A partir do incentivo do governador Sir William Reid, o desejo de certos bermudenses em investir na agricultura e pela falta de mão de obra neste setor, aprovou-se no parlamento a vinda de imigrantes em 1847. Dois anos depois, em 1849, o navio do tipo bergantim, Golden Rule, com o capitão Watlington, partiu para a ilha da Madeira e trouxe consigo 58 imigrantes portugueses, que chegariam às Bermudas no dia 4 de novembro de 1849, para desempenhar tarefas de camponeses e de trabalhadores domésticos. Estes madeirenses terão emigrado para as Bermudas por motivos de melhoria de vida e em busca de liberdade religiosa.

Ao longo do século XIX, outros portugueses, nomeadamente açorianos viriam a chegar às Bermudas, de forma legal, e ilegal (navios baleeiros americanos), e no final do século XIX, existe o registo de pedidos para introdução de imigrantes açorianos nas Bermudas, registos feitos por bermudenses, mas também por açorianos, de várias ilhas dos Açores.

Texto do historiador Eduardo Pereira Medeiros.

Did you know that in the 19th century, there were already some Portuguese living in Bermuda, even before Portuguese emigration to the country began in 1849?

Based on the encouragement of Governor Sir William Reid, the desire of certain Bermudians to invest in agriculture and the lack of manpower in this sector, the coming of immigrants was approved in parliament in 1847. Two years later, in 1849, the bergantine ship, Golden Rule, with Captain Watlington, sailed for the island of Madeira and brought with it 58 Portuguese immigrants, who would arrive in Bermuda on November 4, 1849, to work as farmers and as domestic workers. These Madeirans are said to have emigrated to Bermuda for better living conditions and in search of religious freedom.

Throughout the 19th century, other Portuguese, namely Azoreans would come to Bermuda, legally, and illegally (American whaling ships), and at the end of the 19th century, there is the record of requests for the introduction of Azorean immigrants to Bermuda, records made by Bermudians, but also by Azoreans, from several islands of the Azores.

Text by historian Eduardo Pereira Medeiros.