ed by the Somers Isle Company to survey the whole of Bermuda in order to allocate land to investors in London. He divided it into shares and tribes, giving 50 shares to each tribe with shares consisting of 25 acres each. However, land was left over. This overplus of some 200 acres fell between Southampton and Sandys parishes and consisted of, to quote Norwood, “a beautiful valley of fat and lustye soyle.” Tucker had been promised three acres of land as a bonus for his governorship. But he was so tempted by the overplus he caused a scandal by claiming the whole of it and by building a magnificent cedar house for himself. After some tense negotiation with the Company in London, the overplus was divided into seven parts, three parts going to Tucker (including the house), and the remainder to the church as glebe land divided between the two parishes. Whereas Somers would have seen Somerset as open land without house or person upon it, today we see a lively community, firmly convinced their part of Bermuda is God’s country, and an intriguing mix of architecture whose design ranges from imperial public buildings, to gracious residences, to rustic cottages. What is architecture but a kind of biography? Certainly many of Somerset’s buildings give tantalising glimpses of events of centuries ago: cannon shots and cricket, for example, lawn tennis and demonstrations, literary meetings and skulduggery—even murder. This article will look at some of Somerset’s characters who in one way or another were associated with these buildings, to see what part they played, however briefly, in Somerset’s history.
Wreck Hill & Ely’s Harbour
Some people argue that while Wreck Hill is definitely in Sandys Parish, it is not on Somerset Island because it’s located before the bridge. (Somerset Bridge was one of the first three to be constructed in Bermuda, appearing on John Smith’s map of 1624.) But its
Ely's Harbour, once a refuge for smugglers and illicit traders, was named after William Eli who settled here in 1621. Left: Wreck House.
historical significance was entirely due to its view of Ely’s Harbour, as well as of the ocean, and for that reason is closely associated with Somerset. Originally, it was known as “Flemish Wreck” after a Dutch frigate ran aground the reefs in 1618. According to Terry Tucker’s Bermuda: Today and Yesterday, a messenger told the governor (one of the six temporary governors of the time whose neglect and selfinterest were pushing Bermuda into a state of decline) the Dutch ship had an abundance of treasure. In fact there was just £20, which the governor pocketed. So began the Bermudian tradition of salvaging ships. In 1684, Jeremiah Burrows of Wreck Hill was brought before the governor for bringing into Ely’s Harbour a French ketch that had run aground, and then stealing the goods upon it. Local lore has it that bonfires on Wreck Hill were deliberately
Surrounded by a maze of reefs, Ely’s Harbour was a refuge for smugglers and illicit traders who would stop here first before declaring a fraction of their cargo in St. George’s. One form of contraband was rum, crucial for the local tavern keepers who were mostly women whose clients were mariners and local craftsmen. 44 | The Bermudian
lit to lure ships onto the rocks. Certainly the practice of salvaging ships went on well into the nineteenth century, as was noticed by William Sydes who was a convict at Dockyard. In his Account of Life on the Convict Hulks, he writes, “If a vessel is on the rocks, all the fishing boats make to her, weather permitting, to see what they can purloin. They rejoice at such misfortunes and call her ‘a turtle in the net’ and all they try is to cause a confusion in the ship so as to get a load and off.” A fort at Wreck Hill, known as Gun Point, also played a role in the American War of Independence, as indeed did the Tucker family who by this time had proliferated so much they became known by their estates—there were Tuckers of The Grove in Southampton, of Scrogham’s Point, of Church Hill, and of the bridge in Somerset. Colonel Henry Tucker of The Grove and Henry Tucker of Bridge House, both the colonel’s cousin and his son-in-law, were for pragmatic reasons supporters of the revolutionaries. When the Congress placed an embargo on all trade with Britain, Bermuda of course was adversely affected. Theoretically, the island was on Britain’s side. However, the Tuckers of The Grove (a house on the site of Daniel Tucker’s house where Port Royal Golf Course is now) and Bridge House (subsequently St. James’s Rectory) took part in the Gunpowder Steal of 1775 when gunpowder was taken from the www.thebermudian.com