according to one of the descendants, respected historian Jolene Bean.

Ms Bean is a senior lecturer of history at the Bermuda College who specialises in Bermuda history and is working on a Ph.D. in that field.

Mr. and Mrs. George Lambert were Miss Bean's great, great grandparents and she has done extensive research on the Lambert family.

According to Ms Bean there are at least two versions of the origin of the Lambert name, the name Landebert or Landebercht is a German word meaning "shining of famous land.'' The second suggest some pastoral occupation sheep rearing, hence Lambert possibly means Lamb-herd.

The earliest recording Lamberta, appears in the Doomsday Book in England 1086; however, the name is of German origin carried to England via France during the Norman Conquest in 1066. Lamberti later became Lambert.

Ms Bean wrote a book called, `The Lambert Diaspora from Westward to California and Eastward to Israel' July 1993.

The Lamberts have resided in Somerset for the past 200 years.

George Samuel Lambert was a carpenter born in 1826 and he was eight years old when slavery was abolished. The Bermuda Slave Registry of 1827 indicate that George, his mother Clarissa and father, Samuel were the property of Mrs. Jane Callaghan.

The Lambert slaves are mentioned in the Bermuda National Trust's, `Bermuda's Architectural Heritage Series, Sandy's'. "The Haven'' was the home of Captain Daniel Callaghan who died in 1811 and was survived by his widow, Rebecca.

On page 147, The Trust describes "The Haven'' as "once a grand late Georgian house of proportion, dignity and simplicity, only embellished by its splendid set of welcoming arms steps, has been sadly neglected and altered. It is a high profile example of the need for protection on such important buildings.'' George's father, Samuel was a boat caulker and Clarissa Bean, his mother, was a domestic slave to the Callaghan family.

George married Luticia Bean on July 4, 1854 at St. James Church, Somerset. He was one of the founding members of the Allen Temple AME Church, Somerset.

George and Luticia were a fairly established West End family who lived on Scaur Lane and George died September 1906.

According to the National Trust, it is thought that George's son, George Alonzo Lambert built the "Lambert House'' around 1894-5.

It was first assessed in 1897 and it sits high above the waters of Ely's Harbour on Scaur Lane.

Alonso was a carpenter and stone mason and is remembered as "being exceedingly strong and having built the walls along Sound View Road when they widened the road early in the 20th century''.

Ms Bean said: "I have been interested in history since I was in primary school. I can recall when I studied about the Mona Lisa and how excited and eager I was to learn about history in school.

Continued on page 36 The Lamberts of Somerset Continued from page 34 "I love history and have made a career out of it. Most of my free time goes to research of one kind or another.'' She did a genealogy workshop at The Bermuda College a few years ago and there was an amazing turn out. Bermuda offers excellent sources for genealogy studies. Two excellent archive sources are 19th Century Church Registers of Bermuda, indexed by Hollis Hallett and the Bermuda Index 1784-1914 Volume I and II. The Bermuda Index records births, marriages and deaths as recorded in Bermuda newspapers. Other members of the Lamberts mentioned by Ms Bean were: Augusta-Ann Lambert 1861-1939 Annie Thodosia Lambert Simons 1888-1975 Errol George Lambert 1893-1956, Ms Bean's grandfather Ottiwell and Conway Simmons are also descendants of the Lambert family.