Torchbearer Fall 2019

Alumni Spotlight
Elizabeth Kitson
(1918-2019)
“Its aim was to make, of Bermuda girls,
women who would inspire society
with high conceptions of character
and conduct – women who would
have a full and complete use of brains,
great love of truth, open minds, kindly
hearts, and correct ideas of wisdom,
justice and righteousness.”
- General Russell Hastings, early benefactor
of The Bermuda High School for Girls
There is no doubt that General Hastings
had high aspirations for the young
women who would attend The Bermuda
High School for Girls (BHS), and one
young lady in particular, who began BHS
in 1922, would go on to embody these
ideals in every way. Elizabeth Kitson‘35
died in June, 2019, at 100-yearsold,
and is remembered for being a
remarkable woman who achieved much
in her long life.
Mrs Kitson was born Betty Muriel Gorham
in 1918 at Greenbank in Salt Kettle,
Paget, the fourth of five children. Her
father was AJ Gorham who owned AJ
Gorham Import Co. on Front Street and
her mother, Muriel Masters, ran a busy,
happy home for her family. From a young
age, Betty showed signs of the strong and
determined woman she would become.
Her daughter, Susana Willingham ‘69,
recalls: “When her older brother Richard
started Kindergarten at BHS, she wanted
to go too and she kicked up such a stink
that her father wrote to BHS to request
that she gain early entry.”
Thus Betty began BHS at 4-and-a-half and,
when she was old enough, used to ride
her bike to school as there were no cars
in those days. She finished school early at
age 16 and then headed off to Penn Hall
Junior College to study speech and drama,
where she graduated with Honours. She
then went to Northwestern University
School of Speech, but left after three years
to marry British Naval Officer, Geoffrey
Kitson, before World War II broke out.
Their first son, Kirkham was born in
1940, and when her husband was called
to England to serve, she decided to
go with the baby to England by ship,
despite the dangers. Two days into
the voyage their ship was torpedoed,
but they survived the shipwreck and
eventually made it to England.
It is hard to imagine such a situation for a
young mother to go through, but as with
everything, Betty had a “get on with it”
attitude, and this story became one of
“When her older
brother started at
Kindergarten at
BHS, she kicked up
such a stink that her
father wrote to BHS
to request that she
gain early entry.””
many woven into the fabric of her long
and incredible life.
A second son, Richard, was born in 1944
and the family returned to Bermuda after
a few years in London.
In 1947, Geoffrey opened Kitson
Insurance, and Betty opened Kitson
Real Estate, both of which are still in
operation today. Susanna was born in
1952, which was the same year that
Elizabeth noticed a house on Pitts Bay
Road which had fallen into disrepair. She
bought and lovingly restored the house
and turned “Rosedon” into a B&B, which
is now a Relais & Chateau property run
by her grandchildren, Lee Petty and Scott
Kitson. Until she died, Betty lived on the
Rosedon property, celebrating her 100th
birthday there with family last year.
For a woman in the 1940s and early
1950s, she was remarkably ahead of her
time, to be raising a young family and
have started two new businesses. When
asked where that drive came from, her
daughter has no hesitation.
“Her father. He was a businessman, and a
force to be reckoned with. In the middle
of five children, she could have gotten
lost in the shuffle, but she elected to
stand up for herself,” says Susanna.
Betty’s grandmother was also an
important influence on her. Her
grandfather died when her father was
only two years old. He had been a
chemist, and when he died his widow
was left to run the business, quite unusual
for a woman in that time. All throughout
her life, Betty identified with this strong
woman, never realising that she couldn’t
walk, as she never saw it impact her
ability to manage the business from her
wheelchair behind the counter.
It therefore comes as no surprise to
learn that Betty was also a suffragette
who supported women’s rights and the
26 Torchbearer Fall 2019