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By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us)
See end of this file for all of our many History files |
2019. February 1. Isabelle
Ramsay-Brackstone, owner of an island perfumery is the new Honorary Consul of
Canada. c/o Stewart Hall, 5 Queen Street, St. George, GE 05. Phone
1 844 880 6519. Fax 212 596-1666 or 212-596-1790. Email
ccs.scc@international.gc.ca.
See https://www.canada.ca/Canada-In-New-York.
All other inquiries to The Canadian Consulate General, 1251 Avenue of the
Bermuda and Canada have been partners in history, commerce, culture, education, tourism and trade since Bermuda was settled by accident in 1609 and by design in 1612. See Bermuda History with the Old and New Worlds 1505-1799. There are more than 3,000 Canadian residents in Bermuda while 800 Bermudians a year are educated in Canada. A former Bermuda Premier (until December 17, 2012) and at that time also Minister of Finance, the Hon. Paula Cox), was born in Canada.
Canada now supplies about 10% of all Bermuda's tourists. Canadian visitors to Bermuda on vacation go from a hundreds or thousands of times bigger province but with a hugely smaller population density per square mile to a tiny (21 square miles) island with hundreds or thousands more people per square mile. Two Canadian airlines go to and from Bermuda. Canada currently supplies less than 20% of all Bermuda's imports. Many Bermudians have benefited from being sent to school, college and university in Canada. Most Canadian visitors to Bermuda do not experience problems. But there have been problems, including on July 3, 1996 a 17 year old Canadian visitor, Rebecca Middleton - see separate heading below - was kidnapped, raped, sodomized, tortured and murdered. A Canadian Senator was robbed and beaten. In 2005, four Canadian women were robbed and beaten. Canadian women visitors are advised not to accept food or drink from strangers or casual acquaintances, as these may be drugged. Once, the Canadian connection once was hugely impactive in Bermuda. Then, Canadian exports to Bermuda once exceeded US exports to Bermuda, largely the result of the Commonwealth Preferential Tariff. This stopped in the early 1970s when the UK joined the European Union. Between them, until then Saguenay Shipping and Air Canada dominated the trade then between Canada and Bermuda.
2020. January 29. Attracting interest and support from another country’s Consulate General and some of its most innovative businesses is significant for Bermuda’s status in the fintech and technology space. That’s the view of Steven Rees Davies, joint global head of technology and innovation at Appleby, who was a speaker at the Canadian Technology Summit in Bermuda this week. He made the observation shortly after Emily Cook, head of the innovation programme at the Consulate General of Canada in New York, spoke at the summit. She said that through visits to Bermuda, the consulate develops ties with the island at all levels, and helps expose Canadian companies to what Bermuda has to offer. “Bermuda has made strides in opening up and creating a regulatory environment for business that is so unique in the world that it wasn’t so difficult to find Canadian companies that were interested in exploring opportunities here,” she said. The five blockchain companies attending the summit were WorkWolf, KnOx, Mantle Technology, Global Digital Assets, and Bidali. They were brought together by Penrose Partners, a Canada-based emerging technology consulting firm. The summit was jointly hosted by Penrose Partners and the Canadian Consulate. Ms King said: “It’s good to see the growth of this business programme year on year and it becoming more specific and create true business opportunities.” Mr Rees Davies, of Appleby, said: “It’s very important to have other foreign government’s consulars interested in coming to Bermuda to continue to develop relations with Bermuda, with businesses from their countries in the technology space. This is an example of where you have got private enterprise partners and you have got the Canadian Consulate working together to bring Canadian technology companies or entrepreneurs to Bermuda to see what it is we are doing here.” He said it was one thing for Bermuda to develop new laws and regulations, but then there is the challenge of selling that to the rest of the world. “There are multiple channels of doing that; diplomatic, relations with consulates and foreign governments — and Premier Burt is doing a fantastic job in showcasing us everywhere he goes. There is private enterprise, which is companies and businesses in Bermuda who are adopting technology and looking to integrate what we are doing here with business elsewhere. Then there are the likes of myself, and other advisers in the industry, lawyers, accountants, fiduciary service companies who are looking to grow and develop this space, so that we have continued business, continue to grow and develop the economy, employ more people and deliver what we are trying to do here in Bermuda. So this is critical as to how we should be moving forward. It is a good testament to what we have done so far as a country [that] we are able to attract a foreign government with private business to see what we are doing. Usually we have to go elsewhere to showcase it.” Mr Rees Davies was part of a panel that discussed regulation and governance. Also on the panel was Aqsa Zubair, fintech specialist at the Bermuda Monetary Authority. She spoke about how the BMA has been working with other regulators around the world, including being part of the Global Digital Finance Regulatory round table, and the Global Financial Innovation Network, which is a group of about six regulators from around the world. Another participant in the discussion was Eric Kryski, co-founder of Bidali, which among other things allows online merchants to accept cryptocurrencies as payment. He said: “Being regulatory compliant is the only way to gain trust.” Mr Kryski said banking in the space has been a challenge. Bidali is with a bank in Calgary that he believes is the only openly crypto-friendly bank in Canada. He had just returned from the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, where he learnt about what was happening in the crypto space there and elsewhere in the world. He said it was also “really interesting to see what has been happening here in Bermuda”. Among things that make Bermuda attractive as a jurisdiction to him are its proximity to the US and Canada, its parity with the dollar, close ties to Canada, and its fairly central location. He said: “Also of interest to us as a payments business is putting forward more efficient payment rules. This is a really interesting testing ground because with today’s technology we can actually roll that stuff out this year. We are seeing real evolution in fintech.” He said a lack of regulatory clarity is inhibiting growth in Canada, and this was creating an opportunity for other countries, like Bermuda, to have companies come and set up “because they are able to be more aggressive and move things along quicker”. When panel moderator Oren Bouzaglo, co-founder of Penrose Partners, asked for thoughts on where the digital technology is heading, Ms Zubair said last year had been a big one for the BMA, which saw it issue its first Class F and Class M digital asset business licenses. “We have a lot more insight on how the market works and how it is working across borders. We are finding our approach to regulatory supervision and licencing. We are one of the jurisdiction in the world that has regulations in this space,” she said, adding that the BMA would look at how it can influence global benchmarks and take on more of a leadership position globally. While Mr Kryski said regulators have moved quite quickly and he expects “we will start to see stable coin payments and settlement become a real thing outside the crypto space this year”. Speaking to The Royal Gazette after the panel discussion, Mr Rees Davies noted how the BMA is a member of a variety of associations around the world where regulators convene to talk about issues in the fintech space. “They [the BMA] are able to showcase the reputation of Bermuda’s regulatory environment — which gives other regulators confidence in businesses that are coming from Bermuda. For me, it is us pushing it to the next level.” Opening the summit, Kerem Kolcuoglu, co-founder of Penrose Partners, said: “Bermuda is a great place that is inviting innovation and setting a better example for all the jurisdictions looking to adopt this new technology. He said Penrose wants to facilitate “true partnerships and relationships.” Among sponsors of the summit was the Bermuda Business Development Agency, Appleby, CCS Group, Goslings, Continental Management Limited, Hitch, and the Hamilton Princess and Beach Club, where the summit was staged.
2020. January 10. Biometric collection sessions are to be held later this month for Bermudians who want to gain a Canadian visa. Wayne Caines, the national security minister, said that special ID criteria was now mandatory for some people applying for Canadian visitor visa, work or study permit or permanent residency. Mr Caines added: “This is mandatory for all foreign students, inclusive of Bermudian students. Previously, biometric collection needed to be done overseas.” The collection service was set up through a deal between the Bermuda Government and the Consulate General of Canada and will be the second of its type to be held. Mr Caines said: “On behalf of the people of Bermuda, we offer our sincere thanks to the Consulate General of Canada. We encourage all applicants who have the necessary documents in hand to take advantage of this opportunity.” The sessions will be held on January 29 and 30 at the Department of Immigration, Government Administration Building, on Hamilton’s Parliament Street. People can attend between 9am to noon & 1pm to 5pm. Anyone can use the service if they live in, or can legally enter Bermuda, applied for a visitor visa, study or work permit, or for permanent residence. Applicants must also have paid the biometrics fee of CAD$85 per individual applicant or the CAD$170 maximum charge for families applying at the same time and have received a biometrics instruction letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Those who apply online for a visitor visa, study or work permit and pay the biometrics fee when they submit your application, they can get the biometrics instruction letter within 24 hours of. Applicants have 30 days after receipt of the letter to give their biometrics.
2019. July 4. People going to live, work or study in Canada will be able to have their biometric information collected in Bermuda for the first time, it was revealed yesterday. The Ministry of National Security has launched a trial programme to allow residents to get their permits finalised in Bermuda rather than having to travel to the US for biometric information to be collected. The Consulate General of Canada will have a team in Bermuda from July 9 to 11 to collected the needed information. Applicants who have completed the online process must bring the biometrics instruction letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada with them as well as a valid passport to submit their biometrics. Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, explained: “Bermuda residents who have applied online or by mail for a work or students permit of permanent residence can have their biometrics collected in Bermuda and avoid the expense of travelling overseas.” Mr Caines said that those who are still to apply for Canadian visas would be unlikely to be able to complete their applications before the Canadian team arrived. But he added they should complete the process as soon as possible. The Canadian team will operate from the Department of Immigration, Government Administration Building, Parliament Street, Hamilton, from 9am to noon and from 1pm to 5pm.
2009. Bermuda and Canada signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) which affects Canadians living and working in Bermuda. Thus Bermuda-based banks may be asked by the Canadian tax authority to supply certain relevant information on Canadians living and/or working in Bermuda and/or with Bermuda-based or Bermuda-incorporated entities. Bermuda gained recognition as a Designated Stock Exchange under Canada’s Income Tax Act, in late October, 2011. Because Canada does not have a tax on salaries of Canadians domiciled in Bermuda like the USA has a tax on its citizens in Bermuda, or charge a tax on investment income for non-residents like the USA does, good investments of all kinds in Canada are attractive for expatriates and Bermudians. Mutual funds based in Canada are also attractive when compared to Bermuda and elsewhere. Insurance rates of Canadian companies may be attractive to those working in Bermuda.
Bermuda size & population | 20.75 (Twenty point seven five) square miles in total. 63.908 residents in 2019. Women then outnumbered men by 2,398. |
Resident population density per square mile | 3,097 (Three thousand, zero nine seven). Third highest in the world |
Government Code of Conduct for legislators | None. There is a voluntary code, with no legislative teeth. It is ignored by some. No equivalent of the UK's Ethical Standards in Public Life Act. |
Number in Cabinet | 13. Same number as USA, equivalent in Bermuda to 0.63 (Point six three) per square mile. They have "The Honorable" before their name. |
Number of elected legislators in House of Assembly and their salaries | 36. Equivalent to 1.93 (One point nine three) per square mile. They have "MP" for Member of Parliament after their name. If they are also Cabinet Ministers, they earn well in excess of $100,000 a year, plus unlimited expenses. |
Number of appointed politicians in Senate | 11. Also salaried. Equivalent to 0.53 (Point five three) per square mile. They have "Senator" before their name. If they are also Cabinet Ministers, they earn this plus what is shown above under "Number of elected legislators." |
Number of registered voters per Member of Parliament | 1,297. On date of last General Election. Contrast this with no fewer than 72,810 and no more than 80,433 per member of parliament in the UK in 2018 and approximately the same in the USA per congressperson and Canada. |
Number of Government Boards | About 122. All require the approval of the Premier who controls all Public Information. See Bermuda Government Boards separate website shown at the end of this file. |
Number of Police | About 465, over 20 per square mile. Plus, there are Reserve officers. Bermuda has more police per square mile and per population than anywhere else in the world |
Number in Bermuda Regiment and its Coastguard | 600 members, mostly Bermudian men, also some women, mostly part time, all now volunteers. Conscription of Bermuda-born males ended a few years ago. |
Registered voters who can participate in a General Election | About 46,750. Total number of registered voters in the last General Election, about 60% of the entire resident population. Varies from year to year. |
The Bermuda Society |
Quite a few do so. Canadian men and women in other occupations are more numerous in Bermuda's Civil Service and private sector than any other nationality and have the highest professional profile of any non-Bermudian group. They are very welcome but do not have the same freedoms here in residing and working without restrictions as they have elsewhere. Canadians visiting Bermuda on business or vacation or as professional newcomers cannot get Bermuda citizenship or vote or buy real estate at the same price as Bermudians - unless they marry Bermudians. Any children born here are not legally Bermudian unless one parent is Bermudian.
Air Canada in Bermuda since 1948
1946.Its first meeting was held in Scarborough, Ontario, initially as the Bermuda Social Club, with their first activity a Guy Fawkes party in November 1981. Its success helped them decide to change the name to the Bermudian Canadian Association. Its logo is a Bermuda Moongate encircled by the name of the association set against a background of palm trees with long tails flying over what looks like a lush green and white depiction of Horseshoe Beach. The Bermuda and Canadian flags fly on each side of the Moongate.
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Englishman Henry May was a passenger on a French vessel commanded by a Monsieur de la Barbotiere. It left Laguna, on Spanish held Hispaneola, on November 30, 1593. Seventeen days later, the crew thought they were well beyond the dreaded "Isle of Devils" of Bermuda and got their "wine of height." At midnight on December 16, the ship struck a reef off Bermuda and only twenty six, including May and Barbotiere, reached shore. With carpenters' tools and tackle for cedar trees, they built a seaworthy craft of 18 tons and caulked her seams with lime and turtle oil. They caught birds, turtles and wild hogs as food as castaways. |
On May 11, 1594 they sailed their Bermuda made craft to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in 9 days. May got to England two months later, to recount his experiences in Bermuda. But Bermuda was left uninhabited while the Marquis de la Roche established a short lived French colony on Sable Island off Nova Scotia in 1598
French explorer le Sieur de Champlain (Samuel Champlain de Brouage) sighted Bermuda in 1600. He coasted near the South Shore and carried away impressions of high land (the hills were then crowned by forests). He wrote of a "mountainous Island difficult to approach from the dangers that surround it. It almost always rains there and thunders so often it seems as if heaven and earth were about to meet. The sea is tempestuous and the waves as high as mountains." In 1603 French explorer Pierre Du Gua de Monts was the first European to establish a municipality in Canada. He obtained a monopoly on Acadian commerce when he established Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal, in Nova Scotia in 1605.
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In 1608, Champlain founded Quebec, courted Indian traders and imported French missionaries. In 1748, British regular troops, with Canadian and New England militia, seized the French fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. |
Born and raised near Didsbury, Alberta, a rancher's daughter, she attended the Winnipeg School of Art, then the Ontario College of Art, then further art studies in Berlin and Munich. In Germany she met and married a Spaniard, who was supposed to join her in Canada but disappeared and was assumed to have been killed during the Spanish Civil War. For a while she was employed by the National Film Board in Ottawa. Her work was twice selected for special mention. After her bas-relief Coal Miners, she worked for Canadian National Railways in Montreal. Before arriving in Bermuda from New York she sculptured busts of prominent personalities in Canada and USA. She first came to Bermuda in 1945 as a typical visitor, then in 1946 as a resident artist and sculptor. In 1948, she taught sculpture and clay modeling to youngsters at the Bermuda Art Association’s art school then at the Hamilton Hotel (later demolished by fire). She taught art, created window displays for her employer A.S. Cooper’s, prizewinning flora-based floats for the Bermuda Floral Pageant (Easter Parade) and was a costumes and set designer for local theatrical productions. Then as a non-Bermudian, she got special permission from the Bermuda Government to accept commissions. Her most important Bermuda one were the Anglican Cathedral reredos, altar screen and statues of Christ and 14 saints she created in early 1958. She taught and inspired a generation of Bermuda artists of all complexions, races and backgrounds. She eventually opened her own studio, where she taught adults and children, and was free to work full-time on her sculptures. She was given Bermuda Status (a naturalized Bermudian). She died before she could complete five statues for the Cathedral. In the late Two Canadian sculptors finished off the figures of Christ, His mother and the Saints, for the Cathedral's reredos, left unfinished by artist Byllie Lang.
It is not well-known in Bermuda that during the US Revolutionary War with Britain plans were also put into effect to make Canada the so-called "14th Colony" of the American revolt. The revolutionaries never had any intention of being content with merely their own colonies, but expected from the outset that their new nation would include the 13 colonies, Florida, Bermuda, the islands of the West Indies, all of the western territories up to the Mississippi River and Canada. The invasion of Canada was led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Brigadier General Richard Montgomery. Opposing them was Lieutenant General Sir Guy Carleton with a small but disciplined and determined army of British troops, some Indians, Canadians and American loyalists. On November 13, Montgomery occupied Montreal, while Arnold advanced on Quebec. The rebels had expected the Canadians to flock to their colors and join their war against the mother country, but due to the pillaging of the Canadian countryside by American troops, Canada remained loyal. Carleton, after escaping Montreal disguised as a fisherman, now faced Arnold at Quebec. However, Arnold's biggest problem was not Carleton, the city walls, or the King's soldiers, but the fierce Canadian winter and a lack of supplies. Montgomery joined Arnold, and the two decided they would have to attack, lest their entire army freeze or starve to death. During a violent snowstorm in the early hours of December 30/31, Arnold and Montgomery tried to storm Quebec. British forces repulsed both attacks, inflicting heavy losses on the rebels. General Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded. At a cost of only 18 men, the British had inflicted 500 casualties on the rebels. Arnold, however, stubbornly refused to abandon the siege. It was not until May, 1776 when a 10,000-strong British relief force landed that Arnold took the skeletal remains of his army and retreated south to Ft. Ticonderoga with Carleton close at his heels.
In 1973, it was the model for the birth of the Bermuda Housing Corporation, a Bermuda Government quango, now under the Bermuda Housing Act 1980. In 1973, it was charged with the responsibility of ensuring Bermudians have adequate and affordable places to live.
2017. April. Construction of Bermuda's new LF Wade International Airport began. See in chronological detail the long, controversial, drawn-out saga.
2015. August 24. Bob Richards, then Minister of Finance, yesterday signed interim agreements with the Canadian Commercial Corporation for the redevelopment of LF Wade International Airport. While the minister said the contracts did not guarantee the controversial project will move forward, he described them as another step in the incremental contract development process. “The Letters of Agreement contemplates that a further agreement, called the Airport Development Agreement (ADA), must be entered into in order to set out and describe the ambit, principles and subject matter of the project’s final and definitive agreements,” Mr Richards said at a press conference at the airport. “Phase one of this incremental contract process, which consists of exploration, scoping and data completion, has now been completed. This ADA marks the beginning of phase two, which will complete negotiation of definitive, detailed terms to oversee the project’s implementation and move it to financial close. “This will include the framework definition, design and detail costing, finance and detail finalization of the contracts, commitments and liabilities, the independent fairness assessment, local tendering and the addressing of legal issues. This means moving the project forward with Aecon and CCC to finalise the design and financing of the airport’s redevelopment, including construction, operation and maintenance.” He added that phase two is expected to take about a year, after which there will be a final contract which must be signed before construction can commence. The minister also defended the Bermuda Government’s handling of the project, which has come under fire repeatedly due to a lack of tendering and concerns that the deal would amount to privatization of the facility. “The alternative to what we have done so far is no airport,” he said. “The only alternative is no airport at all. We are committed to developing Bermuda, to providing jobs, to constructing a new strategic asset which is needed, and the only way we could go forward with this is this way. “The traditional tender process which everyone keeps talking about would result in the Government increasing the debt by over a quarter of a billion dollars, which is not something this Government will allow. The alternative being what it is, this is the way to go.” Minister of Tourism Development and Transport Shawn Crockwell, meanwhile, said the existing terminal was not meeting the first-class standard that visitors and residents expect. “This Government, your Government, has put together a plan that provides so many benefits for Bermudians. Importantly, it will take a hodgepodge of buildings which we have been using since the 1940s, together with additions and Band-Aids here and there, and replace it with Bermuda’s first purpose-built terminal for civilian air traffic. We have been fortunate in finding such high-end partners to help us achieve this objective.” Martin Zablocki, president and CEO of CCC, said the corporation was excited to be working with Bermuda on a project which will create jobs for Bermudians, both through subcontractors and add-on business, while Aecon Group executive chairman John Beck said it would take great care to deliver infrastructure which supports Bermuda’s economy and society. “We are confident that we can do this for Bermuda through a collaborative and affordable process using Aecon’s award-winning airport development expertise,” he said. “Using a whole-of-country approach, we will work alongside other companies to maximize employment opportunities for Bermudians and bring best-in-class safety, construction and environmental standards to the project.” The Progressive Labour Party has repeatedly criticised the One Bermuda Alliance’s approach over the airport redevelopment, and last week suggested the creation of an airport authority that would allow Bermudians to take advantage of projected revenues. Mr Richards, however, dismissed the claim that the deal would cost Bermuda $620 million in revenue over the course of the next 30 years, dismissing the figures as speculation. “These are coming from people I like to call number bombers,” he said. “They can speculate, they can pontificate, they can prevaricate. They can do that because they don’t have to deliver anything. As ministers of this government we have to deliver, so we can’t throw numbers around willy-nilly. The people who know these numbers are the people who are in this room. The people have to ask themselves do the people in this room, Aecon, CCC and the Minister of Finance, know more about this than people who have never built anything? Aecon built the CN Tower. And the new terminal at the Toronto Airport. We are dealing with experts here. I really think the number bombers need to let us do the deep dive into the data to prove the economics of this project, and that’s what phase two is. A commitment to do a deep dive into the details of this project, to come up with the economics of this projects. The number bombers are going to continue to speculate, pontificate and prevaricate, but we are getting on with the people’s business here.”
Many Bermudians have graduated from them - see Education in Bermuda. Much of the Department of Education's policy planning owes its origin to Canadian initiatives.
1914 to 1915. Royal Canadian Regiment, 38th Ottawa Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). They arrived in Bermuda somewhat to their disgust as they wanted to fight in Europe. They left for the European theater in 1915. Photo right shows one of their soldiers in Bermuda.
1915 to 1916. Draft (10 officers, 98 OR), 77th Battalion, CEF. An offspring from the English speaking Governor General's Foot Guards of Ottawa, an English-speaking regiment.
The officer commanding the combined 38th/77th forces was Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Richmond Street.
1916. 163rd Battalion, CEF. A French speaking unit, originally Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke, Montreal.. A French speaking unit, originally Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke, Montreal.
1940. Winnipeg Grenadiers. Arrived to garrison Bermuda.
1942. Pictou Highlanders of Canada. Arrived to garrison Bermuda.
Many Bermudians served in the Canadian Army (or were attached to Canadian Army units), Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World war.
From the very beginning of World War II in 1939 for Britain and Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy established an Anti-Submarine warfare training base in Bermuda, under Royal Navy auspices. (At that time, part of it was at Casemates Barracks, the building which later served as Bermuda's main prison in the Bermuda Royal Navy Dockyard). It spread eastwards to Convict Bay in St. George's Parish, with the establishment in 1944 for one year of HMCS Somers Isle. Royal Canadian Navy ships played a major role in the War of the Atlantic. And when Britain signed its "50 Destroyers for Bases" deal with the United States, once again HM Dockyard in Bermuda and the equivalent in Halifax were "twinned" historically and strategically, as in the first 50 years of the 19th century. Thousands of Royal Navy officers and men were conveyed from Bermuda to Halifax to take over 50 previously mothballed American naval ships.
Book: The Ladyboats.
Once important to Bermuda's economy in passengers and freight. This book goes into considerable detail.
Canadian National Steamships 'Ladyboat' carried Duke and Duchess of Windsor from Bermuda to Bahamas in 1940. It was on one of the Canadian National Steamships' 'Ladyboats' much loved in Bermuda that the Duke of Windsor and his wife, the former Wallis Warfield Simpson, sailed in 1940 from Bermuda to Nassau, Bahamas, where the Duke became the wartime Governor of the Bahamas. Much has been made of the effective wartime exile of the Duke and Duchess from Britain in television documentaries in recent years, but nothing has been said correctly of how exactly they got to Nassau.
They include:
Durham qualified his report with his rationale for choosing Bermuda as the place of exile. His view was that Bermuda, unlike other penal colonies, would not affix a character of moral infamy on them to make them - as they might become in Australia - centers of trouble as political martyrs. Thus they arrived in Bermuda, as the island's first 'political prisoners.' One June 29, 1838, they were herded in chains on board the warship HMS Vestal commanded by Captain Carter, whom Vice Admiral Sir Charles Paget, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, had appointed to escort the condemned men to Bermuda with a letter to Bermuda's Governor, Sir Stephen Chapman, to explain the circumstances. When they were freed later the same year, several went first to Louisiana, the most French of all American states. The full story of these 'Exiles' may be of considerable interest to French nationals, French speaking Canadians and Americans with French family connections.
Created in 1994, GPC’s mandate is to be the voice of governance professionals in Canada, according to the organisation’s website. Its members deal with all matters affecting corporate governance, from board and committee processes, management and structure, disclosure, stakeholder engagement, legal and corporate compliance, as well as issues crucial to boards, their accountability and oversight.
The famous Canadian dynasty, the Irving family, has a major offshore corporate base here in Bermuda. A $6 billion empire, it controls huge business concerns in New Brunswick. The 125-year-old dynasty has a number of JD Irving Limited Bermuda-registered entities, and the Island became the final home for company patriarch Kenneth Colin Irving before he passed away in 1992. Since then it has been Mr. Irving's three sons JK, Arthur and Jack, all in their 70s, who have overseen the various elements of the business, which includes media, oil and energy, and forestry. The Irving family is the third richest in Canada.
Among the graves of St. John's Church, Pembroke is that of Bishop Edward Feild (1801-1876), second Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda, who died in 1878. In fact, Anglican Bishops of both Newfoundland and Bermuda began in 1839 and lasted for 80 years until 1919. Several Newfoundland families with the surname of Gosling, Harvey and Outerbridge once carried on business and had branches of their families in both places. Plus, the story of the Atlantic fishery involved both places. And J. B. Hand and Sir Francis Forbes were both involved in Bermuda and Newfoundland.
In January 1941, Newfoundland on the northern flank, Trinidad on the southern, and Bermuda in the center were the first of the new Atlantic bases to be garrisoned by the US Military. The first contingent arrived in Newfoundland in January 1941, ahead of the construction forces, and in April the first garrison troops arrived in Trinidad and Bermuda, only a few weeks after the advance party of construction people. Both Newfoundland and Bermuda were intimately tied in with the defense of the northeastern seaboard, the responsibility for which rested with the Commanding General, First Army. Both garrisons, except troops engaged in construction work under the immediate supervision of the Chief of Engineers, were therefore attached to the First Army. Each was responsible for its own supply, which was to be provided by the Second Corps area to the same extent as for units of the field forces within the corps area. After some discussion by one of General Marshall's deputies with the heads of the several staff divisions, it had been decided that the only designation that would not be a source of confusion with the Navy was the rather unwieldy one, U.S. Troops in Newfoundland (or Bermuda, as the case might be). But the official orders, a week later, designated the Newfoundland force as the Newfoundland Base Command, U.S. Army, and the same terminology was used later for the Bermuda and Trinidad garrisons.
In the 1950s, many Bermudians who were schooled in the United Kingdom went there via British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC, later British Airways or BA) and a route or overnight stop at Gander Airport, Newfoundland. Some, including this author, developed their interest in aviation through this Gander connection.
2008. September 18. Then-Premier Ewart Brown of Bermuda signed a Letter of Intent with his counterpart in Nova Scotia, Canada, Premier Rodney MacDonald paving the way for more formalized business and cultural ties.
The Letter was signed at Province House, in Halifax, where the Nova Scotia House of Assembly meets. Before the signing ceremony, the Premiers met over a working lunch to discuss steps that can be taken as the two jurisdictions strengthen ties. The Letter of Intent will result in an official Memorandum of Understanding. Dr. Brown also met with Nova Scotia Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, Bill Dooks, and his Deputy Minister Kelliann Dean, plus other tourism officials an Bermudian students studying in Halifax. He noted there are almost 2,000 people from Canada working and living in Bermuda and as many as 300 Bermudian university students in Nova Scotia at any given time. He believes there is clearly room to grow the Bermuda-Canada relationship in areas like financial services, entrepreneurship and tourism. A Memorandum of Understanding will help all involved focus their attention on the potential. This was the first step in that process. Mr. MacDonald said: "We will sign a Memorandum of Understanding that will cement the many partnerships that exist between our two communities and pave the way to future opportunities. We are strengthening a partnership and building on an important relationship."1868. Nova Scotia Command lost Bermuda. Until that year, British Army units stationed in Bermuda were part of the Nova Scotia Command. On March 14 of that year, the 15th Regiment, then at Saint John, New Brunswick - was ordered to Bermuda and arrived on April 25.
1860-65. US Civil War. Much has been written and televised about Bermuda's role during the American Civil War, but not about the Canadian contribution as it affected Bermuda. It depended greatly on Canadian shipping support and supplies, principally from Nova Scotia. Bluenose windjammers sailed from Halifax and were never subjected to blockade by the Union Navy en route to Bermuda or the Bahamas. One reason was that other Nova Scotians were on the Northern side - and very helpful in supplying goods for the Northerners and volunteers for Northern armies, in complete contrast to the strongly pro South attitudes in Bermuda. Most of what Nova Scotia ships brought to Bermuda and the Bahamas was supercargo, trans-shipped in Bermuda by the blockade runners for the run to Southern ports.
In
1998, Bermuda held the first ever exhibition of water colors by Her Royal Highness the
Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848 to 1939), the
fourth daughter and sixth child of the nine born to Queen Victoria (1819 to 1901) and
Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Saxony. Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
(1819 to 1861). She was Bermuda's first official tourist in
1883. The two big local Princess Hotels are named after her.
The first was the Hamilton (or Pembroke) Princess built originally in the late 1880's but modernized since and then known as purely The Princess. The real Princess consented to the name. She was present for the grand opening and named the hotel. She put Bermuda on the map of tourism with her fame and stature. Before she became a prolific and talented artist, she was a trained sculptor. Her husband from 1871 was the Marquis of Lorne from Scotland who later became the 9th Duke of Argyle.
It was because of his Royal Appointment as Governor General of Canada that she was able to visit Bermuda, not just once in 1883 but several times later. She much preferred the much warmer winter climate of Bermuda to that of Canada. With her appreciation of the military, home she loved in Scotland, the Guard of Honor it provided for her wedding and the artwork she did for it, one of Scotland's most famous British Army units, The Argyllshire Regiment, was renamed to honor her. It carried her insignia for many years in its own - and served in Bermuda for two years under the old name in the late 1920s before it became The Argyllshire Highlanders, later the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. (Sadly, the battalion that went to Bermuda has been credited in the official regimental records in Stirling Castle as having served in Jamaica instead, 1,000 miles further south.
The leading Canadian organization which owns a number of the watercolors she painted while she was in Bermuda (and lent them to Bermuda for a 1999 exhibition) is the National Gallery of Canada. With its cooperation, the paintings were shown at the Bermuda National Gallery.
Lieutenant Thomas Hurd RN, A marine surveyor, had charted the waters of Canada's Atlantic and Gulf of St. Lawrence. He was sent to Bermuda, to sound existing channels through the reefs and find new ones prior to the building of a British naval base in Bermuda. He began his surveys in the late 1780s and completed them in 1792.
In early October that year, on his flagship HMS Resolution off the American coast, Murray was told of Lieutenant Hurd's surveys and findings in Bermuda and dispatched the 32 gun frigate Cleopatra, under Captain Penrose, to Bermuda to bring back a report and charts from Hurd. What they revealed impressed Murray so much that he called at Bermuda himself before his return to Halifax in the spring. Murray sent Penrose and the Cleopatra back to Bermuda in February, 1795, to pick up French prize crews, during which time Penrose made his own glowing report of the facilities Bermuda could offer. Murray ordered Penrose to rendezvous with him at Bermuda in May, 1795 and was so further impressed with what he saw personally, as well as in the reports of Captains Penrose and Pender (of HMS Resolution) and Lieutenant Hurd, that he enclosed them with his own report to the Admiralty dated May 27, 1795.
1906. Christmas Eve. Canadian
Reginald Fessenden (1866-1932). He later became famous for
his Bermuda connections, made the first radio broadcast in history. Radio
operators on ships in the Atlantic were shocked to hear a human voice emitting
from the equipment they used to receive Morse code.
Many operators called their Captains to the radio room, where they heard Fessenden make a short speech, play a record, and give a rendition of "O Holy Night" on his violin. Fessenden, right, making his historic 1906 broadcast
Later, he married a Bermudian, Helen Trott, made the island his home and became headmaster of Whitney Institute School. He was the "Father of Radio Broadcasting" from 1900 and was inducted into the USA's National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, in September, 2000. Bermuda historian William S. Zuill is a nephew of Helen Trott. The link continues today with the award of annual Fessenden-Trott Scholarships.
On July 3, 1996 this 17-year old Canadian visitor from Belleville, Ontario, was abducted, kidnapped, brutally stabbed, cut 35 times, beaten, tortured, gang raped repeatedly and viciously, sodomized, brutalized and murdered in Bermuda by Bermudians. It was the worst, most brutal, most animal sexually-depraved, most violent and inhuman racial murder of any woman anywhere in the world.
Read more about the details of the case and what the Canadian, UK and Bermuda Governments have not done, in Bermuda Laws.
Samuel Cunard
In November 1850, Samuel Cunard of Halifax, Nova Scotia, introduced his steam packet service from New York to St. Thomas, with a call at Bermuda in both directions. It was an extension of his successful 1840-incorporated British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company on the Liverpool, Halifax, Boston route. Annoyed that his passengers had only sparse hotel accommodations in Bermuda, he threatened to withdraw his ships. It was why Bermuda's first luxury hotel, the Hamilton Hotel, was built by the Corporation of Hamilton. But the New York portion of the service was not a commercial success compared to his earlier Halifax Bermuda direct service and was canceled in May of 1854. In May 1854, Cunard extended his direct Halifax Bermuda service. This route remained in place until January, 1880, when a number of West Indian islands replaced St. Thomas as ports of call. In 1865, knighted for his services to British shipping and pioneering the Halifax Bermuda direct route earlier, he died in London. His son assumed the helm of the Cunard shipping empire. In May 1854, Cunard extended his direct Halifax Bermuda service. This route remained in place until January, 1880, when a number of West Indian islands replaced St. Thomas as ports of call.
Bermuda (CA$11.3 billion in 2019) is a main country of choice. Others are Barbados, Cayman Islands, Panama.
It is not well-known throughout Bermuda or Canada that Jarvis was the family name of persons who founded in about 1792 what was originally the little town of York, in Ontario. It was a consolation prize for being Loyalists during the American Revolution when Jarvis family members were Chief Justices of the Commonwealth of Connecticut in USA. Banned from the USA or facing imprisonment and forfeiture of their property as Loyalists, they went initially to the United Kingdom. After the lengthy British process of adjudicating compensation for British subjects who lost property in the USA, the Jarvis family went to then semi-empty Upper Canada, to found and become prominent in York. Britain's plan was to occupy and populate the area to help counter what was seen in Britain as a potential future geopolitical centre of importance. It was a prophecy destined to come true with a vengeance during the second Brutish-American War, the War of 1812-14 when the town of York, later known as Toronto, was invaded and burnt after a daring surprise raid across Lake Erie by American forces.
Fortunately for the United States, Britain, from 1812, was heavily involved in fighting Napoleon. But, on October 19, 1812, Napoleon's armies began its retreat from Moscow and then began to fall apart on the plains of Russia and in the fields of Germany, Spain and Austria. By the beginning of 1813, it became possible for Britain to shift whole brigades of army veterans from the European war-zones to Canada, to join in the fight against the Americans. From that year onwards, the British naval base at Halifax, Nova Scotia was the scene of feverish activity, with men-o'-war, transports and soldiers, American shipping prizes, French prisoners of war and American soldiers in their thousands, captured during British mopping-up operations against those who had failed miserably in their attempt to seize Canada.
The American military action against the town of York and area prompted General Sir George Prevost, Governor of Canada and Commander-in-Chief of British Forces, Canada, to correspond with Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, other Admirals and their Royal Navy ships in the Atlantic, requesting that the latter's ships undertake appropriate retaliatory action to deter the enemy from any repetition of such outrages. The request was taken seriously. In fact, it dovetailed with plans already in effect. In retaliation, in July 1814, a British Royal Navy fleet also packed with Marines and soldiers sailed from England, assembled in and sailed from Bermuda to successfully attack and burn Washington DC. The fleet took many days to make the 700-mile journey, encountered no opposition en route, and slipped into the Chesapeake Bay under cover of darkness. Smaller transports went up the reaches of the tributary Pawtuxent River to land Royal Marines and supporting troops at the river-port village of Benedict, in southern Maryland, a few miles down river from the Prince George's County line and its sleepy little county-seat of Upper Marlboro. In the subsequent overland sortie, the British marched, unopposed, from Benedict to Upper Marlboro, then swung due east for a direct attack on Washington, District of Columbia, only twelve miles away. They routed a hastily convened American army sent to oppose them, stormed into the city on August 25, sent President Madison and his Cabinet fleeing ignominiously for their lives, and burned the White House, the Capitol and other public buildings and stores. Then it attempted the same thing on Fort McHenry in Baltimore. During that engagement, Francis Scott Key wrote the words of what became the Star Spangled Banner, as a temporary detainee on one of the British warships. The melody is from a bawdy British drinking song by a London based composer. The fleet's voyage ended in Halifax, where hundreds of slaves who had lined the shores of the Pawtuxent River in Maryland and elsewhere nearby to implore British troops to help them escape from bondage had been rescued and were also on the British warships cheering on and actively assisting the sailors who had set them free. In Halifax, the slaves were promptly and officially given their freedom by the British.
Began services to Bermuda in May 2010. A Canadian low-cost carrier based in Calgary, Alberta. It flies within Canada, to the USA, Mexico, Bahamas and Caribbean. The second largest Canadian carrier behind Air Canada.
Authored,
researched, compiled and website-managed by Keith A. Forbes.
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