Hashtag: #SlaveryInBermuda
Cup Match: History Behind The Holiday
[Written by Larry Burchall] Cup Match began as a day off to celebrate Emancipation Day 1st August 1834, the day when all slaves in Bermuda were freed. One year on ex-slaves who were now employed as paid workers simply did not turn up for work on 1st August 1835. They stayed off work and celebrated. Amongst black ex-slave Bermudians, the practice of... Read more of this article
North Village Band: A Living Link To Slavery
[Written by Larry Burchall] In Bermuda, on Emancipation Day 1st August 1834, slavery ended. Twenty-three years later, on 29th June 1857, a group of men, all of them musicians and members of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows Alexandrina No. 1026 got together and formed the Alexandrina Band. These men were all black, and as Lodge members, probably... Read more of this article
Living Links: Alexandrina Hall & Swan Building
[written by Larry Burchall] Living Links appear in unexpected places. Standing on the hillside on the Court Street side of the House of Assembly grounds and looking east, you can see a living link between Bermuda’s heritage and past, and Bermuda’s present and future. On that hillside, looking east, the closest and biggest building that you see is... Read more of this article
Adverts From 1829: Slaves for Sale in Bermuda
Below we take a look at a dark part of Bermuda’s history. Below are actual adverts that were printed in the Bermuda newspaper of the day in 1829 offering “slaves for sale”. In her autobiography, Mary Prince speaks about being sold saying: I was soon surrounded by strange men, who examined and handled me in the same manner that a butcher... Read more of this article
