Feverishly Fast Ships and Bermuda’s Deadliest Summer
From the earliest days of the colony, yellow fever periodically arrived in Bermuda aboard ships travelling between the Caribbean, North America and Europe, and for generations islanders were haunted by fear of its eventual return.
Ironically, one of the developments in the shipping industry that brought much prosperity to the island during the nineteenth century also made the transmission of disease far more dangerous.
Improvements in maritime travel meant that ships could reach Bermuda more quickly than ever before. Infected passengers and crew who might once have fallen ill during a lengthy ocean voyage were now arriving before symptoms developed. Diseases that had previously burned themselves out at sea were suddenly reaching the island’s shores with devastating consequences.
Shockingly, the yellow fever outbreak of 1853 was one of the greatest public health disasters in Bermuda’s history, resulting in 767 deaths—almost twelve per cent of the island’s population.
No one was spared. Civilians, government officials and members of the British military all fell victim to the fever.
The British garrison suffered particularly heavy losses. Newly arrived soldiers had no acquired immunity and lived in crowded barracks where disease spread rapidly. Hospitals and military facilities throughout the island quickly became overwhelmed as cases mounted.
At the time, Victorian physicians believed that overcrowding, poor ventilation and unhealthy air were largely responsible for the disease. They had no idea that yellow fever was actually transmitted by mosquitoes—a discovery that would not be made until the end of the century.
Desperate to protect their troops, military authorities made an unusual decision. Rather than confining soldiers to their barracks, entire regiments were moved into isolated tent encampments at Ferry Reach and on various islands in the Great Sound.
The result was extraordinary.
A literal tent city sprang up at Ferry Reach. Hundreds of canvas bell tents covered the hillside, providing sleeping quarters, field hospitals, kitchens, administrative buildings and latrines. Soldiers lived, ate and recovered in the open air, far removed from the crowded military installations elsewhere on the island.
Although no one understood it at the time, this strategy proved remarkably effective. Modern medical science tells us that yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes. By moving soldiers into breezy, isolated locations and reducing overcrowding, military authorities had inadvertently adopted one of the most successful disease-control measures available to them.
Not everyone was so fortunate. More than fifty officers and men of the 2nd Queen’s Royal Regiment died at Ferry Reach during the epidemic, and many are buried there today—silent witnesses to one of Bermuda’s darkest chapters.
The yellow fever epidemics also left a permanent mark on the Town of St. George. The devastating loss of life pushed St. Peter’s Churchyard beyond its practical capacity and it was permanently closed to new burials in 1854.
The legacy of yellow fever extended far beyond the tragic loss of life. The epidemics of the 1850s helped shape Bermuda’s approach to public health, military medicine, sanitation and quarantine practices for the remainder of the nineteenth century.
See this location come to life: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xsFBYXQNiW0
Learn more about touring Bermuda: Best Bermuda Shore Excursions – Bermuda Heritage Tours