Tobacco: The intriguing story of Bermuda and Virginia

(Bermuda Royal Gazette) ... Could it be that the Spanish or Portuguese, well acquainted with tobacco since 1492, planted tobacco in Bermuda and probably the better quality Caribbean variety? Raleigh’s Indian tobacco was of inferior quality compared to the Caribbean variety. Tobacco does not cross oceans easily and grow naturally or wild, yet two patches of tobacco were found in Bermuda: In 1603, tobacco was found by the shipwrecked Captain Ramirez at Spanish Point and it is arguable that Sir George Somers found or grew a patch of tobacco at Tobacco Bay, St George’s in 1609. Could it be that Sir George Somers and John Rolfe (both on the Sea Venture which was wrecked in Bermuda on its way to Jamestown in July 1609) took the Bermuda Tobacco seed to Virginia from Bermuda on the two ships they built, the Deliverance and Patience, in May 1610? Continued

Photo: George Somers