Caribbean Family Trees

There's a Bahamian project, which includes Bahamian-Americans, at http://www.geni.com/projects/Bahamians

I obviously haven't done enough with it yet, but it would be nice if others joined!

BARBADOS

Ancestry.com is touting their upcoming episode of "Who Do You Think You Are" that features Gwyneth Paltow, It says she gains appreciation for her great grandmother and ancestors on the island of Barbados. The show airs April 1 on NBC in my area. Past shows have given resources, such as how to access parish registers,etc. There might be some new clues for research in the Bahamas. I plan to watch. Hope some of you are also able to see it.

BARBADOS

Who saw "Who Do You Think You Are?" tonight? Gwennett Platrow searches for her ancestors on Barbados. I had visited there in 1986, and several natives said I looked like a family there. One of the genealogists that helped her on the island was Pedro Welch. Interesting huh?

Hi, Kwame,
I saw the show and found it fascinating, as have been all the shows in the series. I was disappointed that there was so little about Barbados and searching in Barbados. It was interesting, however, to learn about the hardships whites faced when slavery was abolished. Pedro Welch, the historian, was very knowledgeable. If we could all be as rich and famous as the stars on this series, so we could hire the Pedro Welch's of the world to help us in our quests.

Who do you think you are - Ainsley Harriott discovers his Caribbean roots in Jamaica and Barbados, episode on youtube -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUiG4NnKRqs

Jason, thanks for the link to the Ainsley Harriott episode. Very enlightening.

Thanks Maria for saying those things. Thanks Jason for the YouTube link.

Just watched the Ainsley Harriott YouTube video--very interesting indeed!

He was shocked to learn that not only were some of his ancestors slaves, but others were white slave owners and overseers; similarly, I was shocked when I learned that my 5th great-grandfather was a slave owner in Jamaica. It wasn't something I expected to discover, and while I understand the concept of cultural relativity, I found it hard to wrap my mind around the idea that members of my own family could have profited from "owning" and exploiting other human beings.

Still, as Harriott said in the show, it's part of who we are.

Karen, I empathize with you.

My family arrived in Virginia since the 1620's. The first slave ship landed in Virginia in 1619, if I remember my Virginia history correctly. The family split after the Revolutionary War. One half went deeper South and had many slaves. The other half went West to Appalachia and Kentucky, and had few if any slaves.

Growing up, it never dawned on me that my ancestors might have been slave owners. I didn't learn about it until I started genealogy. When I did find out, it didn't shock me. It was the way of the world back then. My being upset now cannot change the lives of the slaves or their owners.

I also cannot just ignore it or white-wash it. We must learn from our history or we are doomed to repeat it.

Jason, thanks again for the link. I'm going to watch David Suchet next. I love his Hercules Poirot!

BARBADOS

I have found an ancestor believed to have died in Barbardos. Thomas Grubb is my 6th great grandmother's husband's wife's first cousin thrice removed. He was a fisherman. Supposedly his will and his wife's are in the archives there. Guess I'm going to have to put a trip to Barbados on my to-do list.