Black History & Black Ancestry Talks with Paul Crooks
Paul Crooks delivers a programme of talks exploring Black history, ancestry, and identity through the lens of archival evidence, historical context, and long-term genealogical research. These talks are grounded in over two decades of professional experience working with records shaped by enslavement, migration, and colonial administration.
The talks are designed for audiences who want a deeper understanding of how Black histories have been recorded, distorted, or obscured, and how those records continue to shape questions of identity, belonging, and heritage today. Rather than offering simplified narratives, each talk engages with complexity, uncertainty, and interpretation.
How these talks are approached
These talks are not lectures in methodology, nor are they instructional sessions on how to conduct genealogical research. They are interpretive in nature, focusing on how historical evidence can be read, understood, and evaluated when standard assumptions about records, lineage, and continuity do not apply.
Each talk examines why gaps, contradictions, and silences exist in Black historical records, and what those conditions mean for understanding the past responsibly. Emphasis is placed on context — social, legal, and administrative — rather than on reproducing research processes.
Themes explored across the programme
Across the talks, recurring themes include:
- How systems of enslavement and colonial administration shaped record-keeping
- Why Black family histories often resist straightforward reconstruction
- The relationship between ancestry, identity, and historical power
- The limits of documentation and the role of interpretation
- What historical evidence can — and cannot — reliably tell us
Individual talks explore these themes from different angles, including African-Caribbean history, transatlantic migration, emancipation, naming practices, and the long-term effects of historical classification systems.
Live delivery and discussion
These talks are delivered live and are shaped by audience engagement and discussion. While the subject matter is historically grounded, the emphasis is on interpretation rather than recitation, and on understanding rather than instruction.
Live delivery allows space to clarify assumptions, address common misconceptions, and explore how historical evidence is often misread when taken out of context. This is a central part of the value of the talks.
Relationship to publications and consultations
The talks draw on the same body of research that underpins Paul Crooks’ published work, while remaining distinct from both books and one-to-one consultations.
- Books provide extended analysis and case-based discussion
- Consultations focus on individual research questions and judgement under uncertainty
- Talks sit between the two, offering structured interpretation and shared exploration of key issues
Each format serves a different purpose within the wider body of work.
Relationship to publications and consultations
The talks draw on the same body of research that underpins Paul Crooks’ published work, while remaining distinct from both books and one-to-one consultations.
- Books provide extended analysis and case-based discussion
- Consultations focus on individual research questions and judgement under uncertainty
- Talks sit between the two, offering structured interpretation and shared exploration of key issues
Each format serves a different purpose within the wider body of work.
Booking and availability
Talks are delivered online and, where appropriate, in person. Individual sessions are scheduled and hosted via external event platforms.
Details of upcoming talks, dates, and registration are available via the relevant event listings.