When Bill Grant leaves Bermuda today to travel back to his home on the other side of the world, he will definitely have a feeling of mission accomplished.

The 76-year-old grandfather, from Tauranga, New Zealand, will have completed an 18,000-mile round trip in order to get back to his roots and take part in an international gathering of descendants of Pilot James (Jemmy) Darrell.

And the event couldn't have happened without him, since it was his dedicated family tree research that led to the four-day reunion being organised by members of the Darrell family on the Island.

Mr. Grant, who has been staying at a guesthouse in Warwick, began his search for his ancestors about six years ago, eventually tracking down his great grandfather Edward's birth certificate and discovering that he was born in Bermuda.

He contacted the Registry General here to find out more and was helped by senior clerk Kim Minors, who turned out to be related to him.

Along with another distant cousin here, Valerie Rowling, and Island genealogist Clara Hollis Hallett, Mr. Grant was able to trace the family back to the mid-18th century and Pilot Darrell, a ship's pilot and slave who won his freedom due to his navigating expertise.

Father-of-two Mr. Grant, a retired gas station operator, had a farewell dinner at Ms Rowling's home in Smith's last night. He told The Royal Gazette his epic journey with brother Barrie, 75, to their ancestor's homeland — via Auckland, Los Angeles and Miami — was "fabulous". "I have enjoyed every minute of it," he said. "It's been fantastic, really gratifying."

A highlight of the trip, he added, was the church service held at Pilot Darrell's graveside at St. Peter's Church in St. George's on Saturday.

"It was very moving. The graveyard was neglected [in the past] and it's very small in proportion to the black people that were buried there. I imagined it much bigger."