At a unique ceremony held in England recently to celebrate the `homecoming' of a 400-year old silver marriage cup to the Buckinghamshire County Museum, Gloria McPhee became, as she puts it, "a part of history''.

Mrs. McPhee, a member of two of Bermuda's oldest families -- the Darrells and the Tuckers -- represented her country at the reception which, through the cup, linked together three ancient families of Britain.

Together with other family guests and museum dignitaries, she witnessed the "dramatic'' unveiling, when the lights were dipped to reveal the cup in all its glory, reposing in a specially lit exhibition cabinet. Made in 1598, possibly to commemorate the marriage in England of George Tucker to Mary Darrell, the beautifully crafted Elizabethan vessel had travelled back and forth between England, Bermuda and the US before returning home to its final resting home. Its acquisition by the museum for the sum of 250,000 makes it, said Mrs. McPhee, the most valuable item in the museum which is based in Aylesbury.

As a descendent of John and Sarah Darrell who arrived in Bermuda in 1645, Mrs.

McPhee was invited by museum officials to celebrate the homecoming of the historical `Darrell-Tucker-Dayrell Cup', and to commemorate its 400th anniversary.

"I was the only representative of the family at the ceremony,'' she said, "although Bob Tucker and his wife came from the US. It was a wonderful occasion.'' During the ceremony, Mrs. McPhee was singled out, not only as a direct descendant of the Darrell family which is believed to have its roots in France (`d'Airell' of Normandy), but also as a member of Sir Henry Tucker's Cabinet.

Mrs. McPhee is related through the union of Richard Darrell (1827-1904) and Catherine (or Sarah) Keil. "I had known, through some research in the Archives, that the cup had been in Bermuda and had then been lost. By that time, I thought that I must be related to the Tuckers, through the intermarrying with the Darrells! I had read about the Darrell-Tucker Cup in our Archives which stated that `the Tuckers and Darrells would intermarry on numerous occasions as time moved forward.'' The fascinating story (referred to in promotional lectures as `The Chase and the Cup') of how the museum "snatched'' this historic cup back for Britain was set out for Mrs. McPhee by the Darrell family's historian Gordon Reed.

According to him, the Darrells and Tuckers became acquainted in around 1554, when the first George Tucker and George Darrell became involved in the Wyatt rebellion. The fourth George Tucker, a Royalist who had seen his cause defeated in the Civil War, had subsequently emigrated to Bermuda in 1649, taking the cup with him. One of his sons returned it to England in or around 1674 and the cup remained at Lillingstone Dayrell (another branch of the family whose name was spelt `Day-rell') and then in Padbury, Buckinghamshire, until the cup passed out of the family when Capt. Edmund Marmaduke Dayrell sold his estate -- and the cup -- in 1888.

This beautiful example of Elizabethan silver was then sold through auction houses to a variety of owners -- including the composer Jerome Kern -- until it was acquired, once again, by a Bermudian descendant of the family, Sir Henry Tucker, who became the Island's Premier in 1968. At his death, it was bequeathed to his grandson who lived in the US and who sold it in 1997.

Finally, through the financial assistance of family members and such organisations as the Victoria & Albert Museum and the National Art Collections Fund, the cup returned home exactly 400 years after it had been made -- and some 11 years before the shipwreck of The Sea Venture led to the settlement of Bermuda.

McPhee's family ties Described as 15 inches high and weighing approximately 26 ounces, the cup is surmounted with a small figure of Venus (thus denoting it as a marriage cup), and bears the shields of the Darrell and Tucker arms.

Mrs. McPhee's interest in her family connections was piqued when she read an article in the Mid Ocean News by Owen Darrell preceding a service of re-dedication of a Darrell monument that was to take place in Little Chart, Kent, in 1996. "The original church, the north chancel of which had belonged to the Darrell family, had been destroyed by a flying bomb in 1944,'' explained Mrs. McPhee. "The monument depicted John Darrell who had died in 1618, and his wife Ann who was the daughter of the Bishop of Winchester.

Pamela and Owen Darrell and I were the only ones from Bermuda who travelled over to England for this historic service. That was the first time I met my English relatives! I enjoyed their company, and friendliness, after the service, over lunch in the village pub.'' It was there that she met for the first time, another family member, Rosamond Belfrage, who lives in the UK and is brother of Bermudian writer Brian Burland.

Mrs. McPhee, who was awarded the OBE in 1995, served as Minister of Health and Social Services (1968-72), Minister of Education and Libraries (1972-76) and as Minister of Planning, Housing and the Environment from 1979-80, when she resigned from party politics.

GLORIA McPHEE -- As a descendent of John and Sarah Darrell who arrived in Bermuda in 1645, Mrs. McPhee was invited by museum officials to celebrate the homecoming of the historical `Darrell-Tucker-Dayrell Cup', and to commemorate its 400th anniversary.

A FAMILY OCCASION -- During the unveiling ceremony of the Darrell-Tucker-Dayrell Cup at the Buckinghamshire County Museum, Mrs. Gloria McPhee (right) gets reacquainted with Rosamond Burland Belfrage, another member of the Darrell family who now lives in England. In the background is the 400-year old silver marriage cup.