Perfect Storm: The End of Slavery in the Caribbean

Join Paul Crooks for a black history masterclass as he discusses black resistance, the rise and fall of enslavement in the British Colonies in the Caribbean and North America.

Paul Crooks was intrigued to learn his great great great grandfather walked free from the Cousins Cove sugar plantation, Jamaica in 1838. This prompted Paul’s curiosity about what lay behind the decision to free the enslaved people of the Caribbean.

Every age rewrites history, particularly black history. Paul will place into historical perspective factors that contributed to end of the transatlantic slavery. Paul challenges established ideas about abolition; an idea created in the consciousness of many, by Great Britain’s responsible for the creation and guidance of informed opinion.

In this talk, Paul will explain how the decision to offer liberty to people enslaved in the Caribbean and North America began when military struggles between Africans in the Caribbean and colonisers; and how this unleashed forces that set in motion the demise of slavery in the Caribbean and North America.

Paul Crooks is unique as a published author and genealogist with a specialist interest in Black ancestry and African Caribbean history. He came to prominence with his pioneering research into African Caribbean genealogy During the 1990s, when he became the first to trace his family history back 6 generations, from London to his ancestors captured off the West African coast 200 years ago. He discovered his ancestors were enslaved on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. His books, Ancestors and A Tree Without Roots – The Guide To Tracing British, African And Asian Caribbean Ancestry brought him international recognition for his breakthrough research into Black ancestry.

Paul appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? with Moira Stuart as the expert in African Caribbean family history. He is credited with inspiring an upsurge in interest in Black and British ancestry. He is also recognised for having spawned an industry in African Caribbean genealogy.