Written by:
Elizabeth Jones
- In 1828, a letter written to the Bermuda Gazette reported a rare lunar rainbow sighting. “It was visible in the northwest, not colored like a Solar Bow, but a light grey inclining to white, yet very distinct and perfect, reaching from Horizon to Horizon and forming a perfect semicircle.”
- In 1832, the Gazette reported, “The crop of salt at Turks Islands has been most abundant this season, surpassing the collection for many years past. A great number of American vessels had been there and unloaded”
- For Bermuda, September is the most likely month for hurricanes to hit. The first of three major hurricanes striking Bermuda in the 19th century happened on September 11 and 12, 1839. As reported in the Bermuda Gazette, “Scarcely a house escaped injury; some were levelled and others unroofed and the side walls rent to the foundations. Walls and fences in every direction prostrate – thousands of stately Cedars were either torn up with the roots split in pieces or broken like reeds – orange, lemon, lime, peach, and banana trees shared the same fate. The front of the town was covered with branches of trees of the Pride of India, whose cool and refreshing shade was so much resorted to – portions of veranda, shutters, blinds, signboards were to be found in every direction…. The tower on Tower Hill has been blown down, and also the beautiful mulberry tree at Point Shares.” Losses due to the hurricane amounted to almost 80,000 pounds sterling. Samuel Nelmes reported seeing St. Elmo’s fire on the night of the hurricane.
- Many people remember Hurricane Emily unexpectedly going directly over Bermuda on September 25, 1987 as a Category 2 storm. It caused over 230 houses to lose their roofs, considerable damage to the airport and multiple power outages lasting for weeks. Fortunately, no one was killed but the hurricane cost the island over $50 million in damage.
- A ploughing match was organized by members of the Agricultural Society and took place in Paget Parish on a reclaimed piece of marshland belonging to Henry J Tucker on September 3, 1840. “There were on the ground, three ploughing horses, and two pairs of fine draught oxen, all of which were brought into requisition during the day. At the conclusion of the match, the whole of the ploughs, five in number, were put in operation at one and the same time, among which we were pleased to see a horse and plough belonging to his Excellency the Governor. [Governor Reid] There was a donkey there also. With its diminutive plough, this animal seemed very tractable and went through its work well.”
- On September 8, 1915 the British SS. Pollockshields steamship, carrying munitions to British colonies, was caught in a nearby hurricane and ran onto the reefs off Elbow Beach. Antonio Marshall, a whaler originally from the Azores, kept a whale boat at the Waterlot Inn, which was run by Claudia Darrel. Under her direction, Antonio and his crew transported the boat by horse and dray (a huge cart) to the shore at three in the morning. Cheering them along the way, she provided food and drink. Eventually, Antonio and his team were able to rescue the entire Pollockshields crew, except the Captain, Earnest Boothe, who drowned trying to rescue the ship’s cat and kittens.
- In 1974, a law requiring crash helmets to be worn by cyclists riding motorcycles over 50cc went into effect in Bermuda.
