the Berkeley Institute. According to Dame Marjorie, the Jamaican-born principal treated students as if they were members of his own family, instilling them with the desire to advance both academically and spiritually.

"Mr. DaCosta was a very fatherly principal and also a lay-preacher in the Anglican church,'' she said. "He seemed to regard his students as if they were members of his own family. He was a man of principle and tried to inspire students to be ladies and gentlemen and to be aware of their responsibilities not only to themselves and to their families, but to their race and to Bermuda. He was very interested in all of us. "When I finished college at Wilberforce University, I went to the school to see him and he told me how he was very proud of my success; that I had now entered the realm of grownups. He then asked if I played bridge and said that I must come to his house to play bridge. At the time, Mr. DaCosta represented the epitome of social standing in Bermuda and for him to even think of inviting me to his house was a major sign of acceptance.'' A handsome man, Mr. DaCosta became very popular with the student body. According to Dame Marjorie, his unique brand of humour was appreciated by all as were the lessons he taught which continued to prove A legend is remembered about the standard of public behaviour he expected from his students. One incident occurred as he was walking to school one day and noticed a girl walking with a boy who was riding his bicycle beside her. Mr. DaCosta scolded the boy for the lack of proper courtesy he had shown towards the girl. He felt that the boy should have exercised courtesy by walking beside the girl instead of riding his cycle. He could be very impatient with stupidity that was ill-advised or unaccepted. He was always on the head of George Browne, one of the students, because of his lack of appreciation for the civilities of life.

"Another personal recollection I have is of one day while I was walking up the staircase to go to class. In those days we didn't wear uniforms and I had on a very long dress which was the new style then. It came down to my ankles.

I was the youngest student. I was 11 years old and they used to call me `Baby'. Mr. DaCosta was nearing the stairs at the same time I was and smiled and said, `Why look at the baby. She thinks she's a woman now.' He had quite a sense of humour.'' Her most vivid recollection of the man who helped open the doors to the Berkeley Institute 100 years ago, said Dame Marjorie, was of him walking to the school in the middle of a downpour without a rainhat. "When it was commented on, his argument was that his health was at less risk with no hat on his head in the rain than with one on it. One can only suppose that he felt that a damp leather hat wouldn't do him any good.'' Although uncertain as to which subjects the famed principal actually taught, Dame Marjorie said she will never forget his odd habits or the concern he had for every one of his students. "I think he taught Maths and Scripture, but I can't be sure,'' she said. "What I do remember is never seeing him standing as a teacher. He always had a strange habit of sitting at his desk and knocking his knees together as he spoke to us or concentrated on his work. "At that time the Cambridge `O' levels were not held in school, they were held in town at the Masonic Hall. And we all appreciated how, after we had sat our exams, we would go back to school and he would have a session with us to see what we had written. He expected a lot from us.'' PHOTO The school's first principal, George A. DaCosta Dame Marjorie Bean studied under Mr. DaCosta MINI SUPPLEMENT SUP