Bernudian Joells
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In reply to:
RE: Bernudan Joell Surname
1/15/01
Sue:
I am also descendant of white Bermuda Joells.I have not visited Bermuda yet myself.I will email you directly the name & address of a friend who is a Joell descendent of African/Caribbean ancestry thru his mother.This gentleman owns several businesses in Hamilton & when you visit again, you can probably catch him in his shop at the end of the workday (about 4-5pm).
online article from Bermuda Sun news
"TENNIS STADIUM RENAMED FOR TRAILBLAZER JOELL"
By Robyn Bardgett
"The new name of the Tennis Stadium at Bernard Park immortalises a black Bermudian who was not only an avid tennis player but also a fighter for integration."
"William E. R. Joell once helped to bring a petition to Parliament to allow black people to play on the courts. "A group of us all got together because Althea Gibson (first black player to win Wimbledon) had come to Bermuda and we wanted to take her out and play," recalled Mr. Joell's friend Leslie Lynch, himself a black tennis player. "We had gone down to the Tennis Stadium because we had reserved a court and the lady at the desk didn't give us a hard time and she let us go through but the manager wasn't there at the time..."
You also need to get a copy of the book SLAVES & SLAVEHOLDERS IN BERMUDA 1615-1782 by Virginia Bernhard (Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press) 1999.It is one of the newest works examining slavery in the history of Bermuda.
p251 "Besides the household items, the Yates estate included a "Negro Man called James in possession of Mr. Solomon Joell" (a merchant, one of the wealthiest in Pembroke [parish]), valued at 80 pounds.Why Solomon Joell had taken possession of James, or what became of James afterward, is not known.The Joell family had a large number of slaves, and presumably James became part of that household in his later years."
p254 "Another slaveholding widow was Martha Joell, in 1773 the owner of 12 slaves.But unlike Mary Eve, Martha Joell was well off.She had been married to Solomon Joell, a mariner, one of richest men in Bermuda...at his death in 1767...including 545 pounds in slaves...Joell was part owner of two trading vessels, the SAVANNA (of which he had 11/12 share) and the INDUSTRY (of which he owned 2/3)."
p255 "There were 12 slaves in the inventory of Joell's estate:six sailors, a carpenter, four men listed as "Plantation Negroes" and one woman, Rosilla.One of the "Plantation Negroes" had no recorded value and was described as "Peter at sea".Runaway slaves seldom appear in Bermuda records, but Peter had apparently managed to get himself aboard a vessel and make a bid for freedom.Most Bermuda slaves were familiar with the ways of ships and the sea, and many besides Peter had opportunities to escape...Peter was not a sailor by trade, but he, like most Bermudians, probably knew how to sail a boat.His work as "Plantation Negro" may have included fishing, perhaps fromthe "large sailboat" listed in Joell's inventory.He may also have helped to load and unload his mater's sloops, and no doubt he heard from his fellow slaves who sailed aboard these and other Bermuda vessels the tales of faraway destinations such as Antigua and St. Eustatias, Charleston and Philadelphia.."
Your family lore of Spanish blood could be very true.The white Bermuda Joell family is reputed to be Sephardic Jews (Isrealites who moved into the Iberian penninsula in the 14th century) before they arrived in Bermuda.It is entirely possible (though I do not know a specific example) some Joells of color could have been fathered by white and/or Spanish men.An additional possiblity is that the seafaring slaves met/mingled/married with freed & enslaved persons throughout the Caribbean & the entire Atlantic community.Even though Bermuda has been a British territory for almost 400 years, there is a great deal of other ethnic groups mixed in (Irish, Spanish, Portuguese, Native American, African American and interesting groups like those from Azores Islands off the coast of Africa).
Debbie
[email protected]
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Re: Bernudian Joells
Mitchell 1/10/04