Smith?s is more than just a parish to drive through on your way to Hamilton as revealed by an excellent, new volume by the Bermuda National Trust (BNT).

?Smith?s Parish?, the fifth volume in BNT?s Bermuda Architectural Heritage series, is a captivating read ? quite literally because every time it fell into the hands of another reader they did not want to give the book back.

Before I could even read it, the book was snatched from my desk and a second copy from the BNT had to be rushed through so I could meet this deadline.

Perhaps the reason people did not want to give it back once they started to read it is because the parish books are a traditional Christmas gift and people are used to getting their own copies.

However, despite its December release, it still deserves to be taken off the bookshelf well into the New Year.

What must be noted is that ?Smith?s Parish? is not a dry, jargon-filled bore. It?s just the opposite: A lively, quick read.

It also looks good.

There are hardly any pages of plain text in it and the reader?s eye is drawn towards illustrations, separate boxes of text, maps, architectural plans, old newspaper articles and advertisements as well as inventories, academics, oral histories and old journals to look back in time.

However, despite the book?s attractive editing I think the word perfect research and perfect story-telling powers are its real strengths.

No less than 15 researchers volunteered years of their lives to examine the hidden history of every home in Smith?s.

All of the work that went into it translates into a book that is destined to be enjoyed by both primary students or professional historians, locals or visitors, residents or people from outside the parish.

There are numerous stories contained in the book, too many to mention, but certain gems include the history of Verdmont on Collector?s Hill.

For instance, the last resident of Verdmont, Lillian Wood Joell, cooked on a kerosene stove in the dining room, pumped water by hand from the outside tank and used oil lamps and candles.

?She walked to Hamilton where she worked for 45 years in a law firm, known as the beginning of the 21st century as Appleby, Spurling and Kempe,? it said.

Verdmont literally started the BNT, as it was sold to the Bermuda Monuments Trust in 1937 which became BNT in 1969.

The sad history of slavery is not ignored but examined in full detail.

Part of this sad history includes that the bodies of executed slaves who planned to murder, or succeeded in murdering, their masters who were left to rot on Gibbet Island.

?Often the body was quartered so that it could go on more widespread display on different parts of the Island,? it said.

Gibbet Island is now part of the property of 28-acre Magnolia Hall.

Interestingly, it said an owner of Magnolia Hall, Francis Peniston (circa 1770-1854), was reputed to be the father of businessman John Henry Jackson (1822-1897), whose great-great grandsons are Premier Alex Scott and former BNT president Wayne Jackson.

It also pays homage to the successful black merchant family and property owner Clarence Orester Darrell (1859-1922) of Flatts Hill.

Have you ever wondered what the tower is on Town Hill, the highest point of land in Bermuda?

It is a Folly Tower built in 1908 as a tourist attraction by Henry James Zuill, but is now used as a telecommunications tower.

Or did you know that the landmark Deepdene Manor footbridge on Harrington Sound Road that often gets struck by tall trucks today was built around 1929 or that Devil?s Hole aquarium opened in 1843 as the Island?s first tourist attraction?

Or that 60-acre Spittal Pond, earlier known as Peniston?s Pond, remains owned partly by the BNT and partly by Government which had a rifle club in 1887?

The history of the Island?s churches and schools is explored. Black chief mason Julian Tucker built the gothic tower of St. Mark?s on South Shore Road in 1877 and Whitney Institute and its tower opened in 1884 with just 17 students.

Overall, ?Smith?s Parish? is a very good addition under any Christmas tree and should be enjoyed by every generation ? but its best to get your copy and never lend it out.