Note Type
1992 Inventory NotesNote
Whale oil Lamp. Clay or earthenware. Brown. Specifically for whale oil. Whaling was a pursuit most of the men of Bermuda enjoyed, but it was also a stern necessity for early settlers. Governor Daniel Tucker, who arrived in Bermuda in 1616, sent for a specially-fitted ship (Neptune) to catch whales.
The importance of whaling as an all-purpose industry, supplying blubber, sea-beef, shoe leather and oil for household lamps, was not unique to Bermuda as it had been carried on in a very large way by adventurous Basques who sailed their ships from their region of Spain in the mid 16th-century across the Atlantic into the areas now known as the Maritime Provinces of Canada and established year-round settlements from which they exported whale products.
The Bermuda colonists under the administration of Daniel Tucker knew this and took advantage of the fact that whales were also present in local waters on their migratory trail. Thus the industry soon became of the greatest importance to all Bermudians, for several centuries.
This particular whale oil lamp is typical of those in the homes of many Bermudians of those times. B. Hist. S. 34.