-- Captain Francis Forbes Hinson -- and he has recently restored the work.

He found the portrait, known as a "primitive'' at a little shop in Salt Kettle in the 1950s and recently had the work "restored to perfection'', noted Mr. Burland.

The restoration, done by the Lyman Gallery in New London, took about six months added Mr. Burland, a noted Bermudian author, poet and teacher.

Capt. Hinson is a great great great grandfather of Mr. Burland's.

Capt. Hinson, who resided at Paget Island, St. George's, was born there December 12, 1776 and died in Nassau, Bahamas, on July 9, 1832 "after an illness of five days'', according to research by Mr. Burland.

The Hinson's are one of the oldest families in Bermuda. Mr. Nicholas Hinson MD, and his wife May, Nee Vaughn, were shipwrecked here in either 1612 or 1615. They were Puritans bound for Virginia.

The portrait is not only part of Burland's 40-year endeavour to document his ancestry but also serves an interesting glimpse of a ship of the day.

The painting, by an unknown artist, was created in the 1820.

"Our pictures of other captains do not show their ships,'' he said.

Mr. Burland had thought Capt. Hinson sailed a ship, painted as part of the picture's background, called The Patience -- a name which graced many vessels -- but his research now indicates that the ship in the picture is actually The Bridger Goodrich .

As well as a painting of Capt. Hinson, Mr. Burland has paintings of Captain Benjamin Darrell of Darrell's Island and his wife Martha Morgan, a descendent of Captain Henry Morgan, a governor of Jamaica.

And among his prized possessions is a map of Bermuda by Mr. Nathanial Darrell the Younger, honoured as a subject painted by Mr. Gilbert Stuart who also painted George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Unfortunately, the latter work has been lost, according to Mr. Burland.

"We do not want to lose these pieces of history so it was important to have the painting of Capt. Hinson restored,'' he added.

Mr. Burland is, however, endeavouring to sell the painting but he does not want to see the work leave the Island.

ANCESTRAL MARINER -- This 1820 painting, of Capt. Francis Forbes Hinson, differs from many portraits of that time as the artist has included the mariner's ship as well. Mr. Brian Burland, who has spent decades tracing his history, recently had the painting restored.