Forced to close its doors in February when asbestos was discovered in the ceiling of its home in Par-la-Ville, the Bermuda Historical Society has now re-opened.

"`It's an ill wind','' quotes Society president Andrew Bermingham, "since we had about 50 years of cleaning up to be done. That job, which was a massive one, was enforced, but the museum looks wonderful now and I must say that Minister Jim Woolridge and the team at Works and Engineering have done a great job. Thanks to them, the Historical Society's museum can function for the next 20 or 30 years without any further renovation.'' Situated on the ground floor of the old house that was built in 1814 -- and has changed little since then -- the four-room museum serves as a vivid reminder of Hamilton's past, when lines of graceful houses were the rule rather than the exception they have become in today's business-oriented capital. In order to maintain the aura of that more genteel and leisurely era, Society officials made a deliberate decision not to go `high tec'. "We wanted to keep the Bermuda home-cum-cottage atmosphere and to give people an authentic glimpse of what Bermudian life was like back in the early 19th century,'' explains Mr. Bermingham.

Founded as long ago as 1895 as a non-profit organisation, the Bermuda Historical Society actively promotes interest in the Island's colourful past through its monthly meetings, publishing projects and, under the knowledgeable curatorship of Colin Benbow, guiding visitors and locals alike through its museum.

All of the exhibits, which reflect the changing social history of the Island, have now been re-labelled, "through the use of a computer, rather than the somewhat eccentric hand-written notes that had adorned some of the pieces for years and years,'' laughs Vice President John Cox. "We obviously took this opportunity to thoroughly clean all of the exhibits. The Bank of Bermuda kindly helped us with the storage of our more valuable items.'' Voicing a suspicion that some Bermudians have never visited their museum, Mr. Bermingham says that, nevertheless, "the value of this place was evidenced to us by the number of people, especially visitors, who have been knocking on the door on a daily basis, begging to be allowed in!'' Curator Colin Benbow estimates that around 11,000 visitors do find their way to Par-la-Ville each year.

Once inside, there is certainly plenty to see in this museum whose homely and very accessible air is part of its special charm. Perhaps the most poignant exhibit is Sir George Somers' lode stone, used for magnetising his compass needles and dating back to around 1600; there is an example of the original `hog' money, the oldest of all colonial coins, issued by the Bermuda Company soon after settlement in 1615; the museum is understandably proud of its fine collection of Bermudian-made silver and a set of French table spoons captured by a Bermuda privateer around 1790.

Historical Society gets spruced up There is also a rare, recently restored sedan chair, a replica of which was used to carry Governor Popple's wife back in 1738. "Strangely enough, before we had it restored,'' says Mr. Cox, "we used to find that, for some reason, people would drop their bagged lunches inside!'' Also on display is a superbly panel-carved cedar infant's cradle, a glass Victorian nursing bottle, a small but impressive collection of china, including Chinese export Imari china, all of which was much coveted by the well-to-do in 18th century Bermuda.

Throughout the rooms are fine examples of Bermudian cedar furniture and the magnificent carved wooden fire place (the same as that as Walsingham, immortalised by the poet Tom Moore). On the mantel-piece is a bracket clock by Thomas Blatchley who came from England in 1784 to work here as a clock maker, jeweller and silversmith: oddly, he has spelt `Bermuda' as `Bermudo'.

One of the most important undertakings was the decision to clean and, in some cases, restore the Society's collection of portraits. This task was undertaken by Margaret Smith, Bermuda's first qualified easel painting conservator.

"There was about 200 years of surface dirt to be cleaned off,'' she says, "and in some cases, several layers of varnish had also to be removed.'' Now, the small but historically important collection which includes the attributed images of the Island's founder, Sir George Somers and Lady Somers, as well as works by Driver, Lucius Munson and a fine painting of Mrs. Burch (circa 1780) attributed to John Green, reveals once again, details and colours that had become all but hidden over the years.

Of particular interest is a portrait of Mrs. William Hall, attributed to the New England portraitist Robert Feke who stopped off in Bermuda in 1750, fully two years before the arrival of Joseph Blackburn -- usually accredited as Bermuda's first portrait artist. "Feke was suffering from TB and this is the only portrait we know of that was painted here by him before he went on to the West Indies, where he died,'' says Mr. Cox. "His work was extremely popular in New England and I think this picture is particularly charming as the pile of `background' books which are plainly inscribed as being by Pope tells the viewer that `here is a cultivated lady who can not only read, but reads that difficult poet, Pope'!'' Mr. Bermingham pays tribute to John Cox who, he says, has devoted "countless hours and a lot of his own money'' to the refurbishment and restoration work undertaken by the Society. "The conservation of paintings is a very costly business,'' he points out, "so we would be very grateful for any contributions from members of the public who would like to support the Historical Society.'' He would also like to encourage new members to join: with a larger membership it may be possible to re-launch their excellent quarterly magazine which, for so many years, provided invaluable and often unique information on the Island's historical and cultural heritage.

The Society's president is grateful to all the other volunteer members who worked so hard to get the museum re-opened well ahead of schedule, "especially Margie Lloyd, Pam Darrell, Pauline Powell, Robin Trimingham and Elizabeth Downing, who have worked so hard.'' The Bermuda Historical Society is open daily (except weekends) from 9.30 a.m to 3.30 p.m. Anyone who is interested in becoming a member and/or to assist with the work of the Society in any way should telephone 295-2487.