Over 400 years ago, Elizabeth Key Grinstead became a pioneering figure in history. She became one of the first mixed-race people to sue for freedom in the American Colonies and emerge victorious. Now, years later, one of her living descendants is one of the biggest names in Hollywood! According to reports shared online, Key is the ancestor of none other than ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star Johnny Depp! Here is a look into how Grinstead set history during her time and how she and Depp are related to one another.
Elizabeth Key Grinstead became one of the first women of African descent to win a freedom suit in an English colony
According to a USA Today report, on July 21, 1656, in the Colony of Virginia, Elizabeth made history almost 400 years ago by becoming one of the first mixed-race women to file and win a freedom suit in an English colony. She was born sometime around 1630 or 1632 in Warwick County, Virginia. Her mother was an indentured African woman, and her father was Thomas Key, an English planter and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.She filed for her landmark freedom suit round 1655–1656, which granted her and her infant son, John Grinstead, freedom from slavery. At the time, Key’s father had recognized her as his daughter and even had her baptized as a Christian. Before he returned to England, he arranged for her to be enslaved for nine years, after which she would get her freedom at the age of 15. However, she was instead sold and passed around between landowners, and by 1655, she had been held in forced servitude for over 19 years.Key then filed a petition in the Northumberland County court. She was represented by William Grinstead, a white indentured servant who acted as her attorney at the time. She argued for her freedom based on English common law, which stated that a child’s social and legal status was inherited from the father. Since Thomas was a free Englishman, so was she. Other than that, since she was a baptized Christian, English traditions abhorred permanent slavery. Lastly, the argument rested on the fact that her father’s indenture contract for her expired years ago, yet she was still not granted freedom according to its terms. On July 21, 1656, the court finally ruled in her favor and granted her freedom, along with back pay for her extra years of labor. Following this, Key and William Grinstead married.
Elizabeth Key Grinstead and Johnny Depp are related to one another
According to the public database from Ancestry, Depp is Elizabeth’s eighth-great-grandson. Best known for his work in films like ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,’ ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ to name a few.