A Visit to Commissioner's House

Last week, we visited Commissioner's House for a field trip.  Commissioner's House was designed and built to be multi-purpose. It was constructed in 1822, and served as private quarters for the civilian commissioner of the Dockyard, as well as hosted functions and official ceremonies. After years of neglect and decay during the second half of the 20th century, the Bermuda Maritime Museum transformed it into a wonderful museum. Now, Commissioner's House features a wide variety of exhibits ranging from coin collections to shackles recovered from slave ships.  

~Commissioner's House from the water~

{We forgot to take an outside picture of the house so I found this pic on Google images.}

~Looking over the Dockyard from the first deck~

~The Portuguese make up around 10% of Bermuda's population~

~Wheel hoe used by Portuguese farmers, circa 1900~

~Diagram showing how slaves were packed into ships~

~Shackles recovered from slave ships~

~Jude by model of sail ship~

~Wash basin from Jamaica~

~New currency released in Jan. '09 is displayed in the money exhibit~

~Bermuda $1 bills printed in 1914~

~Real gold coins dating back to the 1600s~

~Wall mural painted by Graham Foster depicting 400 years of Bermudian history~

~Another view of wall mural~

~Leah enjoying a minute by the fountain~

~The children taking a break in front of the fountain~

(Left to Right: Eden, Leah, Jude, & Sara)

~Sara helping her little brother to look at an exhibit~

~Leah taking a peek through the wheel for a cannon~

(Sara's green iPod is between the spokes!)

 ~Sheep grazing along a wall; according the the museum's website the

sheep are their "trusty lawnmowers" :-) ~

~A sheep getting a nibble to eat~

~Dad and Jude hanging out by a cannon~

~Cute dollhouse exhibit~

 ~A cloudy day, but still a great view from the second veranda~

~Another view looking towards the pier for the cruise ships~

~Mother perched on a large window~

~Plaque outside Commissioner's House giving it's latitude/longitude~

~The outdoor grounds feature several tunnels and subterranean rooms~

~Small boat moored at the water's edge of a small pond~

We had lots of fun and learned new things by reading the informative displays located by each exhibit. We took lots of photos and hope to return another time!

Blessings,