FORMER St. George's Town Councillor Gladstone Willard Clayton Trott showed his true colours a week ago when he celebrated his 89th birthday. Many probably thought he was a dyed-in-the-wool East Ender because for decades St. George's was the base of his business as a leading contractor and entrepreneurial concerns. And also, there was where he focused most of his social and cultural activities.

But the truth is that Gladstone is a Somersetonian from way back. And one needed no more confirmation than seeing how he beamed with pride when formally presented to his guests by his niece Mrs. Judith (Judy) Simmons as the "Patriarch of the Ratteray and Trott clan of Sandys Parish".

Judy, incidentally, was the recently retired long-serving president of the Bermuda Track and Field Association. She hosted the party at Grotto Bay. It was attended by several nieces, nephews and cousins from abroad; also four present and past Mayors of St. George's and other dignitaries, including several from Hannibal Masonic Lodge No. 224, of which Gladstone is a Past Master.

Gladstone's grandfather was William Horatio Trott, MCP, a highly skilled shipwright, who had the distinction of being one of the first two black members of the House of Assembly, and the first elected representative of Sandys Parish, serving for eight years. And perhaps even more celebrated than Horatio was his own grandfather, Charles Roach Ratteray.

Roach, by trade, was a master carpenter and the builder in Somerset of a number of ocean-going schooners and skiffs; and he was one of a number of black men who figured prominently in Bermuda's social and economic life leading up to and after the Emancipation of Slavery in 1834.

After slavery, Roach was one of the first black men to contest a general election, though unsuccessfully. Twice married, he was the father of 31 children. We cite the foregoing historical facts relating to Gladstone Willard Clayton Trott because they seem to substantiate the claim by some that 'apples don't fall far from the tree'.

A twice married widower and father of one, Gladstone was born on November 3, 1917, the second of the five grand children of Mrs. Mary Hamilton Seymour Ratteray (daughter of Horatio).

His only other surviving sibling is sister Almiria Jane Manville Trott, mother of three and widow of Rudolph Wilson, late of Southampton. She joined her brother at the party's head table, which was shared by offspring of deceased brothers William (Willie) Trott, a mariner in the Dockyard; Charles LeRoy (Ginger Trott), an ocean-going merchant marine ships engineer, who raised a family in New Jersey. The late sister Katherine Cecilia Bruce Trott passed away childless.

Mayor of St. George's Mariea Caisey led those paying tribute to the guest of honour. Others included Town Councillor Dr. Erskine Simmons; nieces from New Jersey Gayle Flannelly and Polly A. Mattison; sister Mayville Wilson and Rt. Wor. St. Clair (Brinky) Tucker on behalf of Brethren of Hannibal Lodge, GRI.

My photos show former St. George's Town Councillor Gladstone Trott (inset) celebrating his 89th birthday at the Grotto Bay Beach Resort. Top: He is besieged by a host of local and foreign nieces, nephews and other kin. Above: Gladstone, a Past Master of Hannibal Masonic Lodge, St.George's is seen presenting to his fellow Masons, the distinctive, gold-tasselled regalia of his late uncle, Very Wor. Charles Lawson Ratteray, a Hannibal stalwart, for display in the lodge's museum.