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Death of Sir George Somers
November 9, 1610

Sir George Somers died in Bermuda on November 9, 1610—17 months after the Sea Venture shipwreck gave him a permanent place in the annals of the New World.

His heart (and entrails) were interred in St. George’s - where his statue (above) stands - and his body was shipped back to his home town in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England, where he was buried with full military honours.

Somers’ death at age 56 ended a life of adventure on the high seas that had brought him wealth and fame.

Somers, who was born in 1554 to a family of modest means, made his fortune as a privateer—seizing Spanish ships at sea and making off with their bounty, with the sanction of the British monarch.

By the time of the Sea Venture’s voyage, Somers, who was a part-owner of the vessel, had led numerous expeditions to the West Indies, as well as one to Virginia in 1604, and had earned a reputation for being one of Queen Elizabeth’s most masterful mariners.

In June 2, 1609, the Sea Venture, carrying 150 passengers, left Plymouth bound for Jamestown, Virginia. Among those on board was Sir Thomas Gates, the governor of Virginia. The Sea Venture was the flagship of a relief fleet of eight ships. Their holds were stocked with food and other supplies for the fledging colony in Jamestown. Somers was admiral of the fleet.

On July 24, about 1,000 miles west of the Azores, the Sea Venture sailed into a hurricane and became separated from the other ships. For the next four days, passengers battled the elements and worked around the clock, bailing out their leaky vessel.

They believed all was lost, but on July 28, the Sea Venture was miraculously stuck between two rocks off St. George’s and the exhausted but relieved passengers were able to scramble ashore.

Bermuda was known as the Isle of Devils, but the castaways encountered a paradise of plenty—they could feast on everything from prickly pears to fish, birds, turtles and pigs left behind by Spanish mariners.

Once the survivors had recovered from their ordeal, Somers and Gates oversaw the construction of two new ships, using Bermuda cedar and whatever they could salvage from the Sea Venture.

Their Bermuda sojourn was not a peaceful one. Somers had to contend with at least two mutinies and had one man shot to death for sedition.

But after 10 months, the 80-ton Patience and the 30-ton Deliverance set sail for Jamestown on May 10, 1610. Two passengers, Christopher Carter and Edward Waters, remained behind in Bermuda.

Arriving at their destination two weeks later, they found a colony in distress, with only 60 of the original 500 settlers alive. Somers and Gates decided to abandon Virginia the next month and on June 7 set sail in the Patience and the Deliverance and two other ships.

They were bound for Newfoundland, where they had planned to load up with additional supplies, before returning to England.

Before reaching the open sea, they met three relief ships under the command of Lord de la Warr that was headed for Jamestown so they turned back.

Jamestown however was in need of even more supplies and Somers undertook to return to Bermuda in Patience. He took sick during the journey, and died on the island. One report attributed his death to a “surfeit of pork.”

His nephew and heir Matthew Somers ignored Somers’ dying wish for the Patience to complete its mission by returning to Virginia. He had Somers’ heart and entrails removed and sailed to England on board the Patience with Somers’ embalmed body. Somers was buried in the Church of St. Candida and Holy Cross in Dorset on July 4, 1611. His heart is buried in Somers Gardens, St. George’s.

Sources: Bermuda—Five Centuries by Rosemary Jones; The Twinnng of Lyme Regis and St. George’s, Bermuda—The History of Admiral Sir George Somers by Richard J. Fox MBE

Born this month
Cyril Outerbridge Packwood November 22, 1930-January 14, 1998 Librarian, historian, author
Cyril Packwood - and his ground-breaking book, Chanied On The Rock.	Cyril Packwood was a librarian with a passion for history. He was the author of Chained on the Rock, the first definitive account of slavery in Bermuda. Published in 1975, after Packwood spent several years doing painstaking research in the Bermuda Archives during summer vacations, Chained on the Rock shed light on an important aspect of Bermuda’s history that had previously been swept under the carpet. He was born in Wellington, St. George’s, the only child of Cyril and Gladys (Outerbridge) Packwood. His father was a former St. George’s Cup Match cricketer. Packwood attended Temperance Hall, East End primary school and Berkeley Institute. He left Bermuda at age of 15 to complete his high school education in the U.S., and with the intention of becoming a dentist. At Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, he came under the influence of Harlem Renaissance writer and historian Arna Bontemps and decided to study history. Packwood received a bachelor’s degree in history from Fisk in 1953 and a master of science in library science from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, a year later. He received a second master’s degree, in history, from Hunter College in New York in 1972. He spent most of his professional life in New York. He worked in the New York Public Library system from 1957 to 1968 and from 1968 to 1985, at the Borough of Manhattan Community College Library, where he was supervising librarian. In 1985, he was appointed head librarian of the Bermuda Library, the first black person to hold the position. He breathed new life into the library. He organised evening lectures, instigated upgrades of its computer system and started a video rental system, all with the goal of bringing more people into the library. He was head librarian for eight years, until his retirement in 1993. Packwood’s other books included Detour Bermuda, Destination U.S. House of Representative: The Life of Joseph Rainey, about the former slave who took refuge in Bermuda during the U.S. Civil War, and went on to become the first black member of the U.S. House of Representatives. During his years in New York, Packwood lived near Lincoln Centre and enjoyed all the cultural pursuits the city had to offer, from opera to theatre. His deep and abiding love for Bermuda was matched by his love of Africa. He led cultural tours of Africa for many years and had criss-crossed the African Continent. He was married to Dorothy, an artist and fellow librarian. The couple had one daughter Cheryl Packwood, a Harvard University-educated lawyer, who is currently chief executive officer of the Bermuda International Business Association, and three grandsons. Packwood died at age 67 of complications of heart bypass surgery.

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In the News

> Kiwi finds Bermuda roots
> New Bermuda books
> Honouring veterans

Island prepares for 400th birthday

Bermuda’s 400^th anniversary celebrations will kick off on Front Street on January 3, 2009 with “a musical journey” entitled ‘The Ties that Bind’.
The Bermuda Regiment, Vasco da Gama Folklorico and H&H Gombeys will perform at the launch, which will end with a spectacular fireworks display.
The 2009 anniversary calendar is packed with events. There will be a play about the wreck of the Sea Venture, and celebrations to mark two pivotal events, Somers Day on July 28, and Emancipation on August 1.

All in the family

New Zealander Bill Grant has traced his roots to former slave James “Jemmy” Darrell, whose piloting feat earned him his freedom in 1795.
Now Grant is planning on visiting Bermuda next April for a Darrell family reunion, The Royal Gazette has reported.
Darrell was a slave when he piloted Admiral George Murray’s gunship to anchor off North Shore, St. George’s in 1795. Murray was so impressed that he recommended that Darrell be set free. Darrell went on to become a king’s pilot and one of Bermuda’s first black property owners.
Grant discovered the link through his own determined digging and with the assistance of Darrell descendants in Bermuda and genealogist Clara Hollis Hallett.
According to The Royal Gazette, Hallett’s research confirmed what the Ramirez family, who currently live in the home Darrell once owned in St. George’s, have always believed—that they are Darrell’s direct descendants.
Darrell, who married twice, died in 1815 and is buried at St. Peter’s Church, St. George’s. His descendants, who span the globe, include Attorney General Kim Wilson and lawyer Liz Christopher.
Darrell is currently the subject of an exhibit ‘A Very Manifest Alternation’ at the Bermuda Archives.
Documents on view including the manumission paper that made him a free man. The Archives is located in the basement of the Government Administration Building on Parliament Street. Opening hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

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Hot off the press

Books by two of Bermuda’s best-known writers have hit bookstores. Veteran journalist and author Ira Philip writes about the life of Alma “Champ” Hunt, one of Bermuda’s greatest cricketers in his new book, Champ! The One and Only Alma Hunt.
William Zuill’s Footsteps in the Sand is a collection of historical sketches that have been performed over the years at Bermuda National Trust events. Figures portrayed in his mini-dramas include Governor Benjamin Bennett and James “Jemmy” Darrell.

Exhibit honours veterans

Bermuda comes to a standstill at 11a.m. every Remembrance Day on November 11 to honour its war dead.
The minute of silence is observed at the Cenotaph on Front Street. This month is as good a time as any to visit ‘Bermuda’s Defence Heritage’, the permanent exhibit at the Bermuda Maritime Museum’s Commissioner’s House in Dockyard.
The exhibit honours Bermuda’s local forces and war veterans and new information is being added all the time. The Museum is open daily from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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