AS celebrations surrounding the 400th anniversary of human habitation of Bermuda begins this month, one of the island's prominent historians hopes that the island's founder will be duly highlighted.

Owen H. Darrell, the author of Sir George Somers Links Bermuda with Lyme Regis (second edition), believes that: "We should celebrate lots of things over the course of the year but on July 28th marks four hundred years since the wreck of the Sea Venture and the beginning of our history as a settled country".

The 19-page booklet, printed at Mr. Darrell's expense, was meticulously researched over a 15-year period where he poured through the wills of Sir George's extended family as well as vessel listings, financial records, documentary accounts, buccaneering expeditions, memorial tablets and sonnets.

His research uncovered that Bermuda's founding father had a dual personality of sorts, separating the seaman and a gentleman who was the Mayor of his hometown of Lyme Regis, which since 1996 is the twin city of St. George. According to Reverend Thomas Fuller of Aldwinkle St. Peter, Sir George was "a lamb on the land, so patient that few could anger him and (as if entering a ship he had assumed a new nature) a lion at sea, so passionate that few could please him".

Mr. Darrell's research also revealed that of the nine ships that comprised the fateful voyage from Plymouth destined for the New World, Sir George may have owned two of them. Surpassing the fortunes of his predecessors, Sir George had amassed considerable wealth for his time, which some deduce to be from pilfered Spanish treasure and gold after successful buccaneering voyages.

On July 23, 1603, Bermuda's founder was knighted at Whitehall and from his research Mr. Darrell found that an ancestor of his, Sir Marmaduke Darrell, was knighted the day after Sir George at Whitehall. Both being men of the sea and members of Court, these two surely must have known each other.

Mr. Darrell's familial presence in Bermuda dates back to 1645, a mere 36 years after Sir George and the Sea Venture company were wrecked on Bermuda's reef. Having been a history buff since his university days when he was an elected Bermuda Rhodes Scholar for 1940, learning more about Sir George translated into learning more about his family.

Mr. Darrell hopes that his research into Bermuda's founder will help Bermudians and visitors alike learn more about the history of the island and help enrich the upcoming 2009 festivities.

"I hope that people will use the booklet as a historical fact to help celebrate the 400th anniversary," he said.

The booklet, Sir George Somers Links Bermuda with Lyme Regis, is on sale at the World Heritage Centre in St. George and costs $5 per copy. All the proceeds go to the St. George's Foundation.