Hamilton, Bermuda
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Overseas Territory of Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. It is the territory's financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
centre and a major port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
and tourist destination
Tourist destination
A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps."...
.
Geography
Hamilton is located on the north side of Hamilton HarbourHamilton Harbour, Bermuda
Hamilton Harbour is a natural harbour in Bermuda which serves as the port for the capital, the City of Hamilton. It is an arm of the Great Sound, and forms a tapering wedge shape of water between Paget Parish and the peninsula which forms Pembroke Parish, and upon which the capital sits.The...
, and is Bermuda's main port. Although there is a parish of the same name
Hamilton Parish, Bermuda
Hamilton Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It was renamed for Scottish aristocrat James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton when he purchased the shares originally held in the Virginia Company by Lucy, Countess of Bedford.It is located in the northwest of the island chain, and is...
, the city of Hamilton is in the parish of Pembroke
Pembroke Parish, Bermuda
Pembroke Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after English aristocrat William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke ....
. The City is named after Sir Henry Hamilton, governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
from 1786 to 1793. The parish of Hamilton
Hamilton Parish, Bermuda
Hamilton Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It was renamed for Scottish aristocrat James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton when he purchased the shares originally held in the Virginia Company by Lucy, Countess of Bedford.It is located in the northwest of the island chain, and is...
pre-dates it.
St. George's, Bermuda
St. George's , located on the island and within the parish of the same names, was the first permanent settlement on the islands of Bermuda, and is often described as the third successful English settlement in the Americas, after St. John's, Newfoundland, and Jamestown, Virginia. However, St...
. A more representative measure of Bermuda population tends to be by parish.
Hamilton's antipode
Antipodes
In geography, the antipodes of any place on Earth is the point on the Earth's surface which is diametrically opposite to it. Two points that are antipodal to one another are connected by a straight line running through the centre of the Earth....
is located 45 kilometres west of Point Peron near Rockingham, Western Australia
Rockingham, Western Australia
Rockingham is a suburb and primary centre in Western Australia south-west of the Perth city centre and south of Fremantle. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of Cockburn Sound. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and...
, an outer suburb of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
Economy
As the offshore domicile of many foreign companies, Bermuda has a highly-developed international business economy; it is a financial exporter of financial services, primarily insurance, reinsurance, investment funds and special purpose vehicles (SPV). Finance and international business now constitute the largest sector of Bermuda's economy, and virtually all of this business takes place within the borders of Hamilton.Large numbers of leading international insurance companies are based in Hamilton, making it a global reinsurance centre. Those internationally owned and operated businesses that are physically based in Bermuda - of which there are around four hundred - are represented by the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC). In total, over 1,500 exempted or international companies are currently registered with the Registrar of Companies in Bermuda.
The city is the registered headquarters of the spirits manufacturer Bacardi
Bacardi
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
, outsourcing company Genpact
Genpact
Genpact Limited is a global business process and technology management company. It was formerly a GE owned company called GE Capital International Services or GECIS. It operates from India, China, Guatemala, Hungary, México, Morocco, the Philippines, Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, South...
, telecommunications company Global Crossing
Global Crossing
Global Crossing Limited was a telecommunications company that provides computer networking services worldwide. It maintained a large backbone and offered transit and peering links, VPN, leased lines, audio and video conferencing, long distance telephone, managed services, dialup, colocation and...
and insurance company XL Group. Similarly, Hamilton is known as the headquarters of many international shipping companies, such as DryShips Inc
DryShips Inc
DryShips Inc is a dry bulk shipping company based in Athens, Greece. As of April 2011 the company owned 35 drybulk carriers, consisting of 7 Capesize, 26 Panamax and 2 Supramax vessels...
, Frontline Ltd.
Frontline Ltd.
Frontline Ltd. is one of the world's largest oil tanker shipping companies, based in Hamilton, Bermuda and controlled by John Fredriksen. Its primary business is transporting crude oil...
and Dockwise
Dockwise
-History:Dockwise was formed in September 1993 by the merger of two complementary companies, Wijsmuller Transport and Dock Express Shipping , becoming the world's largest seagoing heavy transport shipping company. The combined company operated from a new headquarters in Meer , Belgium...
among others.
History
The history of Hamilton began in 1790 when the Bermuda Government set aside 145 acres (58.7 ha) for its future seat, and was officially incorporated in 1793 by an Act of Parliament. The Colony's capital relocated to Hamilton from St. George's in 1815. The City lay at the political and military heart of Bermuda over the last two centuries. In addition to the parliament within it, Government House sits to its north, the former Admiralty House of the Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to its west (both in Pembroke, and the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
garrison headquarters at Prospect Camp to its East.
The Town of Hamilton became a City in 1897, ahead of the consecration of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity
Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity
The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity is an Anglican cathedral located on Church Street in Hamilton, Bermuda. The original building was designed in the Old English style by James Cranston of Oxford in 1844 and was completed in 1869. That building was destroyed by fire in 1884...
(Church Of England), which was under construction at the time, in 1911. A Catholic cathedral was later constructed. Today, the city overlooking Hamilton Harbour is primarily a business district, with few structures other than office buildings and shops. The City of Hamilton has long maintained a building limit, which states that no buildings may obscure the Cathedral, but in recent months buildings have been planned and areas have started construction on buildings as high as 10 storeys in the city. Bermuda's local newspaper The Royal Gazette
The Royal Gazette
The Royal Gazette, founded in 1828, is the only daily newspaper in the island nation of Bermuda. It is published Mondays through Saturdays; there is no Sunday edition....
reports "If you don't recognise the city, from 15 years ago, we don't blame you as it has changed so much".
Coat of arms and flag
The coat of arms of the city of Hamilton incorporate shield featuring a golden sailing ship, representing the Resolution, surrounded by three five-petalled flowers, two above the ship and one below, also in gold, all on a plain blue background. This shield is supported by a mermaid and heraldic sea horse (i.e., demi-horse, demi-fish), and is placed on a mount in front of which is a scroll containing the motto "Sparsa Collegit". The shield is topped by a crest featuring a closed helm topped with a torque above which an heraldic seahorse is emerging from the sea holding a flower. The city's full motto is Hamilton sparsa collegit, ("Hamilton has assembled the scattered").The city's flag is a banner of arms, featuring the same details as on the shield of the city's coat of arms, but with the flowers in white rather than gold.
Parks
The city of Hamilton has many parks for its size. Probably the most notable park in the city is Victoria Park. This park occupies a whole block and was named after the former Queen Victoria. Other parks in the city are Par La Ville Park, Barr's Park, All Buoy's Point Park, and the hidden Cedar Park.Climate
Despite being located a good distance north of the tropics, Hamilton features a warm humid subtropical climateHumid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...
that falls just short of being a true tropical climate
Tropical climate
A tropical climate is a climate of the tropics. In the Köppen climate classification it is a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above...
. It is warm enough for coconut palms and other tropical palms to grow, although they may not fruit properly due to the lack of heat. A primary reason why Hamilton experiences such uncharacteristically warm temperatures despite its more northerly latitude (32°N) is the influence of the nearby Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...
. Hamilton features warm and humid summers and very mild “winters”. However, temperatures are moderated by the Atlantic Ocean, so it seldom gets very hot or very cold in the city. Precipitation is plentiful throughout the course of the year and Hamilton does not have a dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
month, a month where on average less than 60 mm of precipitation falls. In essence, Hamilton would feature a tropical rainforest climate
Tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate, is a tropical climate usually found along the equator...
if it met the minimum threshold of a tropical climate, a distinct oddity for a city far removed from the equator where tropical rainforest climates are typically found. Hamilton sees on average just above 1400 mm of precipitation annually.
Sports
Hamilton has a host of excellent beaches which provide many opportunities for water sports including surfing, wind surfing, water skiing, jet skiing, sailing and diving, however the highlight of the calender is the Bermuda Gold Cup (or Argo Group Gold Cup as it is currently known) a sailing event which is a key stage of the World Match Racing TourWorld Match Racing Tour
The World Match Racing Tour is a professional sailing series, featuring 9 World Championship events across the globe, sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation with “Special Event” status...
one of only 3 sailing championships to be sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with 'Special Event' status. The Argo cup brings the world's best match racing sailors (including world champions and Olympic sailors)to Bermuda for 5 days of adrenaline fueled one-on-one 'match racing'. Points accrued during the event contribute to the World Match Racing Tour and ultimately a chance to race in the final event, the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, where the winner is crowned ISAF World Match Racing Champion. Unlike a lot of water based sports which are too far out to see from the shore 'match racing' is a great spectators sport with the racing happening only 15m from the shore. Spectators can expect a heart of the action view point from the comfort of the shore.
The history of the modern Bermuda Gold Cup event dates back to the very beginning of the match racing style of sailing. The first 'match race
Match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a race between two sailing boats racing around a course...
' in a one-design racing yacht i.e. technically identical boats, was the King Edward VII Gold Cup in Bermuda (now known as the Argo Gold Cup), that was first sailed in 1937. The Argo Gold Cup is still a key event in the World Match Racing Tour calendar.
The King Edward VII Cup itself was originally given at the Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown
Jamestown
-Saint Kitts and Nevis:*Jamestown, the name of a former town on the edge of Morton Bay on Nevis in the late 17th century-United Kingdom:*Jamestown, Rossshire, Scotland*Jamestown, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland*Jamestown, Fife, Scotland...
, Virginia, in 1907 by King Edward VII in commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America. C. Sherman Hoyt won that regatta and was the first sailor to accept the historic trophy.
Hoyt held the Gold Cup for three decades before donating it to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and proposing an annual one-on-one match-race series in 6-Meter yachts. In his letter he expressed the propriety of "my returning a British Royal trophy to the custody of your club, with its long record of clean sportsmanship and keenly contested races between your Bermuda yachts and ours of Long Island Sound, and elsewhere..." The first winner of the Cup in its new format was Briggs Cunningham in 1937. He was also the first skipper to win the America's Cup in a 12-Meter racing yacht.
External links
- The Corporation of Hamilton municipal government website
- Hamilton Bermuda From Bermuda Attractions
- City of Hamilton Bermuda Island.net's detailed History
- City of Hamilton