Anthony and Hannah Astwood were humble 18th-century salt rakers.

Today they have hundreds of descendants including at least two knights, former Premier Sir John Swan and former Chief Justice and Court of Appeals president, Sir James Astwood.

A family reunion later this month hopes to reveal who else is kin.

The reunion is organised by Susann Smith.

Her 102-year-old grandmother, Helen Minors, is the oldest known living member of the family.

“The first Astwood reunion was in 2000,” said Ms Smith. “Unfortunately I was abroad and could not attend. It was organised by my cousin, Linda Allen. Ever since then I have been bugging her to organise another one. My grandmother is getting on in age, and I wanted to do it while she was still here.”

Ms Allen eventually suggested Ms Smith organise it herself. With help from relatives, she started piecing the family history together at the Bermuda Archives. Information gathered from the previous reunion was based on oral history and was inaccurate.

She traced her line back ten generations to Anthony and Hannah Astwood who lived between the 1760s and the 1840s. The couple farmed the Cobbs Hill area on the border of Paget and Warwick.

“I believe they were probably free blacks that had certain privileges that black slaves would not have had,” Ms Smith said.

She believes black Astwoods in Bermuda descend from the slaves of white Astwoods.

“Slaves often took on the surnames of their owners,” she said. “The earliest record of white Astwoods here is in the 1660s.”

In the late 17th century Bermudians started sailing to the Turks and Caicos Islands in cedar sloops to collect salt to sell along the eastern coast of North America.

Salt was in abundance there due to the climate and terrain of the islands.

Bermudians would stay in the Turks and Caicos for six to nine months and then return home. The practice started at a time when the Spanish and French were still challenging the British for dominance over the Caribbean.

“At first, white Bermudians went down there with black slaves,” said Ms Smith. “At that time the Spanish were trying to capture the islands and would kidnap people. White people would be taken and eventually repatriated, but slaves would never been seen again.

“They were taken as a commodity. So at first, only white people raked the salt while black people stayed on the ship. Black Bermudians would hunt for turtles, and would also wreck passing ships to seize the contents. The Turks and Caicos were surrounded by jagged reefs, much as Bermuda is.”

When the threat from the Spanish ended, everyone raked salt.

The Astwood’s son, James Prudden Astwood, was born in Bermuda in 1817, but spent most of his life in the Turks and Caicos. At that time the population was about 800; 750 were Bermudian. He married Frederica Coffin Seare and they had eight children, some born in Bermuda and some in the Turks and Caicos.

Frederica may have descended from British loyalists fleeing the United States after the American War of Independence. Coffin is a common name along the East Coast of North America.

“My uncle thinks she was Canadian,” said Ms Smith.

Throughout the 1800s there was tension between Bermuda and the Bahamas over control of the Turks and Caicos Islands. When the Bahamas won the longstanding dispute and began taxing Bermudians, many left for good including the Astwoods.

In the 1860s, James returned to Bermuda to work as a mariner and a mason. He brought back most of his children, but left behind his oldest son Edwin James Astwood who was working in the Turks and Caicos as a tailor.

Edwin married Charlotte Eve, the daughter of a sea captain from the Dominican Republic.

He followed his father back to Bermuda in 1874 and was the school master at Paget Glebe for the next 25 years.

The school was built in 1835 on the corner of Chapel Road and Middle Road in Paget. The building is still there. A sign on the outside denotes an extensive renovation in 1920.

“Glebe refers to land set aside by the government for the black population,” said Ms Smith. “There were glebe schools all over the Island at one point, and glebe lands. That’s where the name Glebe Road comes from.”

The school was originally started by Archdeacon Aubrey Spencer who wanted to increase the level of education in Bermuda and pass on the gospel.

Ms Smith said at one point black and white children were taught in separate classes, with Edwin teaching the black class. As time passed, he taught both groups. He died in 1903, aged 64. His father, James, died three years later at age 89.

Edwin was the grandfather of Ms Smith’s grandmother, Helen Minors. She was born a decade after his death.

“My grandmother was a hard-working woman,” said Ms Smith. “She worked at Oxford House for many years and built her own house. As a young person she was told that she would travel one day, and she did. She loved to travel. When she was 97, I tried to take her on a cruise to the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“Unfortunately, something happened on the cruise and the ship was diverted away from the Turks and Caicos to a different destination. I was so upset when that happened. Now, she just likes a quiet life.”

In her research, Ms Smith has discovered ties between the Astwoods and the Landy, Saltus, Burgess, and Dill families.

If you think you are a descendant of Anthony and Hannah Astwood and would like to attend the reunion e-mail susanno@gmail.com or call 292-6442.

Also, see the reunion Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Astwoodfamily2015.