Welcome to Bermuda Biographies - People Who Made a Difference

This month
in history

Riding the rails
October 31,1931

On October 31, 1931, spectators lined Front Street to witness the official opening of the Bermuda Railway. The 150 guests took their seats in four coaches, Governor’s wife Lady Cubitt pressed an electric starter, and the train took off outside Number One Shed on its inaugural trip.

The Bermuda Railway ushered in a faster and more comfortable means of transport for locals and tourists, whose only other options were pedal cycle, horse-drawn carriage and boat. But the system, known as ‘Rattle and Shake’, did not live up to its promise. The project was hampered by controversies and delays, even before trains began running on the tracks. It was plagued by problems, including corrosion and the high cost of fuel, during its 17-year run and never turned a profit.

Government finally bought the system and ran it for a while before selling it off to Guyana. Train travel came to an end in 1948, two years after cars were allowed on the island.

The Bermuda Railway, which ran 22 miles from Somerset to St. George’s and linked the islands with a system of 33 bridges, still evokes feelings of nostalgia. It accommodated pedal cycles, and proved a hit with tourists, for whom Elbow Beach Hotel was a popular stop.

Its legacy is the Railway Trail, a ribbon of tranquility for walkers, joggers and nature lovers in a rapidly urbanised Bermuda.

Source: Bermuda—Five Centuries by Rosemary Jones.
Photos: The Bermudian

Born this month
Charles Lloyd Tucker October 1, 1913 Artist, painter, teacher
Photo: Courtesy of the Bermuda National Gallery	Charles Lloyd Tucker was Bermuda’s first black professionally trained artist and a dominant figure on the art scene during the 1950s and 1960s. As the first art teacher at Berkeley Institute, he inspired a whole generation of Bermudians. Tucker’s larger-than-life personality matched his prodigious talents. Music was his first love. He had embarked on studies in London to become a concert pianist, but the Second World War ended that dream. Tucker was the son of Ada Louise (born Steede) and John Edgar Tucker, a community leader, mason and builder. He was born in Shelly Bay and raised in the family home Rocklands, which occupied a two-acre property overlooking Harrington Sound that had been in his mother’s family for several generations. His lifelong devotion to his mother, an elegant woman who loved to wear hats, may have had its roots in their shared music talents. She played the organ and guitar and taught him to play the pump organ. He studied piano from the age of seven. Tucker attended Temperance Hall primary school, in Hamilton Parish, Mrs. Millicent Neverson’s Excelsior Secondary School and The Berkeley Institute, where he graduated in 1933. Four years after leaving Berkeley, in December 1937, he sailed to England to study music at the Guildhall School of Music and Dramatic Art, arriving on New Year’s Day 1938. Tucker’s studies were cut short by the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1939, he sailed back home. When the war ended in 1945, Tucker considered himself too old to resume his music studies, but by then he had begun to dabble in painting. In 1948, he returned to England, this time to study graphic arts at the Anglo-French Art Centre. Acting on another artist’s recommendation, he transferred to the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting, where he studied from January 1949 to 1953. He returned to Bermuda in September 1953 and set about establishing his career. In 1954, the year he began teaching at Berkeley, he had a one-man show. He taught at Berkeley until 1959 and resumed teaching there in 1963. He was an active participant in Bermuda’s artistic community and a founding member of the Bermuda Society of Arts (BSA). He exhibited locally and also in New York, Boston and Chicago, and juried several BSA exhibitions. Tucker was a prolific painter, who worked mainly in watercolours and pen and ink, but also in oils. He painted landscapes, street scenes and Bermuda landmarks, and well-known Bermudian characters of his day, including Weatherbird, a street person. He travelled frequently to exhibit and for further study, and his work was constantly evolving. Nearly 40 years after his death, exhibitions of the work of this pioneering artist generate strong interest and his paintings are collector’s items. Check out the full biography of Charles Lloyd Tucker, and view images of his paintings. See also the biography of his high school teacher, Millicent Neverson and of artist Byllee Lang, his friend and contemporary.

Previous Bermuda Biographies home pages by month:

In the News

> Haunted houses
> New life for station
> BNG marks 400 years
> Masterworks sails on
> Bermuda Tattoo

Hamilton launches
Walkway of History

A City of Hamilton Walkway of History was launched this month, with plaques placed at 25 sites and buildings of historical and architectural significance. City Hall, Victoria Park and Beulah, the home of labour leader Dr. E. F. Gordon, are among the 25 that were singled out for the honour. The sites are listed in a brochure, which doubles as a handy guide for those wishing to take a self-guided tour.

Haunted houses

John Cox and Mac Musson, who researched haunted houses for their book, along with actress Connie Dey, will speak about the Island’s haunted houses in this month’s Historical Heartbeats lecture, the last for the year. The talks will take place on Thursday, October 15 and Friday, October 16 at 6pm. Tickets are free and available from the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs (call 292-9447).

Train station to get
new lease on life

The run-down Old Elbow Beach train station on the Railway trail on South Road, Paget is about to be rehabilitated. The tiny pink Bermuda cottage, which was the drop-off point for tourists taking the train to Elbow Beach, was most recently used as headquarters for the Jaycees. Government’s Works and Engineering Department is inviting tenders from interested parties. The deadline for tenders is Friday, October 29.

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BNG celebrates
four centuries

The Bermuda National Gallery’s latest exhibit celebrates the Island’s artistic heritage from 1609 to the present. ‘4 Centuries: Evolving Art’ showcases work from the collections of the BNG and the Bermuda National Trust, as well as from private collections, and includes maps, cedar furniture, photographs, paintings and Gleeson dolls. See www.bng.bm for more details.

Masterworks
in full sail

Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art puts the spotlight on the Island’s maritime heritage in ‘We are Sailing’, an exhibit staged in honour of Bermuda’s 400^th anniversary. For more on the exhibit, which runs until the end of the year, visit www.bermudamasterworks.com

Bermuda Tattoo

Military bands from the United Kingdom, Canada and the Caribbean, led by the Bermuda Regiment, are certain to keep toes tapping at the Bermuda Tattoo 2009, from October 22-24 at the Keep in Dockyard. Visit www.bermudatattoo.bm for more info.

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