As the 400-year anniversary reaches its "official" close, it's useful to remember that most of the original survivors of the Sea Venture shipwreck of 1609 actually left the island on May 10, 1610.

For ten months, the 150 marooned castaways struggled together to build the two ships Patience and Deliverance that would enable them to continue their voyage to Virginia.

The actual burden of maintaining a "permanent" settlement in Bermuda was therefore taken by two unheralded passengers – named Carter and Waters – who were left behind and belatedly used to justify English rights to the island against other maritime powers.

It was only after the Sea Venture survivors reached the disastrous Virginia colony later in 1610 that they were able to appreciate the value of the relative prosperity they had enjoyed in Bermuda, making it inevitable that formal settlement would commence in 1612.

It is often convenient to overlook these kinds of details in the rush to create a predetermined sense of linear history. Indeed, it might be too late to worry about 1610 when we have already invested so much to celebrate the "accident" of 1609. So why should we bother?

One reason to differentiate the year 1610 is that we can learn a great deal from the uncelebrated status of the two original "Bermudians" that nonetheless substantiated the "political correctness" of the 400 year milestone that we have all inherited.

Both of them were deserters. And Waters was himself the murderer of one of the other Sea Venture survivors. So their "settlement" was actually a form of separatism mixed with punishment and abandonment – not necessarily a "grand design".

The main body of passengers no doubt imagined that greater fortunes would be realised on the limitless horizons of the Virginia countryside. So 1609 was actually the date of an "accidental encounter" with Bermuda.

In 1610, it became a "decision" that was initially made by runaways and subsequently re-appropriated in 1612 by a subset of adventurers from the failing Virginia Company. The rest (as they say) is "history"!

And what relevance does this have today?

As the City of Hamilton prepares to celebrate New Year's Eve 2009 with the theme "Unity in the Community", we are obliged to remind ourselves that this event was not scheduled as part of the 400 year observances – just as the first "permanent" settlement in Bermuda was not planned.

In fact, "Unity in the Community" originated nearly four decades ago to pull the dissident population back from the brink of civil abuses and/or disturbances that were far more destructive than anything we have seen in 2009.

The theme has thankfully taken on a life of its own within an organic "underground railroad" of commentators, volunteers, contributors and sufferers that now represent our best hope for a future based on "fighting with peace, not for it".

We trust this is the appropriate time and place to show our gratitude to all these stakeholders using the words of the Honourable Robert Nesta Marley, "Who the cap fit, let them wear it"!

In the meantime, we invite all those who are committed to commemorating the 400th anniversary to remember that the next part of the journey begins in 2010 – with actions, not words.

One Love Bermuda!

The Emperial Group