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Bermuda: Hamilton
By Mary Johnson Tweedy
HAMILTON
It is always startling to see big liners or freighters tie up alongside Front Street with no intervening piers. Passengers can walk from ships directly across the street and into the Front Street stores. Cargo is discharged overside and the ships' derricks deposit it on the wharf. From the Paget shore big ships in the Harbor so dwarf the two-story buildings of Hamilton that the skyline is often composed of the Queen, the Cathedral and the Sessions House clock.
Hamilton is a quarter mile square with a population of 3,000, but many of the FFB's in business in Hamilton live in near-by Fairylands, a section of Pembroke. The Front Street city boundary technically ends at Heyl's Corner and at a point slightly west of La Caravelle Restaurant.
Points of particular interest are:
The Cathedral --built of native stone, but with liberal use of stone imported from Scotland, Normandy, Nova Scotia and Indiana as well. Completed in 1911.
Albuoy's Point --behind the Bank of Bermuda. Official welcoming ceremonies for arriving governors or other dignitaries are held in this attractive park on the Harbor. Don't fail to see one if you have the chance. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club faces on the Point.
Par-la-ville --a fine old house on Queen Street that now houses the Library. It was formerly the home of William Perot, a Bermuda postmaster of the middle nineteenth century who planted the famous 100-year-old rubber tree in front of the house. It was Perot who wrote his name across the Hamilton post marks, sold them as stamps and unwittingly created a rare philatelic item. The gardens behind the Library that date from his time are among the loveliest in the Colony. As a library, Par-la-ville is a welcome contrast to the usual functional library architecture.
Bermuda Cavalcade --a series of three-dimensional tableaux, illustrating Bermuda's history. They are both beautiful and interesting. These dioramas, on display at the Reid Street end of Chancery Lane, were designed and created by two local artists.
Colonial Parliament --meets on the second floor of the Sessions House (the clock tower) at 2:00 P.M. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays except during the summer. The Speaker wears a full-bottomed wig, the Clerk of the House wears a short one, and both wear black robes. There is a section for visitors, and tourists seem to enjoy the often spirited debates quite as much as the members. This is the oldest Parliament in the world except for those of England and Iceland.
Supreme Court --sits on the ground floor of the Sessions House, and is interesting both for lawyers and laymen. * It is a wigged court (see Chapter 13) and very British. There is no court stenographer and the Chief Justice has to take his own notes. There are regular and special sessions during most of the year.
Post Office --of no particular interest unless you want to buy stamps. It is on the corner of Reid and Parliament Streets near the Sessions House.
Motion Pictures --Hamilton's three leading theatres are the Island, the Playhouse and the Colonial Opera House.
Bermuda Historical Society -this museum on East Broadway (continuation of Front Street) has interesting collections of old furniture, china and silver, mementoes of Bermuda history and oil paintings of Sir George Somers and other early settlers.
Art Association Gallery --on the second floor of the Hamilton Hotel (government offices) at the top of Queen Street. There are exhibitions of the work of visiting artists and Bermudians.
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