Hamilton, Bermuda

Hamilton, Bermuda
—  City  —
Front street in Hamilton.
Coat of arms
Map showing location within Bermuda
Coordinates:
Country	United Kingdom
overseas territory	Bermuda
Founded	1790
Government
- Mayor	Charles R. Gosling
Population
- Total	969
Website	The Corporation of Hamilton

The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity in Hamilton.

Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.

Geography

Hamilton is located on the north side of Hamilton Harbour, and is Bermuda's main port. Although there is a parish of the same name, the city of Hamilton is in the parish of Pembroke. The City is named after Sir Henry Hamilton, governor from 1778 to 1794. The parish of Hamilton pre-dates it.

City Hall in Hamilton

In spite of being the administrative capital of Bermuda, Hamilton only has a permanent population of approximately 969, although some estimates have it as high as 1,500. Hamilton is the only incorporated city in Bermuda, but actually is smaller than the historic town of St. George's. A more representative measure of Bermuda population tends to be by parish.

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 Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) - the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company; and the spirits manufacturer Bacardi. Of the same reason Hamilton is well known to hold the headquarter of many international shipping companies, like DryShips Inc., Frontline Ltd. and Dockwise among others.

Hamilton's antipode is located 45 kilometres west of Point Peron near Rockingham, Western Australia, an outer suburb of Perth.

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 Navy to its west (both in Pembroke, and the British Army garrison headquarters at Prospect Camp to its East.

The Town of Hamilton became a City with the erection of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity (Church Of England) in 1897. 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 reports "If you don't recognise the city, from 15 years ago, we don't blame you as it has changed so much". The Trimingham's shops have now been removed after well over 50 years of service in Bermuda.

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.

Panorama of Hamilton, 1911. View from Fort Hamilton.

Panorama of Hamilton, 2007. Same vantage.

Climate

Despite being located a good distance north of the tropics, Hamilton features a warm humid subtropical climate that falls just short of being a true tropical climate. 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. 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 month, a month where on average less than 60 mm of precipitation falls. In essence, Hamilton would feature a tropical rainforest climate 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 Argo Group Gold Cup^[2] a sailing event which is a key stage of the World Match Racing Tour one of only 3 events 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.

References

External links

• The Corporation of Hamilton municipal government website
• Hamilton Bermuda From Bermuda Attractions
• City of Hamilton Bermuda Island.net's detailed History

Administrative divisions of Bermuda Municipalities Hamilton · St. George's Parishes Devonshire · Hamilton · Paget · Pembroke · St. George's · Sandys · Smith's · Southampton · Warwick