Talks, Workshops & Keynotes: Black History and Family History with Paul Crooks
Through Black history and family history, Paul Crooks helps audiences explore ancestry, identity, belonging and historical context. Drawing on more two decades of research, his talks reveal how historical records can uncover forgotten stories, challenge assumptions and create new ways of understanding the past.
Select a talk that reflects where your research has stalled.
Paul Crooks, author with a specialist interest in African Caribbean Ancestry
Discovering Family Stories Beyond the Records
Caribbean Ancestry: Solving Family History Dead Ends
Shows how family histories can often be reconstructed further than first appears possible.
Tracing Caribbean Roots: Finding Ancestors Before Freedom
Reveals how historical records can uncover earlier generations and restore lost family connections.
Caribbean Ancestry: What to Do When the Family History Trail Runs Cold
Move your African-Caribbean family history forward by understanding the history and identity changes that shape the ancestry trail.
When names and identities shift
Black History: Tracing the Truth about Caribbean Surname Origins
Explores how surnames emerged and what they can reveal about ancestry, identity and family history.
Tracing Ancestry: What Family History Reveals About Identity
Examines how identity was recorded historically and what those records reveal about heritage and belonging today.
Tracing Jamaican Ancestry: What the Slave Registers Hide
Reveals how historical records can restore stories and identities that might otherwise remain hidden.
When records appear but mislead
The Truth About DNA Testing and Ancestry
Helps audiences understand what DNA testing can and cannot reveal about ancestry and family history.
Windrush Ancestry: What Passenger Lists Really Show
Reveals what migration records can tell us about family journeys, relationships and historical context.
Caribbean Ancestry: Colorism — What Slave Records Reveal
Records reflect distinctions that shaped identity within slavery.
Reconnecting African and Caribbean Ancestry & History
Tracing African Connections Through Historical Records
Demonstrates how historical records can help reconnect African-Caribbean families with their wider histories.
Caribbean Ancestry: When African and Irish Histories Meet
Explores the historical connections that shaped Caribbean identities and family histories.
What to Do When the Family History Trail Runs Cold
Demonstrates how evidence can be interpreted when records appear incomplete, inconsistent or contradictory.
Book Paul Crooks for:
- Libraries
- Schools
- Museums
- Universities
- Councils
- Community Organisations
- Corporate Events
- Black History Month Programmes