Where Does Your Story Begin? Explore Tracing Our Roots / Routes
Through our exhibits, programmes, and activities, we promote a better understanding of the 500 years of Bermuda’s diverse past.
Have you ever pondered over the old photographs tucked away in your home? Each image holds within it a story waiting to be shared. From posed portraits to candid snapshots, every photograph is a portal to a moment in time, a window into the lives of those captured within.
In our Bermuda Family Scrapbook: Material Memories workshop, participants will engage in excavating, sharing, and crafting short pieces of writing that explore the personal, intellectual, and historical associations they have with a precious family photograph.
Dates: April 27 – May 11
Dr. Anna McKay | May 9, 2024
On 5 January 1824 – two hundred years ago – the HMS Antelope set sail from Spithead, near Portsmouth in Hampshire, carrying an unusual cargo: convicts. Three hundred men, selected for their youth and strength, were sent 3,000 miles from England to Bermuda, alleviating some of the overcrowding in prisons across England and marking the beginning of a forty year convict establishment in Bermuda. Far from home they were to provide the labour for one of the largest public works projects on the Island, serving the needs of the Empire by contributing to building works at the Royal Naval Dockyard.
Alongside enslaved and free workers, they quarried and built various structures crucial for the Empire, enduring harsh conditions under military supervision. Labouring under ‘the burning sun’, they died in their thousands – those that survived were sent on to the Australian colonies, and many never returned home. In this lecture, Dr Anna McKay will explore the lives and experiences of the convicts sent to Bermuda, following their journeys across the British Empire and their impact on the Island.
Through a collection of intimate and candid portraits, Jayde Gibbons explores the enduring power of family bonds in the face of profound sorrow and bereavement. Her photographs chronicle poignant moments from five local funerals and celebrations of life. FAMILY (FAM, I Love You) is her artistic response to NMB’s Bermuda Family Scrapbook.
Learn More
Meredith Andrews captures the fortitude of family life in Bermuda through a collection of large-format portraits of multi-generational families.
Learn More
Membership supports NMB education programmes and offers year-round benefits
Donations help us tell Bermuda’s story, preserve our past, and connect people with history
Join our team of volunteers. Digital and in-person volunteer opportunities are available