X-Nico

6 unusual facts about George Somers


George Somers

1984, a statue of him by Desmond Fountain was unveiled in St. George's by HRH Princess Margaret to celebrate the 375th anniversary of Bermuda's settlement.

Some commentators believe that this incident inspired William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.

Somers and Sir Thomas Gates oversaw the construction of two small ships, the Deliverance and the Patience. They were built from local timber (Bermuda Cedar) and the salvaged spars and rigging of the wrecked Sea Venture.

The remainder of his body was taken back to England and buried in his home hamlet of Whitchurch Canonicorum near to the town of Lyme Regis.

Paget Marsh Nature Reserve

The discovery of the marsh is credited to Sir George Somers and his crew from England on their voyage which was shipwrecked between two reefs just off the coast of Bermuda in 1609.

Whitchurch Canonicorum

Sir George Somers (1554–1610) was the Mayor of Lyme Regis and later Governor of The Somers Isles (Bermuda) he died "of a surfeit in eating of a pig", on November 9, 1610 in Bermuda.


Starving Time

Also aboard the new flagship were the Admiral of the Company, Sir George Somers, Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Gates, William Strachey and other notable personages in the early history of English colonization in North America.

Third Supply

The Third Supply Mission from England to Jamestown consisted of five to six hundred people, in a fleet of eight ships, with Admiral Sir George Somers, Samuel Jordan and Sir Thomas Gates.

Virginia Company

Notable persons aboard the Sea Venture included the Admiral of the fleet, George Somers, Vice-Admiral Christopher Newport, the new governor for the Virginia Colony, Sir Thomas Gates, future author William Strachey, and businessman John Rolfe with his pregnant wife.


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