and foreign investors used Bermuda as a neutral transshipment point — exporting cotton and importing arms and supplies to the Confederacy.

Significance

Brought wartime trade and profit — and diplomatic friction with the United States — while highlighting Bermuda’s strategic location and maritime expertise. The episode left economic and social footprints in port towns.

Location

St. George’s / Hamilton / Dockyard harbours — island ports used as staging and transshipment points.

Learn more

NPS & academic studies of blockade running; primary manifests and port records.

Date

1879

Overview

Bermuda staged an island-wide exhibition showcasing agriculture, crafts, and innovation, modeled after London’s Great Exhibition.

Significance

Reflected Bermuda’s pride and progress post-emancipation; fostered national identity.

Location

Hamilton.

Learn more

Local press archives; Bermuda Historical Society collections.

Date

1897 (Town of Hamilton raised to city status)

Overview

Hamilton, long the political and commercial centre, was formally elevated in status as the Town became a city in 1897, tied to national commemorations of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and the completion/ambitions of civic projects (e.g., cathedral plans).

Significance

Cemented Hamilton’s place as the symbolic and administrative heart of Bermuda heading into the 20th century — a final institutional shift in the 19th-century arc from St. George’s to central island governance.

Location

Hamilton (Pembroke Parish).

Learn more

City of Hamilton histories; local press coverage from 1897 and cathedral/municipal records.