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Partner Skit: Meet Pilot James ‘Jemmy’ Darrell

Darrell: Hi, I’m Pilot James Darrell, but you can call me Jemmy. Have you heard of
me?

Student: Yes I have! You piloted a ship as a slave, and then they made you a free-
man. But why would they do that? It’s not that big a deal.

Darrell: In my day, it was. I piloted HMS Resolution through one of the trickiest
passages in Bermuda – and I made it look easy. The area is called Mur-
ray’s Anchorage today, and it’s near Tobacco Bay in St. George’s.

Student: So why were you piloting a ship like that if you were a slave?

Darrell: A British man named Thomas Hurd was surveying the island to find the
best place to build some docks. Now, they’re called the Dockyard. Anyway,
Lt. Hurd needed to find a way between the reefs that surround Bermuda
so that ships could get in easily. He found a way in eventually, he just
needed to test it and make sure big boats could get through. That’s where
I came in. It’s where the most of the cruise ships get through today.
Pretty cool, huh?

Student: Yeah. So, what did you do when you were free?

Darrell: I married a wonderful woman and we had two beautiful children. And they
had five children of their own. Our line still exists today in Bermuda; we’re one
of the ancestral families.

Student: It was really cool meeting you, Pilot Darrell. You are someone who is
remembered today for your resilience and resistance, and for how you
triumphed to become free.

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