LOCAL GOVERNMENT There are two municipalities-The City of Hamilton (incorporated 1793 and made a city by act of legislation in 1897) which is governed by a corporation: and the town of St. George (incorporated 1797) one of the oldest settlements in the Western Hemisphere and the capital of Bermuda until 1815. Charges for dock facilities and water are the Hamilton corporation's main source of revenue but both governing bodies derive revenue from rents and municipal taxes. HAMILTON Mayor: The Hon. E. Graham Gibbons ST GEORGE'S Mayor: The Hon. N. R. Roberts, OBE, JP Secretary of the Corporation: E. W. T. Robinson Parish Council are appointed annually to advise in the administration of general parochial affairs of the Poor Law by the parishes of St. George's, Hamilton, Smith's, Devonshire, Pembroke, Paget, Warwick, Southampton and Sandys. The systems of law applicable in Bermuda are the common law, the doctrines of equity and all English Acts of general application which were in force on the 11th July, 1612. These systems are subject to Acts passed in Bermuda since that date in any way altering, modifying or amending those laws or doctrines. The Public Acts and Statutory Instruments made thereunder were reprinted in 1971, with a volume containing tables and indices. There exists also an edition of private acts in two volumes. CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT Deputy Governor: I. A. C. Kinnear Financial Secretary: C. W. Kempe, OBE & Permanent Secretary for Labour & Immigra- Collector of Customs: K. R. Harding Director of Agriculture & Fisheries: G. R. Director of Civil Aviation: W/Cdr. E. M. Chief Education Officer: Dr K. Robinson, Chief Medical Officer: Dr B. W. Whalley, MRCS, LRCP, DPH, DA Chief Immigration Officer: C. E. Thompson Director of Marine & Ports Services: E. J. C. R* READING LIST General DYER, H. THORNLEY. The next twenty years; a report on the development plan for Bermuda, prepared by the Government of Bermuda. Hamilton, Bermuda Press, 1963. HEYL, EDITH Stowe GodfreY. Bermuda's Early Days. Bermuda Department of Education, 1959. An account of Bermuda's early days of adventure and colonisation from 1511 to 1684. HUMPHREYS, JOHN S. Bermuda Houses. Boston, Marshall Jones, 1923. The best era in local architecture is typified in the excellent illustrations and house plans contained in this book. KENNEDY, SISTER JEAN DE CHANTAL. Biography of a Colonial Town. Bermuda Book Store, 1961. A history of Hamilton. KERR, WILFRED BRENTON. Bermuda and the American Revolution. Princeton University Press, 1963. An instructive account of its subject. LEFROY, J. H. Memorials of the Discovery and Early Settlement of the Bermudas or Somers Islands, 1515–1687, 2 vols. London. Longmans Green, 1877 and 1879. The standard work on Bermuda's history. LUDINGTON, M. H. Post Office, Postal Markings and Adhesive Stamps of Bermuda. London, Lowe, 1962. STRODE, HUDSON. Story of Bermuda. New York, Smith, 1932 and 1946. Contains outstanding photographs of different aspects of local life. TUCKER, TERRY. Bermuda's Story. rev. ed. Hamilton, Bermuda Book Store, 1967. A simplified history, 1609-1966, commissioned by the Department of Education and first published by them in 1959. WHITNEY, CHRISTINE M. The Bermuda Garden. The Garden Club of Bermuda, 1955. A comprehensive and beautifully illustrated book on gardening in Bermuda. WILKINSON, HENRY C. The adventurers of Bermuda: a history of the island from its discovery until the dissolution of the Somers Island Company in 1684. London, Oxford University Press, 1958. WILKINSON, HENRY C. Bermuda in the Old Empire, 1684-1784. London, Oxford University Press, 1950. (Both Dr Wilkinson's volumes contain useful bibliographies on the early history of Bermuda). WILLOCK, ROGER. Bulwark of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base, 1860-1920. Princeton, privately printed, 1962. Guides and Manuals BELL, EUPHEMIA YOUNG. Beautiful Bermuda. 10th edition, revised and enlarged by S. E. Bell and William A. Bell, New York and Bermuda. Beautiful Bermuda Publishing Co., 1947. A comprehensive handbook, first published in 1902. FODOR, EUGENE, ed. Fodor's Guide to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda. London, Newman Neame Ltd. Annual. Biography NORWOOD, RICHARD. Journal of Richard Norwood. New York. Scholar's Facsimiles and Reprints, 1945. A diary kept by the famous surveyor which gives a vivid picture of life in the islands during the seventeenth century. Natural History BEEBE, C. W. Nonsuch: Land of Water. New York, Brewer Warren and BEEBE, C. W. Field Book of the Shore Fishes of Bermuda. New York, Birds of the Bermudas. Hamilton Book Stores, n.d. Cox, WILLIAM N. Bermuda's Beginning. London, C. Tinling and Co., Ltd., WATSON, JAMES WREFORD. A geography of Bermuda. London, Collins, 1965. Periodicals Bermuda Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Monthly bulletin since The Bermudan Churchman. Church of England, Bermuda. Jan. 1956— The Bermuda Historical Quarterly, 1944. Bermudian Magazine. Hamilton, Bermudian Publishing Co. Ltd. 1930monthly. Newspapers Bermuda Sun Weekly, 1964— Mid-Ocean News, 1911-Weekly. Recorder, 1938-Weekly. Royal Gazette, 1784-Daily. Reports Bermuda Annual Report 1970. HMSO London 1972 SBN11 5801103. Some of the books listed above are out of print but are available for reference in the Bermuda Library, Hamilton, Bermuda, and possibly also in other reference libraries abroad. T BRITISH ANTARCTIC TERRITORY HE British Antarctic Territory was designated by an Order-in-Council which came into force on the 3rd March 1962, and with the exception of the island of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, consists of the area previously known as the Falkland Islands Dependencies. The territory lies between longitudes 20° and 80°W. south of latitude 60°S. Within these bounds lie the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands and the Antarctic Peninsula, together with all adjacent islands and the land mass extending to the South Pole. The majority of the islands in the territory are wild and rugged with many glaciers. The Antarctic Peninsula is mountainous, the highest peak being Mount Andrew Jackson (about 11,000 feet). There is a snow-covered plateau which extends along the peninsula but declines from 7,000 feet in the south to about 4,000 feet in the north. The main continental area is covered by ice and fringed by floating ice shelves, generally about 800 feet thick. The territory has a rigorous polar climate. The British population of the territory consists solely of male scientists and technicians who man the British Antarctic Survey scientific stations. During the winter of 1973 the total number was 76. In the summer months when relief personnel arrive, together with summer field workers, this figure may almost double. The exact number of other nationals working in the area is not known. There are no towns in the territory and scientific and field stations are situated on various islands and parts of the mainland. The Antarctic bases are relieved, resupplied and restaffed between November and May each year, by the Survey's Royal Research Ships Bransfield and John Biscoe. Two light aircraft, which are wintered in Canada, assist with the annual relief and provide support for field parties. One base, Fossil Bluff is supplied entirely by air from Adelaide Island. In addition to normal radio communication, teleprinters link five of the bases to administrative offices in the Falkland Islands and London. Until the year ended 30th June 1962 British Antarctic Territory finances were embodied in those of the Falkland Islands Dependencies. From 1st April 1967 responsibility for the British Antarctic Survey was transferred from the Commonwealth Office to the Ministry of Education and Science. The Survey and the territory were separately financed from 1st July 1967. The following table shows revenue and expenditure for the years 1971-74. HISTORY The main island group of the South Shetlands was discovered and taken possession of by Captain W. Smith in 1819, whilst the South Orkney Islands owe their discovery to Captain G. Powell in 1821. The Antarctic Peninsula was discovered in 1820 by Edward Bransfield, R.N., and taken into the possession of Great Britain by John Biscoe in 1832. The penetration of what is now known as the Weddell Sea and the final discovery of the continental land masses to the south and east of the Antarctic Peninsula can be attributed to many great explorers-Cook, Weddell, Ross and Bruce to name but a few. Many of the islands within the territory were used as temporary bases for the early sealing and whaling expeditions, but at Deception Island of the South Shetlands Islands a more permanent and more active whaling station was in operation from 1906 to 1931. During this time a magistrate was in permanent residence for the summer months. In the 1943-44 season, under the code name of 'Operation Tabarin', the first of what are now known as the British Antarctic Survey bases were established at Deception Island and Port Lockroy. Since then the number of occupied stations has at times been as many as 12 but in recent years the number has been 6, most stations being somewhat larger. In December 1967 Deception Island was temporarily evacuated because of a volcanic eruption. A second eruption in February 1969 partially destroyed the station, which has now been abandoned. The locations of the occupied stations are: Signy Island-South Orkney Islands 60° 43′ S., 45° 36′ W. Argentine Islands (Galindez Island)-West coast of Graham Land 65° 15' S., Adelaide Island-West coast of Graham Land 67° 46′ S., 68° 54′ W. Fossil Bluff George VI Sound 71° 20′ S., 68° 17′ W. Halley Bay-Caird Coast 75° 30′ S., 26° 39′ W. A station is also maintained by the Survey at King Edward Point, South Georgia (51° 17′ S., 36° 30′ W.) in the Falkland Islands Dependencies (q.v.). Other bases which have been established, but are at present unoccupied, are: Cape Geddes, Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands. Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. View Point, Duse Bay. Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula. Danco Coast, Graham Land. Anvers Island, Palmer Archipelago (now used as a summer air facility). Prospect Point, Graham Coast. Detaille Island, Loubet Coast, Graham Land. Horseshoe Island, Marguerite Bay. The territory is administered by the High Commissioner, resident in Stanley, Falkland Islands. A Court of Appeal was set up on the 1st July 1965 for the purpose of hearing and determining appeals from the courts of the territory. |