The Mayor of Hamilton was yesterday inducted into a prestigious American Society whose members are required to be descendants of men who helped establish, defend and grow the American Colonies.

Mayor Outerbridge, whose family can be traced back generations in Bermuda, was accepted into the General Society of Colonial Wars’ fold as part of its annual meeting, which is being held outside of the United States for the first time in more than a century.

And Mayor Outerbridge “may very well be the first Bermudian” to become a member, Charles A Poekel Jr, the Lieutenant Governor of the Colonial Wars of New Jersey, said, noting that Mayor Outerbridge was well qualified to join the society because of his ancestry.

Mr Poekel explained that the society has long been interested in Bermuda, with some members even calling it “the 14th colony”, and that they were eager to explore the maritime connection between Bermuda and the US.

The Society of Colonial Wars was founded in New York in 1892 to study America’s colonial history from the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, to the Battle of Lexington in 1775.

A General Society was established to accommodate a national one in 1893.

According to their website, the society collects and preserves old manuscripts and records, erects memorials, hosts commemorations, and supports academic research “for the purpose of inspiring in the community respect and reverence for those whose public service made our freedom and unity possible”.

The society members are all male descendants of those in “military, naval and civil positions of high trust and responsibility whose acts and counsel assisted in the establishment, defence and growth of the American Colonies”.

The majority of the society members arrived aboard the Norwegian Breakaway yesterday morning and their first stop was City Hall, where they were welcomed by Mayor Graeme Outerbridge.

A tree planting in Queen Elizabeth Park, formerly known as Par-la-Ville Park, was scheduled to take place in the early afternoon, before the members attended a lunch with Premier Michael Dunkley at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. A reception with Governor George Fergusson was planned at Government House.

Today, the members will spend the day exploring St George’s before attending a dinner dance at Fourways Inn.

Tomorrow will be filled with sporting activities, including a golf tournament, a tennis tournament and a croquet tournament, and the delegation will depart aboard the Breakaway at 5pm.