BERMUDA
Hamilton Parish

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Tom Moore's House [left] is located on Walsingham Bay near the Crystal cave. It was built in 1652 by the architect John Millner in impressive British Bermuda colonial architecture. It was originally known as Walsingham House as it was once the property of Robert Walsingham, the coxswain of the doomed "Sea Venture" in 1609. The house is best known as the place where the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779–1852) lived during his stay on Bermuda (1804) where he was intended to work as Registrar to the Court of the Vice Admiralty. Moore became notorious for his love poems to "Nea", the 17 year old wife of the Marshal of the Court. He stayed on Bermuda only four months. The deputy whom he chose to replace him as Registrar later cheated the Admiralty for a large sum of money (£ 6,000), but Moore was blamed and had to make good the losses. After he left Bermuda he wrote splendid poetry, which later was set to music. His probably best-known piece is the "Last Rose of Summer". A replica of the building was built at Wembley, London, for the Empire Exhibition of 1924. The house was a tavern for more than 75 years before it was restored and reopened as a restaurant ("Tom Moore's Tavern").