Nicknames - A Bermuda Tradition

Bermudians are famous for giving just about everyone a nickname, and those of us who served in the Bermuda Police Force were not exempt! Anyone reading the obituary column in the Royal Gazette will be aware that nicknames are invariably included in death notices for the simple reason that many folks are often known to the general public only by their nicknames rather than their first names.

Shortly after my arrival on the Island in 1964 I was given the nickname “Sweet Pea” by one of our Bermudian officers, maybe “Boxhead” Foggo, who had just returned from a trip to the U,K, where he watched an episode of the then popular “Z Cars” TV show, and decided that I was the spitting image of young P.C. Ian Sweet (Terence Edmund) who was nicknamed “Sweet Pea” by his fellow police officers on the show. For anyone who was a Z Cars fan, he was the young P.C. who was drowned in a canal trying to rescue a young boy, a major shock to the viewing public at the time!

Bermudians can be given a nickname at birth; “Boxhead” is a typical example. Some are gained because of a habit or trait, such as “Jellybean” Wingood or “Happy” Duerden, and others obviously earned their title after joining the Police Force; “Tango” Burgess, “Chief” Trott, or “D.O. (Detective Officer) Simons who was our first ever detective. Many are a variation of the persons name - “Custy” Crockwell, Howard “Mitch” Mitchell, or St. Clair, Brinksworth “Brinky” Tucker. Neville “Maverick” Darrell earned his nickname sharing the same traits as the star of the famous American TV Show by that name!

Those of us from overseas were fair game on arrival, with some being fairly obvious - Bob “Pudsey” Hay who hailed from Pudsey in Yorkshire, Clive “Fury” Donald who struck fear in his opponents on both the cricket and football pitches, but was never known to lose his temper, “Grim Jim” McNiven, Bob “Happiness” Massey who rarely smiled until after he was married, Alex “Punchy” Forbes who no doubt earned his nickname on the rugby field, and Les “Have Gun Will Travel” Waddell who was our resident “firearms expert” in the 1960’s. But others are a little more obtuse. Why “Spider” McKenzie, “Shakey” Johnson, “Dagwood” Rickards, “Casper” Beech, “Rigor” Morris, “Budgy” Lohan etc.

The purpose of this article is to compile a comprehensive list of all the nicknames we can remember collectively, and where possible, to explain the reasons for them. We would encourage you to add any to our list that you are aware of, and if possible, provide us with the reason/s if known for their origin, especially if you were the recipient!

At our last Expo Summer BBQ in August 2012 we held a brief quiz and asked a group from each table to compile a quick list of former officers and their nicknames. Carlton “Socky” Adams and his table were easy winners.

We look forward to greatly expanding the list with your assistance. You can add any entries either below or by email us at info@expobermuda.com

Roger “Sweet Pea” Sherratt

Editor

Editors note - Just a couple of days after the death of our good friend Cyril "Sidge" Plant in May 2016, his wife Pauline wrote to us to say that Cyril told her the reason why "Spider" McKenzie had his nickname was that someone said he looked just like a Spider Monkey! As a follow-up, Davie Kerr wrote a comment under the Latest News article reporting Cyril's passing about his time in Prosecutions with "Big Mike" Parris, who alone is probably responsible for more outrageous nicknames than anyone who ever served in the Bermuda Police, to say that during one encounter between "Big Mike" and "Sidge" Plant, who was never at a loss for words, Sidge called Mike, "Egg on Legs" and the "Yard of Lard", while Big Mike returning the complement with his own unique rejoinder to Cyril, "And in this cage ladies and gentlemen, we have the only animal in captivity that can eat an apple through a tennis racket"

Bermuda Police Nicknames

Ackroyd	Ian	“Paddy”
Adams	Carlton	“Socky” "Dipstick"
Alderson	Graham	"Big G" "Gloves" "No Marks"
Amos	Alfred James	"Jim" "Hawkshaw"
Anderson	Neil	"Andy" "Neely"
Allan	John	"Jumbo"
Allan	Robert (Bob)	"Fuzzy Wuz"
Andrews	Ian	"Maisie"
Arlott	John	" 'Ard Luck"
Barnett	John	“Flaps”
Bawden	Terry	"The Nipper"
Beach	Freddie	"Beachy"
Beech	Ron	“Casper”
Bean	Arthur Hedley	"Arthur Hedley Love Gladstone Wilberforce Chesterfield Bean"
Bean	Fred (Frederick)	“Penny”
Bean	Leon	“Black Prince” "Big Toe"
Bean	Sinclair	“Bunkers”
Bingley	Bruce	"Bingers"
Bissell	Alan	“Bex” (after the vacuum cleaners)
Black	William Alexander	"Dangerman"
Boggan	Ronnie	"Senior Man"
Bourne	Kenneth	"Doc"
Bradford	John	"Crack"
Brown	Reg (Reginald)	“Buster” "Bubbles"
Brown	Alistair	“Angus”
Brown	Mick	"Smelly"
Burgess	Clinard	"Butch"
Burgess	Clyde	“Tango”
Burke	Mike (Michael)	“Mother”
Butler	Reginald	"Reggie"
Cabral	Terry	“Gofer” "Manuel" "Portagee"
Caines	Steven	"Bittie"
Cann	Herman Ransome	“Mike” (& “Spike”team)
Cart	Dave	"Apple" "Orson" pre-Bermuda nicknames
Cassidy	Keith	"Cass" "Butch Cassidy"
Caulkett	Mike	“Cool Cat”
Chew	Dave (Frank David)	“Chew chew”
Clark	L.M. (Leroy Maxwell)	“Nobby”
Cook	Dave	“Cookie”
Costello	Jim (James)	“The Wop”
Coyles	Ian Hunter	"Geordie"
Cox	Neil	“Secret Squirrel”
Cranage	Paul	“Cranker”
Crockwell	Custerfield	“Custy” “Crock”
Cutts	Howard	“Cutsy”
Dale	John	"JD"
Darrell	Neville	“Maverick”
Davies	Eddie (Edward)	“Fast Eddie”
Davis	Paul	"Dapper"
Deallie	Frank	"Hot Chocolate"
Deans	Paul	“Mutley”
DeSilva	Terry	"Big Bird"
Dill	Winslow	"Socks"
Donald	Clive	“Fury”
Duerden	Floyd Maxwell	“Happy”
Duncan	Alexander	"Sandy"
Durrant	Junior	"Meats"
Edwards	Lennett	"Lennie" "Belafonte"
Esdaille	Winston	"Papa Doc"
Eve	John	“Coco”
Fielders	Dick (Richard)	"Granny"
Fletcher	Derek	“Fletch”
Flook	Brian	"Flooky"
Foggo	Eddie	“Boxhead”
Foggo	Frankie (Frank)	“Bill”
Forbes	Alex	“Punchy”
Fox	Alfred	"Perry" “Patch”
Fox	John	"Elf"
Fraser	David	“Bones”
Fryer	John	"Deep Fat" "Fryer Tuck"
Fugler	Ted (Edward)	"Fugler the Bugler"
Galbraith	Norrie	"The Cat with the Yellow Shades"
Galloway	William	“Willy”
Hall	Gladwin	“Doc”
Hall	Malcolm	"Scoop"
Hall	Nick (Nicholas)	"Ridiculous Nicholas"
Hammond	Frank	“Gruff”
Hammond	George	"Ugh"
Hanlon	JCP	"Toupee"
Harvey	Gerry (Gerald)	"Dads"
Hay	Bob (Robert)	“Pudsey”
Hayward	John	"John Boy"
Hazel	Earl S.	“Spike”
Hebbard	Douglas	“Red”
Hind	Colin	“Dusty”
Hinds	Robert	“Jumpin’ Jack”
Holmes	Graham	"Bulkie"
Howard	Gordon	"Magpie"
Hull	Norrell	"Sniffles"
Ingemann	Eric	"Ingemann"
Ironmonger	Richard	“Rocky”
Irvine	Malcolm (Ted)	"Ted Loon"
Jackson	Lawry (Lawrence)	“Jacko”
Johnson	Alastair	“Shakey”
Johnson	A.S.	“Sweets”
Johnson	Aubrey Sinclair	“Tom Copper”
Johnson	David "Davie"	"Mighty Mouse"
Jones	Bryn	“Arboretum Ghost”
Kane	Ian	“Crash”
Kandziorka	John	"Candyman"
Kerr	Davie (David)	“Scruff” "Cookie Monster" “Animal” “The Mars Bar Kid”
Kittle	Ian	"Baretta"
Kirkham	Howard	“Stumpy”
Knights	Kevin	"Boogie"
Laing	Eric	“Wee Eckie”
Lambert	Stuart	“Preacher”
Lane	Alastair	"Bronco"
Laughton	Tony (Anthony"	"Bumper"
Leman	Harry	"Rocky"
Leng	Mike	"Chubbs" "Chubby"
Lindo	Ralph	"Jellybean"
Linton	Noel L.	“Ben”
Lohan	Mike (Michael)	“Budgy”
Long	Dave (David)	“The Admiral”
Lottimore	Winston	“Super”
Lumb	Mick	"Wally"
Lunn PC 442	Dave	"Lunny"
Marshall	Graham	"Pinky"
Massey	Bob (Robert)	“Happiness”“Chopper” “Uncle Bob”
MacKenzie	Bill (William)	"Spider"
McBride	Pat	"Odd Job"
McCracken	William	“Willy”
McDonagh	Bob	"Spare Parts"
McLean	Wilbur	"Bulldog" "Black Mac"
McNiven	Jim (James)	“Grim Jim”
McQuaid	John	"Squid"
Medford	Miguel	"Mediki"
Meehan	Denis	“Yuldous Caproid”
Merrouni	Hassan	"Satan" "Gaoler"
Millward	Brian	"Boo Boo"
Mitchell	Howard	“Mitch”
Mitchell	Ian	“Abey”
Molloy	Gerry	"Backslide"
Mooney	Charlie (Charles)	“Stick on”
Moniz	Ernie	"Little Hitler"
Moniz	Harold	"H"
Morris	John	“Rigor”
Morrison	Ian	"Doormouse"
Mouchette	Anthony (Tony)	"Micer"

Mullan	John	"Fagash"
Mullholland	John Douglas	"Bond"
Needham	Dave	“Big Joe”
Needham	Roger	"Shoes"
O'Meara	Dave	"Pointed Stick" "Shotgun"
Parker	Richard (Dick)	"Steaming Hot"
Palmer	Mike	"Sucheck"
Parris	Mike	"Big Mike", "Yard of Lard"
Parsons	Dave (David)	“Parse”
Paynter	Russell	"Boar" "Bull"
Pearson	John	"Charlie"
Pearson	Les	"Evel Knievel"
Pellow	Keith	"Crack"
Pett	Maurice	“Moby”
Pearce	Jann	"Spare Parts"
Pitt	June	"Poon Jitt"
Plant	Cyril	"Sidge" "Squirrel" "Snidge" "Dr. Teeth"
Proctor	Dudley	“Cuddly”
Pugh	Allan	“Bugsy”
Pybus	Stuart	"Monty"
Ramsay	Dennis	"Dan Dan" "Titan"
Rawlins	Lawrence	“Mincy”
Rae	Crawford	“Crow”
Ray	William	“Cheese”
Rickards	Mike (Michael)	“Dagwood”
Richardson	Derek	"Tut Derek"
Roberts	Anthony K.	“Sonny”
Robinson	Brian	"Porko" "Dirty Bird"
Rose	Arthur	“Whistling Assassin”
Rose	George	"Golden Boy"
Shakeshaft	David	“Shakey”
Sharp	John	“Big John”
Shaw (Allchin)	Juanita	"Momma One"
Shaw	Pete	“Shag”
Sheehy	John Joseph	“John Joe”
Shelly	Ron	"The Cadaverous One"
Sherratt	Roger	“Sweet Pea”
Sim	Stephen	“Smelley”
Simons	Charles Edward	“D.O.”
Simons	(Christopher) Jerome	"Lips" "JC"
Simons	Leonard	"Shinah"
Singh (Sirjusingh)	Paul	"Pakie"
Skinner	John	"John Henry"
Smith	Jonathan David	"Bowser"
Smith	Maurice	“Syke”
Smith	Malcolm	“Malcy”
Smith	Larry	“Kakie”
Smith	Phillip	"Jigger"
Sommerville	Alexander	“Sandy”
Sousa	Ray	"Cosmo" "RFP"
Spencer	Eddie	"Fast Eddie"
Stewart	Bob (Robert)	"Snatch"
Swan	Dudley	"Cuddly Dudley"
Swan	Hubert	"Swanny"
Swainson	Edward	“Bo”
Sykes	Frank	"Stumpy"
Tanner	Bob	"The Animal"
Taylor	Anthony	“Tinker”
Taylor	Phil (Phillip)	“Goat” “Draino”
Taylor	Steve	"The Sundance Kid" "Cyclops"
Tennant	Bryan	"Twilight"
Thomas	David	“Dai”
Tomlinson	Les	"Bloodnut"
Travis	John	"Boob"
Trott	Oliver	“Chief”
Tucker	St. Clair Brinksworth	“Brinky”
Tucker	Charles	“Bo”
Urquart	Don	"P.C. Loquat"
Van de Weg	John	“Vanders”
Waddell	Les (Leslie)	"Gunsmoke" “Have gun will travel”
Wakefield	John	“Tiny”
Walgate	Peter	“Killer”
Walker	Mike	"Pig-Ironside"
White	James	"Big Bird"
White	Malcolm	“Chalky”
Wiggins	Dereck	"Earthquake"
Wilcocks	Damian	“Willy”
Wilde	John	"Bandaid"
Wilkinson	Alan	"Corkie"
Willey	Merve (Mervin)	“The Swerve”
Williams	Charles	“Bongo”
Williams	Johnny (John)	"Sospan" "Stradey"
Wilson	Jack (John)	“Tug”
Wilson	Norman	"Scabs"
Wingood	Hilton	“Jellybean”
Woodcock	Dave (David)	"Woody"
Wood	Frank	"Woody"
Woods	M.S. Eugene	“Buck”
Woods	Mike	"Crazy Horse" 'Draino"
Woods	Willy	"WW9""Stallion Thighs"
Worrell	Zerphyl Nathanial	"Zip"
Young	Gary	"Guppy"

We are beginning to get a good response from colleagues about our List of Nicknames, some of which you will be able to read in the "comments" column below. But here are a few addtions which we are adding as we receive them.

13th January 2013

Pete Counsell says we HAVE to include "Scruff"as one of Davie Kerr's titles which we have.

Ian Kittle wrote - One nickname that springs to mind from my era (1975 -1979) is "John Boy". There was a Bermudian Officer on my platoon or watch at St. Georges called John Haywood. The TV show, The Waltons. John Boy was a character on the show, and John Haywood looked a lot like him. He was a great person with a witty sense of humour. I heard that John Haywood fought cancer during his life. Would you know if he stayed in the police? And is he still with us?

Hassan Merrouni - On the subject of nicknames, they called me either 'Satan', that came about when I joined Task Force later renamed P.S.U . "Gaoler" was also used - probably because I was one of the few that smoked, often with Sgt.Ronnie Boggan in the Gaol area yard outside. I was often called Sarge (Sgt.) by a my clients on de block. Happy Days! Happy New Year to all and best of luck in 2013.

Peter Lee - Right off the top of my head I remember 'Shoes' Needam, Motorcycle Section, Junior Durrant 'Meats', 'Buster' Brown, Russell Paynter 'Boar', Motorcycle Section, 'Boxhead' Foggo, Motorcycle Section, Wilber McClean 'Bulldog', 'Coggy' Gibbons, Paul Singh (Pakie). Reginald Butler 'Reggie', Lawrence 'Mincy' Rawlins, Tony Machette 'Micer'. Robert Billy Fox 'Chalk Bird', George Pitcher 'Riker, Larry Smith 'Kackie', 'Wally' Lumb, Maurice Raynor 'Mouse', Anthony Richardson 'Mop', Roger Goodchild 'Rap', Trent Lightbourne 'Ox', Leonard Simons 'Shinah', Steven Caines 'Bittie'. I'll send some more when I remember them. (BONUS POINTS FOR PETER! Great List.)

Vic Richmond just came up with some pearlers which he blames almost entirely on 'Big Mike' Paris. These include Bob 'Spare Parts' McDonagh, Cyril "Sidge' or 'Squirrel' Plant, Rich (Dick) 'Steaming Hot' Parker, June 'Poon Jitt' Pitt, and John "Fagash" Mullan. Vic claims to have avoided being given one by 'Big Mike'

Nick Bolton has also added two more to the list, Ian 'Spare Parts' Pierce (who worked in the Police Garage) and Les "Gunsmoke" Waddell (his wife's uncle through marriage).

Keith Cassidy was, of course called "Cass" but in a weak moment he admitted that when he and Steve Taylor first came to Bermuda and used to hang around together they were know as "Butch Cassidy" and the "Sundance Kid". Now can anyone tell us the names of another duo called "Starsky and Hutch"?

Anthony "Tony" Mouchette reminded us of his nickname "Micer" which he was given when he was in school at Whitney Institute. Tony says he was caught looking out the window at the girls during class when the teacher asked him a question. " I never heard the question so I couldn’t give an answer!!! That's what is commonly referred to as "micing"!

Vic Richmond has submitted a few more - Kenneth "Doc" Bourne, Cinard "Butch" Burgess, Kevin "Boogie" Knights, and a little English guy "Scoop" Hall. Does anyone recall "Scoop" Hall's first name?

Editors Note: Have checked records at Police HQ and found several Halls. Could "Scoop" be Malcolm Donald James Hall who served from 1967 - 1969 mainly in Central? He had been in the Parachute Regiment and came from The Wirrall.

20th January 2013

We have a few additions to our list following the get together for our annual reception at the Senior Officers Mess on 19^th January 2013. Will post photos of the event in our Photo Gallery.

Additions included:- John “John Henry” Skinner, “Twilight” Tennant, “Boob” Travis, Graham “Pinky” Marshall, John “JD” Dale, Brian “Porko” or “Dirty Bird” Robinson (supplied by Brian himself!), Ralph “Jellybean” Lindo (we’re told he always kept a stock of jellybeans in his police motor cycle), Juanita (Allchin) “Momma One” Shaw, Norman “Scabs” Wilson, Mike “Sucheck” Palmer, Tony “Bumper” Laughton, Bill “Wilberforce” McKenzie when he wasn’t referred to as “Spider”, and the longest one so far Arthur Bean fondly known as “Arthur Hedley Love Gladstone Wilberforce Chesterfield Bean”.

As if that wasn’t enough for one day we also received an email that same evening from Mike Leng (1958 – 1966) who clearly has an excellent memory and provided a great list of nicknames from his time on the Force (see post on “Keeping in Touch 2013”)

One more to add to the list. Spoke with Dave Cart this morning and he says that as a young PC he was known as “Apple” Cart, and also “Orson” Cart as in ‘orse and cart”!

Sidebar

Expo Lists

Nicknames - A Bermuda Tradition