Another member has passed on from the covert group that risked reprisals from the Establishment in Bermuda to take on racial segregation in the 1959 Theatre Boycott.

Edouard Williams and his late wife, Rosalind, were leading members of the Progressive Group, which had to hold its early meetings after dark at their home in Town Hill, Flatts.

The group worked in secret to boycott the island’s segregated cinemas, striking a chord with the public and bringing down the walls of segregation in hotels, restaurants and elsewhere within weeks.

Universal adult suffrage would not come until 1968, and the island’s schools were fully desegregated three years later — but the social protest shamed the island’s powerful into undoing the most visible segregation.

Unlike the explicit examples of the day, such as Jim Crow in the United States or apartheid-era South Africa, Bermuda did not typically openly advertise segregation but kept it tacitly assumed.

There had been other protests, such as Georgine Hill's picketing of the Bermudiana Theatre Club in response to its Whites-only policy in 1951, but Errol Williams, who captured the story of the Theatre Boycott in the documentary When Voices Rise, said: “At that point, it was the most successful protest in Bermuda.”

The organisers of the boycott, who had cause to fear retaliation from banks and other institutions of power, pressed ahead despite the risk, and remained anonymous until 1999, when they were recognised publicly.

Aside from hosting the early gatherings of the group, the Williamses concealed campaign equipment, including a copier for flyers, in their kitchen ceiling. Mrs Williams was a secretary for the cause.

Their home was also host to the formation of the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage, whose efforts culminated in the reform of voting rights in 1968.

For Mr Williams, the cause ran in the family. His mother was Joyce Williams, a trailblazer in her own right as a Black nurse during segregation. Lawrence, his father, was one of the island’s first Black detectives in the police force.

He was also well travelled. As a young man, Mr Williams found work on the Canadian Pacific Railway courtesy of Alathea, his sister. He and his brother, Quinton, also worked on the legendary Queen of Bermuda steamship, which took them around the Americas.

Victoria Edmonds, their daughter, described Mr Williams as a reserved, humble person who was simply happy that the Progressive Group achieved its ends. The couple also have a son, Scott.

Ms Edmonds said her parents, like many in the group, chafed under segregation in Bermuda after being educated overseas. While some members were more outspoken, others carried an element of trauma.

“It was something they could not accept,” she said. “Along with their friends, my parents wanted to create change.”

She gave the example of her father’s disbelief when her mother, who taught at the Elliot School in Devonshire, had to use the outhouse because bathroom facilities were segregated.

Beyond their activism, the couple were co-ordinators at the St George’s Youth Centre, leading activities for young people.

Ms Edmonds said: “If I were to sum up my father in a couple of words from the stories that have come to me since his passing, it would be the kindness and patience with which he engaged with people. He was great with kids. People say the same about my mother.”

Mr Williams worked for Sun Life Assurance of Bermuda. The couple also founded and ran a farm, Pleasant Acres, on Smith’s Island at the East End, which at the time was the island’s largest plant nursery for vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.

A memorial service for Mr Williams is planned for 1pm on October 17 at Ebenezer Methodist Church in St George’s.

Edouard Franz Williams, one of the core members of the Progressive Group civil rights movement, was born on March 14, 1931. He died in September 2026, aged 95