Husband, father, environmentalist, captain, inventor, war hero, photographer, fish whisperer, and diver, Bronson Hartley was truly an asset to Bermuda.

Though born in Brooklyn, New York, his mother brought him and his brother, Robert to Bermuda in 1930 when he was ten.

Having the usual misconception about exotic Bermuda, he was expecting to see monkeys, parrots and tropical jungles.

He did see tropical fish which led him to build (with his friend Smokey Wingood), his first diving helmet out of a paint tin at age ten.

Bronson Hartley operated the helmet diving business in Flatts Village at the Coral Island Hotel every summer, and in Nassau, Bahamas every winter till 1996.

He took thousands of ordinary visitors and locals on his undersea walks to meet and feed the fish and thus participated significantly in the development of Bermuda's tourism.

As a youth he had many adventures. He attended Warwick Academy where he participated in planting one of the giant rubber trees across the street. He built his first boat, a sixteen footer, at age 14.

While at school at Upper Canada College he stopped in at the New York aquarium.

They were amazed that a young ichthyologist could successfully bring a live Bermuda octopus to them as the vibrations on ships killed them. He had hung the container on springs.

He also had many adventures with Dr. William Beebe, who gave him his diving helmet which is on show at BUEI. As for many, childhood was put aside as the Second World War developed.

He volunteered for the US army and set his mind to pilot the crash boat.

He set up an ingenious series of bike reflectors on select reefs in Castle Harbour so he could navigate at night, at top speed, from the crash boat dock (by Longbird Bridge), through Castle Roads to the open ocean.

Bermuda was surrounded by German Submarines, but had no torpedo boats.

Captain Hartley would often be told to 'go and investigate lights off south shore', in very lightly armed vessel, loaded with aviation fuel.

A brazen approach at full speed, with spot light glaring, always sent the subs subsiding meekly.

On February 6, 1945 (When the crash boat was on slip) he swam out 200 yards, in 50 degree water, in rough seas to rescue three crewmen on a bomber that had crashed in the water late at night.

US president Truman instructed that he should be awarded the American Army Soldier's Medal for heroism not involving actual conflict with the enemy.

No general was there to order him to drive through the fence to get to the water's edge and swim out in shark infested waters to save anyone.

In 1947 he first took paying members of the public on his 'Deep Sea Diving' tour ($5.00 PP).

Within a few years he had married Martica Alberni and, with her as actress, produced, directed and filmed Mainstreet Undersea.

This was the first undersea movie ever on Kodak film, due to Bronson's invention of an under water movie housing.

First born, Chris had a quaint boat ride to the family home on Turtle Island (Angel's Island), by Devil's Hole, and his first dive at a year and a day.

By the time second born Gregory arrived, Martica had demanded a better method of getting home. Inventor Hartley built the cable car which is still in use today.

In 1958, he and his St. David island buddies added thirty inches to the hull of a surplus Liberty Launch, installed a deck and cabin and sailed it to Nassau, Bahamas.

Photos of this can be seen on the History page of www.hartleybermuda.com .

By 1962 he was remarried to Harriet Brown and was operating Hartley's Underwater Wonderland in Bermuda during the summers and Nassau in the winters.

During the boom years of tourism, Captain Hartley and his wife showed 16mm movies to seven hotels on six nights to entertain guests and inspire interest.

He was the first to capture, on film, fish 'feeding stations' and incubating eggs inside the mouth of the pearly razor fish.

His ability to tame and train fish in the wild has amazed over 125,000 visitors and has been documented by many publications.

Though he will be missed by many friends and family, his helmet diving legacy continues with his sons in Nassau and here in Somerset, Bermuda.