A commemoration of the 240th anniversary of the Bermuda Gunpowder Plot will begin next week with three different ceremonies in Southampton and St Georges.

More than 50 members of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and the Children of the American Revolution (CAR) will travel to the Island to celebrate Bermuda’s role in the American Revolution.

The ceremonies will start at Port Royal Golf Course on Friday, August 14 at 4.30pm with a dedication of a DAR-SAR-CAR historical marker honouring Thomas and St George Tucker.

The pair separately informed leaders of the American cause that the lightly guarded magazine in Bermuda contained about 100 barrels of gunpowder. With that intelligence, Benjamin Franklin and others in Philadelphia were able to convince a few Bermudians to appropriate the gunpowder and have it loaded on American ships waiting off of Tobacco Bay.

In exchange, the Bermudians received a partial exemption from the Continental Congress’s trade embargo, which would allow Bermuda to continue receiving the American farm products on which islanders depended.

The second and third ceremonies will take place on Saturday, August 15 at 4.45pm in St George’s Town Square where there will be an re-enactment of one of the events leading up to the theft of the gunpowder.

The group and members of the public will then walk up the hill, past the Unfinished Church and dedicate a DAR-SAR-CAR historical marker near the site of the Gunpowder Magazine, followed by another re-enactment of the barrels rolling down the hill toward Tobacco Bay Beach at 6pm.

The events will conclude with a party at the beach for tourists and locals featuring Revolutionary War-themed specials.

The groups have sold commemorative pins, raising over $4,000 to help “pay Bermuda back” for the stolen gunpowder. They will donate the monies to the Bermuda National Trust, the St George’s Foundation, the Friends of St Peter’s Church, the Family Centre, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Bermuda.