Edition 2
Newsletter: Edition 2 5th November 2025
1. Launch news
Dear friends and supporters, It’s been an exciting few weeks for Depths of Paradise! The project has started to gain momentum, build connections, and expand its reach. Here’s what’s been happening behind the scenes and online.
We’re thrilled by the early response to the website as we welcomed over 2,000 visitors in the first week and still over 1,000 visitors in this last week. For those of you who have subscribed and signed up for regular updates, thank you for being part of this journey!
The project has enjoyed growing recognition since The Guardian feature. Several other outlets picked up the story. It was reported in Now Grenada and the Facebook page of the popular radio station Power 95.1FM in Grenada on the same day.
The New Today in Grenada made 2 features two days later. A fuller feature was made following an interview with Debbie Ransome, the former head of BBC Caribbean Service, and this was published in Caribbean Intelligence on 3rd October.
An international agency carried the story in the Irish News and at the end of the month, an article was published in the Reading Chronicle. These are all featured in the Media Coverage section of the website.
In addition, there were other notable posts made in social media platforms. a recent independent Facebook post has currently reached more than 3,500 views! Various posts in the Grenada Genealogical and Historical Society Online Facebook group have amassed a reach of almost 5,000.
2. Blogs
We added a new blog called “Who Do You Think You Are?” to reflect the 2 people featured on the BBC show with Grenadian descent. The stories with Naomie Harris and Noel Clarke revealed not only Grenada’s painful past but also the incredible strength and renewal that emerged from it. In our blog, we took a particular focus on those ancestors who had been enslaved.
We looked at Glasgow Bedeau who was born enslaved on a Carriacou plantation in 1821 and progressed after emancipation to become a landowner near the same estate where he had once been enslaved. His transformation from enslaved to independent landowner to provide generational support for his family was remarkable and was a testament to his resilience and determination.
His mother, Genevieve, died young, but other enslaved women cared for him which showed the solidarity that sustained enslaved communities.
The continuation of the Bedeau family name and traditions like the Big Drum ceremony celebrate ancestral strength and African cultural endurance in Carriacou.
Our reflections also extended to the remarkable journey of Jupiter Langdon, whose story is emblematic of the wider experience of “Liberated Africans” in Grenada. Captured in southern Nigeria, Jupiter was transported across the Atlantic as an indentured worker following emancipation, after the Royal Navy intercepted the vessel that was carrying him.
Upon arriving in Grenada, he adopted the surname Langdon, most likely taking it from an overseer on the plantation where he was placed.
This name became a lasting family legacy, passed down through generations. Among Jupiter Langdon’s descendants was his granddaughter, who became the mother of Malcolm X.
This extraordinary story of Grenada’s plantation history and the resilience of its people contributed to the lineage of one of the world’s most influential figures in the movement for Black liberation.
Future blogs will continue to connect family research with wider themes of reparations and heritage.
3 Social Media
We will be opening some more channels for you to access materials from the project. You will already find many other supporters of the project on the Grenada Genealogical and Historical Society Online Facebook Group. You can now also see materials on our new X (Twitter) account. More channels to follow!
4 Schools and Education
The educational side of Depths of Paradise is gathering pace. Presentations have been made to 11-18 year old secondary school students, sparking interest in heritage and family research.
5 Database
The archival work is underway alphabetically ordered by claimant from Grenada’s compensation records. Each profile will have a link to those they enslaved and will add a vital piece to the bigger picture of how emancipation shaped lives across generations. Detail will be added to the website in stages.
Stay posted for the release dates as research progresses.
6 How to get involved
Depths of Paradise is a community project, and we would love you to be part of it. Here’s how you can get involved:
- Subscribe to our newsletter for updates and reflections
- Join the Debate on Facebook: Share your thoughts, ask questions, and take part in conversations about Grenada’s history and its legacies on the Facebook group (Grenada Genealogical and Historical Society Online). What does reparative justice mean for Grenada? How should we commemorate the lives of those who struggled?
- Send us your stories. Do you have family stories, documents, or even oral histories connected to life in Grenada from 1763 -1900? This could help us to recognise the resilience, adaptation, and community-building for the decades after British rule and post emancipation.
- We welcome contributions that help bring this history alive. Every voice adds to the richness of the archive. If you have portraits, estate documents, or symbolic art to share, we’d love to include them.
So, drop us a message, comment on Facebook, or email us. Your voice is part of this archive. The strength, courage, and bravery of the enslaved are the foundation on which modern Grenada stands. Their resilience teaches us not only about survival but about the power of hope and renewal.
Depths of Paradise is a resource for us all to share. By facing the past honestly, we can shape a future built on dignity and unity.
