The history of The Aeolian Hall is probably one of the most difficult articles I have written. Difficult because the building has long been demolished and no living person seems to know who built it and for what purpose — but, by all accounts, it was for many years the hub of the Black community in North Hamilton.

How I wish I had asked my dear friend Brownlow Place, who would have known all about its history. Instead, I had to seek bits and pieces of information from 27 seniors, and numerous newspaper articles and advertisements. This should remind us to retrieve the history of Bermuda and our family while our seniors are still competent to remember.

Recently, three enthusiastic seniors recalled the joys of attending movies at The Aeolian Hall in the era of racially segregated theatres, which thankfully was brought to a screeching halt after the Theatre Boycott of 1959.

In the beginning, I thought it was just a movie theatre until I investigated further and discovered that The Aeolian Hall in Hamilton was a very important community centre from the 1920s to the 1960s. However, a 1924 Royal Gazette article mentioned another Aeolian Hall in St David’s near the lighthouse landing, which held a memorial service for the five St David’s men who lost their lives during the war. It remains unknown whether the two buildings were connected.

The Aeolian Hall in Hamilton ran from Angle Street to Elliott Street. It was a large building opposite what is now the Sammy Wilson Central Zone Community Centre near Dellwood Middle School. Somehow, it had been forgotten until I mentioned in a recent article that E.F Gordon, E.T Richards and Tyril Royer went there to play contract bridge. More recently I learnt that a Mr Monteith was a part of the group. These men were originally from the West Indies, where contract bridge and bid whist were frequently played.

It is unknown exactly when The Aeolian Hall was built, but it is believed that Thaddeus George Robinson, who died in December 1944 at the age of 51, had much to do with it. He was the son of Richard Lumley Robinson, described as a shopkeeper, and Sarah Duerden Robinson, daughter of a merchant.

Thaddeus Robinson, often called “Teddy”, was very supportive and involved in fundraising for The Sunshine League, Bermuda’s first locally established social welfare society established in 1919. He was an accomplished vocalist who performed throughout the island.

It is possible that he selected the name “Aeolian” after the Ancient Greek god Aeolus — “god and keeper of the winds” — or more likely from the name of the Aeolian Hall built on 42nd Street, in New York, in 1912 and described as a building without precedence.

The local Aeolian Hall held 250 people and over the years there are newspaper reports of various activities from theatrical events to tea parties to dances to meetings to boxing matches and movies. Advertisements after 1931 mentioned that it was near the Stadium Train Station. Trains were first introduced to Bermuda in that year.

The Aeolian Hall is first mentioned in a March 1923 edition of The Royal Gazette when the celebrated American violinist Ruby Gerard performed there.

In 1925, founding members of the Bermuda Recorder started the Union Printing. A.B. Place, Henry Hughes, David Augustus, Joaquin Martin and James Rubaine pooled £750 to start a printing business and the Recorder newspaper in The Aeolian Hall owned by Teddy Robinson. Mr Robinson then had a small building constructed next door especially to house the Union Printing. The Recorder later moved to its own building on Court Street in 1938.

In 1926, the Hall was filled to capacity for a meeting of Hamilton residents of the Bermuda Contingent Royal Garrison Artillery. Many had served in France and Belgium from June 1916 to Armistice Day in 1918. Their main function had been to provide the vital function of ammunition handling. This contingent comprised the Bermuda Militia Artillery formed in 1895 to augment the Regular Army Gunners manning coastal batteries in Bermuda. In that same year, The Salvation Army Hamilton Corps used the Hall for Bible classes.

The Bermuda Recorder of 1935 reported a meeting to elect officers for Young Men’s Social Club at its new clubhouse — an apartment in The Aeolian Hall complex. John G. Bassett, a successful businessman and political activist, was elected president. He will be remembered always for successfully protesting against a legislative Bill that would have mandated sterilisation for mentally challenged persons and men who had more than one child out of wedlock.

The Bermuda Union of Teachers, founded in 1919, held meetings there and in 1939 hosted a formal gala. The respected Rosalind Robinson described those who attended as educators in their mid-twenties at the vanguard of educational reform in Bermuda.

Renowned Bermudian actor the late Earl Cameron was 99 in 2007 when interviewed by The Royal Gazette recalled that his first experience with theatre was when his sister took him to see a silent movie at The Aeolian Hall. She was very involved in theatre and encouraged him join her, but at that time he was far too shy.

Around 1934, Sammy Burnham, described as the original Bermuda playboy, opened a theatrical school in The Aeolian. For 10/- (ten shillings) a month, you could learn ballroom, tap, soft shoe, waltz, and buck and wing dancing.

Buck and wing was a 19th-century American folk dance that merged African footwork with Irish clogging. This later developed into modern tap dancing.

Before Sammy’s return to Bermuda, he topped the bill in the United States and Canada with his act, which was billed as Burnham, Harris and Scott.

Sylvia Courtney, who is well into her nineties, remembered attending dances at The Aeolian. She described entering a very large building with a dance hall. They were wonderful events that featured an orchestra, quite often led by Ernie Leader or Lance Hayward and others. Because she was still a teenager, there were few places her parents would allow her to go. She was allowed to visit The Aeolian only if her brother was in attendance, and so off they went with her two aunts on their bicycles and torches (flashlights), dressed in all their finery to cycle from Southampton to Angle Street. The entrance fee was between 1/6 to 2/- (one shilling and sixpence to two shillings). There were hard wooden chairs around the room and refreshments on sale. She could not afford the “refreshments”, so she simply enjoyed the camaraderie, music and dancing.

Many others seniors recalled their parents telling them of the days of courting when the young man would arrive at the parents’ home dressed to perfection on his bicycle and transport his similarity well-attired girlfriend on the crossbar.

Billy Young, who is in his early nineties, was able to describe the late 1930s to early 1940s when he went to The Aeolian or “Gene Autry’s Horse Stable”, as it was commonly called. This was the highlight of young people’s week. They lined up outside the theatre with as much discipline as young boys could. There was a ticket booth, but no ushers or refreshment area and you just rushed to get your preferred seat. It was a large, darkened room filled with noisy young people. It had regular theatre seating with a balcony that reminded him of balconies found in churches. He seemed to remember it cost six pence for regular seating but balcony seats cost more. Some boys would sneak around the back, climb in the window of the men’s bathroom and assimilate into the darkness.

Wentworth Christopher, who also attended these matinees, described the location of this bathroom as being on the south side of the screen on the Elliott Street side. He also added that one of the reasons for naming the theatre “Gene Autry’s Horse Stable” was not just because western movies were shown there, but also because of the smell emanating from the men’s lavatory.

There were matinees and evening shows, and often Stuart Trott, the dreaded truant officer, hid behind the walls of Dellwood School to catch boys who had been delinquent in school attendance during the week.

Everyone loved Gene Autry and Dale Evans, Hopalong Cassidy and the Rainbow Kid, and Harry Monks, who owned and managed the theatre, was fondly remembered. The shows always began with news or cartoons, followed by a serial and then the main movie, which was always a western greeted by loud, cheering young people.

In 1944, Mr Monks purchased Teucer House on Cedar Avenue. During the summer months, he opened The Garden Theatre, which was located outside on the lawn of the home and overlooked Bernard Park. According to Billy Young, the mosquitoes in that area did not always make for a pleasant experience. Most of the evening was spent scratching, slapping and fanning them away.

When Mr Monks was interviewed in 1976 by The Royal Gazette, he stated that he had arrived in Bermuda in 1921 from Wolverhampton, England, with his wife and three children. He knew of someone working in Bermuda, decided to move here and secured a job at Bluck’s. As a boy, he had worked with his father making locks and keys, and later worked in factories and shipyards in England. Using these skills, he was able to leave Bluck’s and by 1923 he opened his own business on Front Street, specialising in repairing all types of machinery. In 1926, he sold to Arthur Childs and moved to the United States.

The Monkses arrived in America just at the end of the silent movie era, when sound was being incorporated into the movie industry. He worked for two years in radio before accepting the challenge of building a sound system to emit 54 music selections for the film Simba. His success led him to travel throughout America, setting up and training operators. He was then asked to provide musical accompaniment for the first six Walt Disney cartoons and travelled to London to help supervise the installation of talkie equipment in previously silent films.

Harry Monks returned to Bermuda in 1935, finding employment in various movie theatres until 1939 when he went into business on his own and signed a contract with MGM to supply movies to the island. Although he was a White man, The Aeolian Hall Theatre under his management was never segregated and was the first to benefit from movies with sound, including all the latest films.

With the assistance of three technicians, his wife and children, he began to show movies on screens erected outdoors throughout the island until 1943 when he sold the rights to the Bermuda General Theatre.

In 1954, Mr Monks was the senior sound technician for Atlantic Film, which had leased Darrell’s Island for the production of a movie. The film studio was established in the converted flying boat hangar, and it was thought that this would boost tourism after the Second World War. The Darrell’s Island site closed in 1958.

Many will wonder what happened to the iconic Aeolian Hall that brought so much joy to generations within the Black community.

It was sold in 1951, renovated and leased to the Bermuda Sports Club group, which changed the name to The Globe Theatre. Many community activities occurred there and a few men recall the six pool tables.

From 1956 to 1966, The Aeolian had several owners, but, sadly, sometime in the early 1980s, it was demolished — another important landmark in North Hamilton gone, except for the memories of a few.

• Cecille Snaith-Simmons is a retired nurse, historian, writer and author of The Bermuda Cookbook. With thanks to Keith Caesar, of the Bermuda Archives, and the 27 seniors who assisted with information-gathering in the writing of this article. I especially thank my ever-present and encouraging research partners Linda Abend, Dale Butler and Lionel Simmons

References (not included within the article)

Bermuda Times (1995)

Rays of Hope (Carol D. Hill, 2000)

Bermuda: Our People, Our Story Vol II (2003)

19th Century Church Registers (2005)

Bermuda National Trust Heritage Series – Pembroke (2017)