A Black-owned business that prevailed through adversity in Bermuda’s days of racial segregation marks its anniversary today in Southampton.

The family-run petrol station opened today in 1958 only after Reginald Raynor Sr and his wife, Lucetta, took their case to the Supreme Court after the Government had denied their application to open the business.

White owners of a station nearby had been approved, even though their application went through after the Raynors’ one — and so the Government’s claim that it would not be appropriate to have two gas stations in the same area did not add up to the couple.

The Raynors took their case to court and with the help of a lawyer known as Edward T. Richards — later to become the first Black head of the Bermuda Government — they won.

Dennis Tucker, a young pupil at Purvis Primary School in Warwick, keenly remembers the day an elated Ms Raynor, who was his teacher, told a school assembly that the family had finally prevailed in their legal battle.

“I vividly remember her delight that her husband had finally got his permit to open a gas station there,” said Mr Tucker, who has been a regular customer.

“They had tried for years to get permission. I was relatively young, but the significance is something I remember and her joy when she made that announcement.”

Sixty-five years on, Raynor's Rubis Service Station, at 217 Middle Road in Southampton, will celebrate the milestone throughout today offering cake and special offers in the shop, with a chance for those buying fuel to win Rubis vouchers.

Reginald Raynor Jr, the proprietor of the business, is commemorating his parents’ victory down to the minute.

The station opens as usual at 7am, but will close early at 3pm and reopen at 5pm for refreshments followed by speeches up to 6.30pm, which is the time the business officially opened back in 1958.

Mr Tucker will be among those sharing memories, he said.

He grew up in Warwick but moved to Southampton 40 years ago and has spent decades calling on the Raynors.

“I’m incredibly pleased and very happy for them,” Mr Tucker said. “I look forward to stopping by there and having a piece of cake.”