the Robinson family played an important role in Hamilton's growth.

Developers of the Front Street Emporium, the Arcade on Burnaby Street and several premises in the area of Court and Victoria Streets, the family descended from David Robinson, a free black Bermudian and ship's carpenter.

His son, David Jr., established the Hamilton Bakery on Angle Street in 1855.

In 1871, he and his son, Samuel David, bought land on the corner of Princess and Dundonald Street, erected a building and reopened the bakery on the ground floor. In 1914, it was one of the first Island businesses to receive electricity.

Besides the bakery, Samuel David Robinson was also a wholesale merchant, dealing in groceries, oilmen's stores, and coal. Known as David, he bought land on Burnaby Street in 1876, where he erected the Arcade and which now houses the Jackson School of Dance among other companies. Known as David, he ran several businesses from that location including a furniture store, a dry goods store called the Stylerite where ladies came to buy the latest fashions, and a music store which sold instruments and sheet music. He also owned land with a tennis court where Bull's Head carpark is now located.

In 1881, he bought more land on Princess Street and erected an eight-apartment building, the Victoria Terrace. So admired was the design of the building that, in 1920, it was described by The Mid-Ocean News as "one of the finest -- perhaps the finest range of dwellings to be found in the City of Hamilton.'' It stands today, still owned by the Robinson family.

A longserving member in the Parish Vestry of Pembroke, Mr. Robinson was the first black member of the Corporation of Hamilton, spending 14 years as a member of the Common Council. Much respected and very interested in education, he was instrumental in establishing the Berkeley Institute.

The five-storey Emporium, which for many years was the tallest building on Front Street, was built by Joseph Henry Robinson, one of Samuel David's brothers, in 1890. A department store, it sold everything from clothing to candies and pianos.

Known as Henry, his father owned a row of shops along Court Street of which he developed the southern portion for commercial use. He also built the three-storey Hotel New York -- a rooming house for single men -- on Victoria Street.

Two of Henry's sons, Joseph Henry and Charles Sylvester, were also merchants.

Joseph Henry sold shoes but also owned the Court Street Variety Store at Court and Dundonald Streets as well as a wholesale candy business. Charles sold dry goods.

Henry's youngest son, Wilfred, worked with his brother Joseph in the candy business and eventually managed all the property his father owned.

Thompson Robinson was David's eldest son. He built a large multi-tenant building at the corner of King and Dundonald Streets which stands as a warehouse today.

Bermuda society owes much to the efforts of Agnes May Robinson, one of Samuel David's six daughters who founded the Sunshine League, Bermuda's first welfare organisation in 1919.

According to her niece, Carol Hill, "Most of the women in the family were very socially conscious. They spent most of their time trying to do things to better things, especially for young boys in Bermuda. It didn't start as a nursery, although that was the aim of (Mrs. Robinson and Etta Jones).

"They would go to sheds on Front Street because they knew that there were boys living under them who would steal the produce merchants brought in. They would get the young boys and bring them up to Crisson's Hill (today the site of the Government clinic on Victoria Street) and teach them to read and write.

When it became too cold, they moved to a doctor's office at night. It was not until ten years later that (the Sunshine League) opened as a day nursery and then a children's home.'' Agnes May Robinson Samuel David Robinson GOVERNMENT GVT 100 YEARS ANNIVERSARY ANN