parliamentary seats, and slavery had been abolished by London in 1834, the voting franchise was limited to male land-owners, who could vote in each parish in which they held property. This served to disenfranchise primarily blacks, undoubtedly as it was intended to.)
Unwilling to risk the social turmoil that would result from a blatant act of discrimination in barring black recruits, or to raise an integrated unit, the Colonial Assembly simply refused to do either. The london government had no legal means by which to compel them, so there the matter may have rested -and, indeed, did rest for a decade- had not the fortuitous, and unplanned development of a tourism industry then made itself felt. Having felled all of its cedars, the colonies ship-building industry had dwindled to a pale shadow of itself. Steam power and metal hulls were driving the last nails in its coffin, and burying the colony's merchant navy with it. Unable to got to sea, the islanders had finally turned their atention to the long-neglected agricultural industry-though not without the introduction of Azorean labour. To this day, scratching the earth is not seen as a fit occupation for any but the most pathetic.
This short-lived spate of farming was actually aimed at exploiting the shortage of fresh vegetables in New York and New England during the winter. Produce could be delivered rapidly to this area by ship, whereas that sent from the warmer, Southern states -notably Texas, could not survive the slow, and lengthy, overland journey. The Texans soon pushed unfavourable tarriffs against island produce through the US Congress, created more efficient rail delivery, and began growing the island's core crop- the Bermuda Onion ( the Bermudians tried to force an early copyright on the name, but had no more luck than the Virginian town of Vidalia would later have defending their own onion industry from aggresive Texans).
No one had planned for a tourism industry on the island, it sprung up un-noticed. Wealthy New Englanders and Canadians began, in increasing numbers, to spendd the winter months on the island to escape the crueller wieather back home. These visitors, therefore, didn't come for beaches or shopping as today's do, but to winter in a genteel, British climate. As their numbers grew, the visitors found some activities and attractions began to appear to cater to them, but the growth of the industry was bottle-necked by the lack of a decent hotel.
The few hotels then extent had been aimed primarily at mariners, military and naval officers, and other business travellers. The accomodations were modest and claustrophobic. Food was miserable and entertaunments or recreation facilities none-existent.
A group of enterprising local businessmen-who could be thought of as analogous to the colony's government-realised the potential of the burgeoning industry, and realised a proper hotel, comparable to the best Continental ones, would be both necessary to further it, and a potential goldmine to whoever built it. Plans were hatched, a hotel was planned, but they soon realized they needed both outside investors and expertise. The latter was solved by hiring an American manager of considerable reputation, the former was not so easily resolved. They tentatively arranged for an American steam-ship company, which was itself becoming wise to the opportunities of tourism, to invest the capital required. The hotel (the Princess Hotel, on the outskirts of Hamilton,) would still be operated by islanders, but American dollars would underwrite it, and its guests would be delivered by the same sea-line, but this was the opportunity London had been waiting for.
It was then the law that no foreigner could own land on the island. This was the case specifically to prevent a foreign government using the assets of its citizens as an excuse for invasion. The colony was an extremely important naval and military station and the colonial government could only allow American investment with the approval of the London government. They refused to grant this unless the colonial government returned the favour by finally raising local volunteer units to replace the regular troops being withdrawn. This they grudgingly did, passing acts in 1886 authorising the creation of three units. These were the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, the Bermuda Militia Artillery and a unit of sappers and miners to tend to the submarine mine defences and boats
The racial quandry was treated by restricting black recruitment to the Artillery. This was doubly satisfying for many whites as the idea of equipping and training blacks with small arms was an unerving proposition for them (though blacks had earlier been recruited into infantry militias, including a marine unit earlier in the nineteenth century).
The units proved to be popular, providing a form of recreation for many of the colony's bored young men. Contingents would be sent to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and to King Edwards coronation. During the Second Boer War of 1899-1902, the Headquarters company of the BVRC volunteered to serve in Sourth Africa. It was thought to send them together with a much larger Canadian deployment, but this had already left for South Africa and it was thought impractical to arrange the transfer of such a small force on its own. Two members of the BVRC , Gilbert and Penniston, were able to re-enlist into a regular Army unit and did make it to South Africa. Gilbert served in the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles, was gazetted Lieutenant, and served with Army Intelligence. At the War's end he was offered a permanent commission, but, enthralled with Africa, he resigned in order to seek fortune and adventure on the Dark Continent. He would eventually return to his homeland and a career in civil service.
THE GREAT WAR
The Great War, 1914-1918, saw the embodiment of the local volunteers. Conscription was not introduced in the colony, and the volunteers had still to maintain their civil jobs in addition to performing their duties as part of the garrison. As they would in the Second World War, they found themselves manning defensive positions around the island-frequently in fortifications built to guard against Spanish invasion three centuries before.
Despite the degree to which they stretched to meet their obligations to the Garrison, the volunteer units immediately began to look towards the Front, across the wide Atlantic. In December of 1914 the BVRC announced the creation of a contingent detached for posting to the front. Many of the members had joined the BVRC specifically for this contingent, including a young English clerk who, on hearing of the call for volunteers, had made his way from the West Indies in order to enlist.
Consisting of 86 men and one officer, Captain Richard Tucker, the contingent spent the first few months of 1915 training at the Garrison riflery ranges, Warwick Camp. The shortage of officers meant they had no adjutant and seeing this, the colony's Governor and Comander in Chief, HE General Sir George Bullock, filled the position-a task normally given to a Captain. This first contingent was accordingly known as 'Bullock's Boys'.
Sent by steamer to Nova Scotia where they embarqued for England with a large body of troops from Canada and the Maritimes.
Before departing, the BVRC had requested that the contingent be attached to the 2 Lincolns which had been on garrison at the start of the war, andd had since been sent to France. This was not possible as, by the time they reached the Lincolnshire Depot at Grimsby, the 2Lincolns were already in France. There was some debate at the depot as to how to use the islanders. The regimental commanders wanted to break them up, re-badge them as Lincolns, and post them as replacements throughout the regiment. The contingent would have none of this, and as Captain Tucker was in possession of a letter from the War Office stating they were to remain together as a unit, under their own badge, they were instead posted as an extra company to the 1 Battalion. By June of 1915 they were at the Front. During the next year they would prove exceptional soldiers, favoured by the Battalion Commanders for their intelligence and skills. Several would receive commissions or decorations. Many would be killed o, wounded or captured.
By the following Summer, they had lost 75% of their strength and it was no longer possible for them to remain as an extra company. Captain Tucker was posted elsewhere and the survivors were merged with a second BVRC contingent of 34 men and one officer which had just arrived. This second contingent had been equipped and trained as Vickers heavy machine gunners. They arrived in Britain to find that the army had stripped its infantry battalions of their Vickers Guns to create a new unit-the Machine Gun Corps (into which a young Bermudian had been commissioned fon leaving his study of law at Oxford. This islander, Charles Gilbert, was a relative of that Gilbert named in context to the Boer War. He would leave the army in 1918 as a Major, with the Military Cross. Returning to the island, he headed the education department for several decades, re-organizing the island's school system. His son, Charles Glynn Anglim Gilbert would enter Sandhurst directly from school, (NEXT)