Bermuda celebrates 400th anniversary; exhibit in Virginia looks at links with Jamestown

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Bermuda is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, and a new exhibition called “Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies” looks at the shared history and links between England’s first two permanent colonies in the New World.

The exhibit at Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg, Va., opened March 1 and runs through Oct. 15.

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Newsday photo by Adam Z. Horvath

Bermuda, famous for its pink sand, is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year with events for tourists and locals alike.

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A British presence on Bermuda dates to 1609 when the Sea Venture, the flagship of a fleet of nine ships heading from England to Jamestown (which celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2007), was caught in a violent storm. The Sea Venture’s passengers survived, built two smaller ships in Bermuda and in 1610 sailed to Virginia, leaving two people behind on the island.

Shakespeare was said to have used survivors’ accounts of the Sea Venture shipwreck as inspiration for his play “The Tempest.”

More than two dozen objects from the Sea Venture underwater archaeological site will be exhibited in Jamestown, on loan from the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Also on display will be a 17th-century cedar chair from the Parliament of Bermuda. The island’s first legislative body was formed in 1620.

Virginia and Bermuda were initially administered by the Virginia Company of London and later became British royal colonies. Today, Bermuda is the oldest self-governing British overseas territory.

Events in Bermuda marking the anniversary include a “Tall Ships” festival planned for June 11-15 in Hamilton. Other events include garden activities, art shows, musical and theatrical performances, and even a birthday celebration for Her Majesty the Queen (June 13). The official Web site for the anniversary is www.bermuda2009.bm/.

Jamestown Settlement is located southwest of Williamsburg on Route 31 at the Colonial Parkway next to Historic Jamestowne, site of the 1607 English settlement. Permanent exhibits include outdoor re-creations of an early 17th-century Powhatan Indian village, the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607 and a colonial fort.

A video entitled “The Story of the Sea Venture” is available at www.historyisfun.org/jamestown-and-bermuda.htm.