The Colonel's passion for genealogy had the conventional incentive which Edmund Burke remarked, that "People will not look forward to posterity who never look backwards to their ancestry".

¿ Nancy Corbusier Knox, "The Bermuda Connection", Bermuda Historical Quarterly, 1980

All around the world, museums and individuals possess collections of historic weaponry, for almost since the beginning of our kind, people have devised tools for defence and offence, not only for nation and country, but also for individual acts of aggression or protection.

Generally speaking, earliest implements were of stone and bone, followed by bronze and iron, and in recent times, steel. Those at the receiving end of such implements were often animals killed for food, but sometimes the weapons were turned against other people. Few such historical weapons, however, can be associated with specific acts of aggression or defence.

Thus it was with great interest that Lt. Col. William White, Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Regiment, showed me "Corbusier's Sword", possibly a family heirloom passed down the years. The cutlass was mounted on a wooden tablet, which included a sterling silver plaque. The latter was inscribed:

"Richard Swiney sunk in sorrow.

Here today and gone tomorrow"

Following attack on Henry Corbusier

6 July, 1782

Like any evidence of untoward activity, the sword itself needs a little forensic examination. It is entirely made of wrought iron and the blade would have been kept clean and oiled, thus having a silvery finish. The guard may have been painted and the grip, or handle, would probably have been covered in leather or another type of skin, held in place by wire.

What is certain is that it is a sword or cutlass of standard army or navy issue, for it bears the "King's Broad Arrow" on the guard, which is the mark of property of British forces of the day. The number 40 is stamped on the guard below the Broad Arrow, which indicates that it was one of a set of 40 or more swords on a particular ship, or at a specific fort or army installation. On the uppermost part of the blade, next to the hilt, a small crown, the letter B and a number 15, may be a "proof mark", or stamp showing that the cutlass had been tested after manufacture.

While awaiting an "axepert" opinion on the sword in Colonel White's possession, which may contradict my opinion, for the moment it would appear that the weapon could be dated to the American Revolutionary War period, which ended in 1783. In any event, it is an authentic artifact, which someone associated with an event in 1782, and it is a delight that the sword has survived into modern times.

The Philip Corbusier family arrived in Bermuda in 1718 and soon became a family of some influence and property. The Henry of interest to this story was grandson of Philip's son, Henry, who had married Miriam Maligan, whose mother was the daughter of Colonel Anthony White. Through these local family connections, Henry Corbusier, apparently born in 1749, inherited the "mansion house, garden and outbuildings" on what are now the "Orange Grove" lands opposite Whitney Institute.

In the late 1970s, Nancy Corbusier Knox, an eminent lady of Princeton, New Jersey, visited Bermuda, as had her famous grandfather, Colonel William Henry Corbusier, US Army, some 70 years before. The Colonel spent almost six weeks in Bermuda, visiting places and families associated with his Bermudian ancestors, including the sighting of a "silver coffee pot with ebony handle bearing the Corbusier coat of arms" in the home of Miss Charlotte Rees.

In his notes on his findings at Bermuda, Col. Corbusier mentions not the infamous death of Richard Swiney, perhaps considering, according to Mrs. Knox, that "this was a blot on the ancestral escutcheon, albeit a collateral blot" that should be allowed to fade.

The story is perhaps a parable of the old adage "neither a borrower, nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend", said Polonius in Shakespeare's Hamlet. In this case, over the loan of a few pieces of dining ware, an epic tragedy and death ensued.

Apparently, Henry Corbusier had lent his neighbour, Richard Swiney, some plates and glasses, which, not awaiting their return, Henry went to Richard's house and took the borrowed objects back. For some reason, Swiney became incensed and headed over to Corbusier's home with a loaded pistol, whereupon "there was a struggle and Richard Swiney was stabbed with a bayonet and died two days later", according to the Bermuda National Trust's book on Smith's Parish architecture.

Formerly, a "constable, pound keeper, assessor and church warden", Corbusier was found guilty not of murder, but "of feloniously slaining" Swiney. Perhaps nowadays, this would have been a case of self-defence. Corbusier pleaded "Benefit of Clergy", an ancient English statute by which the holy men could obtain a lesser sentence for a crime.

The regulation was later extended to any who could read and write: pity the illiterate! Corbusier apparently got off with a slap on the wrist, in the form of a hot branding iron applied to the left one. The shame, however, was such that he left Bermuda and died the following year (1783), perhaps from a broken heart at the young age of 34.

In 1804, another Corbusier left Bermuda and it was his son who became perhaps the most distinguished member of the American relatives of the Bermudian Corbusiers. Born in New York in 1844, surgeon Col. William Corbusier had several tours of duty in the American West, during which both he and his wife, Fanny Dunbar, became ethnographers of the American Indians, over some of an army career of almost 40 years. His memoirs, as well as those of his wife, were recently published as Soldier, Surgeon, Scholar and Fanny Dunbar Corbusier: Recollection of Her Army Life, 1869-1908.

The Colonel and Fanny visited Bermuda annually from 1908 to 1913 and produced journals of the trips that were primarily keyed to pursuing the genealogy of the Corbusiers. Given their studies of other native peoples, it would be interesting to read their complete observations of the Bermuda tribe in the early 20th century.

The author thanks Gordon Toby Knox of Vermont, son of the late Nancy Dunbar Corbusier Knox, for his assistance.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. This article represents his opinions and not necessarily those of persons associated with the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or by telephone to 332-5480.