CONTINUING on the theme I initiated in last week's ? in which I posed the question, "Who liberated Bermuda?" ? I would be remiss indeed if I did not include a person on whose shoulders it could be argued the current Government sits.

I speak, of course, of Dame Lois Browne Evans. Political trail-blazer, a leader in furthering the professional prospects of women in Bermudian society, legendary defence lawyer and the island's first female Attorney General . . . it is hard to imagine modern Bermuda without her.

There are few in this community who have not been directly or indirectly impacted by her ? and I include myself among that number from my early days working in the Progressive Labour Party in the 1960s and '70s. In so many ways she was, in fact, the political den mother of young PLP supporters at the time.

She was every bit the pioneer both politically and professionally. The first woman lawyer in Bermuda and the first female leader of a major political party in Bermuda, she made her greatest mark on the community as a towering figure in Parliament, spending more than 30 years as an MP ? retiring at the end of the first PLP term as Government.

But as has been chronicled in Randolf Williams' landmark biography , we as a country almost didn't have the benefit of her guidance in Bermuda's political affairs.

It was not at all clear that she would return to her homeland after completing her legal training in Britain. Bermuda had proved to be a passive, slow-moving society when it came to political change and, to make matters even worse for a young Lois Browne, the black majority in Bermuda did not seem to be all that interested in fighting for reform in their country ? the very people who had the most to gain.

It was much more interesting to be around the many friends she made during her schooling in England. They were not just talking about political reform in their countries, but struggling for self-determination and sovereign Independence, issues that had not even been broached in Bermuda at the time, let alone thought to be desired goals for this British colony.

However, she did return to Bermuda just in time to witness the advent of the franchise movement. But she still had her doubts as to whether Bermuda's black majority were willing to fight for their rights. Although she spoke at the early meetings held by the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage, she was soon off to Nigeria to witness that country gaining its Independence. It was during those Independence celebrations that the ideal of Independence for Bermuda was indelibly stamped on her mind.

Simultaneously, in Rio Richardson's garage near Serpentine Road, the idea of the formation of a populist Bermudian political party was conceived. The men behind what would eventually emerge as the Progressive Labour Party became leading lights in the political struggles that lay ahead. They included Mr. Richardson, Walter Robinson, Dilton Cann, Austin Wilson, Edward (Eddie) deJean, Peter Smith and Wilfred (Mose) Allen.

It was Mose Allen who had the greatest influence over Lois Browne Evans, encouraging her to join the fledgling PLP. One of her greatest political triumphs was among her earliest. In 1959 she would defeat of one of her greatest political foes, a leading light of the Front Street establishment, Sir Bayard Dill, who held the Parliamentary seat in Devonshire North. On that occasion she topped the polls, gaining 81 per cent of the vote, something she would do consistently throughout the time she contested the constituency for the PLP.

Lois Browne Evans was a very strong leader and speaker who rarely, if at all, minced her words. Of course her forthrightness would often get her into controversy. One of her most famous (or infamous) statements, depending on where you stood, was her so-called "fornicating in the bushes" remark.

The year was 1968. The first General Election under the new two-party, Westminster-style Constitution was fast approaching. At a meeting at the Devonshire Recreation Club the subject of a health scheme initiated by the then-Government ? made up of a coalition of technically independent MPs who formed the core of the new United Bermuda Party ? was addressed. Lois Browne Evans had criticised that scheme and, in particular, the medical officer in charge of it ? Dr. Simon Frazer.

Frazer had already engendered the suspicions of the black community when, ten years earlier, he had encouraged the Government to sterilise unwed pregnant girls, black of course. In the heat of the political meeting, Lois Browne Evans encouraged young men not to get involved with drugs and to attend political rallies, adding that she did not care if they "fornicated in the bushes" for at least that would mean that more Bermudians would be born.

Of course, this statement caused an uproar and the media had a field day and her political detractors, for years afterwards, in Letters to the Editor and public statements never let her forget her remarks.

As I have stated, Dame Lois Browne Evans was a tough leader and though some males (including a number of PLP MPs) clearly had an issue with her gender, I was never one of them. I admired her for her toughness and I remember one particular occasion in the aftermath of yet another bitter PLP defeat at the polls.

There were tears all round, even some of the male PLP politicians were crying, but not Lois Browne Evans. I remember her statement: "I have no time to cry, I will continue the fight."

I remember my own initiation into the whys and wherefores of the new political process, a teaching experience conducted by Dame Lois Browne Evans. At the time I belonged to a very militant PLP youth wing. We young people were convinced that most of our political leaders, at best,were sell-outs and, at worst, weaklings and could never lead Bermuda to liberation.

We had concocted a plan where we would seize the ballot boxes from an upcoming Corporation of Hamilton election, which still had a limited voters' roll and closed meetings. Well, the PLP got wind of our plan and was very concerned, but we saw off every male representative who was sent to talk us out of our scheme.

And then Dame Lois Browne Evans made her appearance. If she had a hidden stick we did not see it but it certainly felt like we were getting some licks. She said if we thought that just because she was a lawyer, she would appear in court on our behalf, we were going to be sadly disillusioned and, further, she had no intention of telling our mothers why we were sitting up in jail ? which clearly would have happened if we carried through with our plan.

We were than treated to the sternest of lecture, the likes of which I have never experienced before or since. We were told that she and the PLP had no intention of winning the Government of this country by any other means except the democratic process and then we were told exactly what that meant. Needless to say, our little plan was quietly put aside and that was the end of that. What Dame Lois Browne Evans never gets credit for from her detractors is the fact she always stood on principle and always adhered to the rules of the political and legal process. One case she took on got her into a lot of trouble with her political support base.

represented a white South African couple who were taken to court by their black nanny. Many thought she should not have defended the South African couple against a black woman, especially when apartheid was still well alive in the South Africa of the day. She argued that everybody deserved a legal defence.

The biggest conflict during her leadership of the PLP occurred in the mid-1980s when a dissident revolt led to a big split in the party and the loss of many seats in Parliament. I remember during those times I approached her and suggested that she should not step down but call a leadership vote which I was convinced she would still win hands down.

That was not the way things went. The split was too deep and as a result we saw the formation of the National Liberal Party. She left the leadership of the PLP but not before seeing into office her handpicked successor, Mr. L. Frederick Wade.