over the burial place of Sir George Somers.

Historically the Island's founding father was believed to have been buried in St. Candida and Holy Cross Church in the English village of Whitchurch, Dorset in 1611.

But in his second article, "Sir George Somers -- The Unsolved Mysteries,'' published in the Bermudian magazine which is on the news stands today, photographer Mr. John Weatherill throws doubt on the subject.

Mr. Weatherill claims that the name on the gravestone in "The Cathedral of the Vale'' is not that of Sir George Somers.

The letters E and R on the stone have long been held to be proof that it marked the great man's last resting place. They were believed to be the last two letters of the name SUMMER, an alternative spelling of his name.

But in his search for the truth Mr. Weatherill used a "rubbing method'' to reveal the name FLOYER, the same as a neighbouring stone.

He said: "I stood up and moved back a pace. Never so literally and cruelly had stark reality stared me in the face.

"The tombstone believed for so long to have been Somers', was all too obviously not him at all but that of another member of the old family whose tomb it adjoined.'' The fact had been doubted before according to Mr. Weatherill who quotes from correspondence between a Bermuda dignitary and a vicar, during which the Bermudian was demanding more recognition of Sir George by the church and its parishioners.

The vicar is quoted as saying: "There has never been evidence of the exact place of his burial. There is no tombstone or any other direct evidence.

"It could well be that he is buried in the churchyard instead but there is no evidence of that either. No doubt it will remain a mystery for all time.'' Mr. Weatherill agrees that the mystery as to where Sir George actually lies may never be solved.

In his first article, in November, Mr. Weatherill also claimed that the portrait of a man believed to be Sir George Somers, in the Bermuda Historical Society, is a fake.

Mr. John Weatherill.