There was an unusual reunion at the Bermuda National Gallery last week when a group of Bermudians posed with a self-portrait of their illustrious ancestor Thomas Driver.

Family members that stretched from four through seven generations assembled with the picture that the artist painted of himself in 1822 -- and then sent to his mother back in England.

Unusually for artists of the time, Driver spent about 20 years in Bermuda and, although there is no record of his ever having married, he left both black and white children behind.

Mrs. Betty Kawaley, great-great-great granddaughter of the English artist whose watercolours and lithographs of early 19th century Bermuda form an intrinsic part of the Island's cultural and historical heritage, said that Driver arrived in Bermuda in 1814.

"His name appeared on the baptismal records as the father of Althea Frances Driver, the result of a union between an unnamed woman of colour.'' In those days, it was relatively rare for inter-racial unions to be so publicly acknowledged. There is evidence, too, that he also formed a liaison with Mary Ann Black, "a free woman of colour'' and listed himself as the father of their daughter Emma who was baptised in St. Peter's church in 1828.

In 1817, he had formed a partnership with John Musson, acting as auctioneers who sold everything from groceries to furniture and lumber. In 1841, some five years after Driver suddenly returned to England, Althea married a Horatio Musson and their son was named Thomas Driver Musson. "There are many more descendants of Thomas Driver, both black and white,'' said Mrs. Kawaley, "and my father and my cousin Cecile's father (Musson Smith, daughter of Harry Gould) always knew there was a connection with the artist.'' Interest in their illustrious ancestor gained momentum when Fay and Geoffrey Elliott purchased a major portfolio of his work (presently in the safe-keeping of the National Archives). This formed the core of the gallery's first overseas exhibition, Through British Eyes, staged in New York and curated by archivist John Adams.

Then, the Elliotts purchased Driver's self-portrait at auction in London, donating it to the National Gallery to commemorate the chairmanship of Jay Bluck. At last, Thomas Driver was reunited with his now large family. And Mrs.

Kawaley and Mrs. Musson Smith are still busily researching their great-great-great grandfather's Bermuda connection.