10 Most Famous People from Bermuda

Photo by German Comic Con. Wikimedia Commons.

10 Most Famous People from Bermuda

Bermuda is a British island territory in the North Atlantic Ocean known for its pink-sand beaches such as Elbow Beach and Horseshoe Bay. Its massive Royal Naval Dockyard complex combines modern attractions like the interactive Dolphin Quest with maritime history at the National Museum of Bermuda.

The island has a distinctive blend of British and American culture, which can be found in the capital, Hamilton. Here are the 10 Most Famous People from Bermuda.

1. Mishka

Photo by Justkeeplivin. Wikimedia Commons.

Mishka is an internationally known reggae artist from Bermuda. He released his first self-titled album Mishka in 1999 and had a hit single in the UK with “Give You All The Love”. He is currently signed to Jimmy Buffetts record label, Mailboat records, and is touring in support of his latest album, ‘Ocean is my Potioin’. He is also the face of ECO-Neill, surf-clothing company O’Neill’s new eco-friendly apparel line.

2. George Tucker

George Tucker was a United States attorney, author, educator and politician. His literary works include the first fiction of colonial life in Virginia and another which is one of America’s earliest science fictions.

Tucker also published the first comprehensive biography of Thomas Jefferson, as well as a history of the United States. He immigrated from Bermuda, was educated at the College of William and Mary and admitted to the Virginia bar. He was elected in 1816 to the Virginia House of Delegates for one term, and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1819 to 1825.

From Tucker’s youth until early middle age, his lofty social lifestyle was often profligate, and briefly became scandalous. Nevertheless, upon completion of his Congressional term, he accepted an appointment by Thomas Jefferson to serve as Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia and continued in that post until 1845.

3. Ewart Brown

Photo by Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Wikimedia Commons.

Ewart Frederick Brown, Jr. was Premier of Bermuda and leader of the Progressive Labour Party from 2006 and 2010. He served as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Warwick South Central for 17 years until his retirement from politics in October 2010.

Brown was elected leader of the ruling Progressive Labour Party on 30 October 2006, defeating his predecessor, Alex Scott, at a PLP delegates conference. He is the third leader of the PLP since the party won the 2003 general election. Brown led the party to win a third term in power in the election on 18 December 2007. Brown is also a physician and medical director of Bermuda Healthcare Services.

4. Mary Prince

Mary Prince was born into slavery in Devonshire Parish, Bermuda. While she was later living in London, her autobiography, The History of Mary Prince, was the first account of the life of a black woman to be published in the United Kingdom.

Belonging to the genre of slave narratives, this first-hand description of the brutalities of enslavement, released at a time when slavery was still legal in British Caribbean colonies, had a galvanizing effect on the anti-slavery movement.

It went through three printings in the first year. Prince had her account transcribed while living and working in England at the home of Thomas Pringle, secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society. She had gone to London with her master and his family in 1828 from Antigua.

5. Johnny Barnes

Johnny Barnes in October 2007 holding the bus sign from the 1950’s. Johnny is often referred to as Bermuda’s Friendliest Man. Photo by Loanstarinc. Wikimedia Commons.

He was a Bermudian native found waving to passing traffic at the Foot of the Lane roundabout in Hamilton, Bermuda, from roughly 3:45 am to 10 am, every workday, rain or shine.

A Bermuda institution mentioned in several guidebooks and profiled in two documentary films, he was known for waving and saying “I love you, God loves you,” to passing commuters during the morning rush hour into Hamilton. Due to the unique layout of the island and its roads, nearly all drivers at rush hour coming from the western and southern areas of the island passed Barnes at the roundabout.

6. Lena Headey

Lena Headey is an English actress. Headey’s performance in a one-off show when she was 17 caught the attention of a casting agent, who took a photo and asked her to audition.

Eventually she got a supporting role alongside Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke in the 1992 drama film Waterland and went on to appear with higher-profile actors in major films such as The Remains of the Day, The Jungle Book, Onegin and Aberdeen.

After working steadily as an actress getting small and supporting roles in films throughout the 1990s, she found fame for her lead performances in big-budget films like the fantasy film The Brothers Grimm, in which she acted opposite Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, the action film 300, portraying the role of Gorgo, Queen of Sparta, and the adventure and biographical feature The Red Baron.

7. Dwayne Leverock

Russell Dwayne Mark Leverock is a former Bermudian cricketer. Known as ‘Sluggo’ and living above a curry house in Bermuda, Leverock is a policeman and also drives a prison van. At the 2007 Cricket World Cup he was the largest player to grace the pitch, weighing in at 20 stone. However he is not the heaviest man to ever play international cricket. Warwick Armstrong weighed about 22 stone.

8. Earl Cameron

Earl Cameron, CBE is a Bermudian actor. Along with Cy Grant, he is known as one of the first black actors to break the “colour bar” in the United Kingdom. He also had repeated appearances on many British science fiction programmes of the 1960s, including Doctor Who, The Prisoner and The Andromeda Breakthrough.

9. David Hemp

David Lloyd Hemp is a Bermudian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler, who has played domestic cricket for Glamorgan, Free State, and Warwickshire. David has a younger brother, Tim, who has previously played for Glamorgan’s second eleven. He has also played List A and Twenty20 cricket. He is currently a full-time sports coach at Solihull School.

10. George Starkey

Photo by John Vachon. Wikimedia Commons.

George Starkey, born George Stirk, was an English alchemist, medical practitioner, and writer of numerous commentaries and chemical treatises that were widely circulated in Europe and influenced prominent men of science, including Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton.

After relocating from New England to London, England in 1650, Starkey began writing under the pseudonym Eirenaeus Philalethes, Starkey remained in England and continued his career in medicine and alchemy until he became a victim of the Great Plague of London in 1665.