Tracing Ancestry via Passenger Lists with Paul Crooks | US (ET)

Black History comes into sharp focus in this masterclass exploring how African-Caribbean ancestry can be traced using historical passenger lists. This session reveals how these records illuminate family journeys, migration patterns, and the deeper stories that shaped communities across the Caribbean, Britain, and North America.

You’ll discover how passenger lists can strengthen your genealogy research, enhance existing ancestry sources, and uncover details that bring long-overlooked family histories to life. While Paul draws on Windrush-era records from his own family’s journey to Britain, he also highlights the parallels between Caribbean migration to the UK and the large movements from the Caribbean into the United States — showing how similar record systems can help people on both sides of the Atlantic reconnect with their roots.

In this session, you’ll learn how passenger lists can help you:

• Identify ancestors and reconstruct family movements
• Link Caribbean records to wider African heritage
• Overcome gaps in traditional ancestry sources
• Build richer, more accurate family narratives

You’ll also hear insights drawn from Paul’s research into his father’s Windrush journey, offering a powerful lens on how thousands of Caribbean migrants shaped modern Black histories in both Britain and North America.

Whether you’re new to genealogy, exploring African-Caribbean ancestry, or seeking tools to advance your search, this session offers practical guidance and inspiration — empowering you to trace your story with clarity and confidence, wherever your family journey leads.

Plus Ticket

1. Free access to the event
2. African–Irish–Creole Caribbean Culture Guide (12-page digital EPUB)

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/T-K6Yp-UW8s

Premium Ticket

1. Free access to the event
2. African–Irish–Creole Caribbean Culture Guide (12-page digital EPUB)
3. DNA Testing Demystified (digital copy)

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/mQanCy3o1XM

Deluxe Ticket

1. Free access to the event
2. African–Irish–Creole Caribbean Culture Guide (12-page digital EPUB)
3. DNA Testing Demystified (digital copy)
4. Tracing African American Family History (eBook)

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/ka9djAqY7N0

Be sure to follow Paul Crooks on Eventbrite!

About The Speaker

Paul Crooks is a trailblazing genealogist and published author with a specialist interest in Black ancestry. He pioneered Black genealogy research in the 1990s, tracing his African Caribbean family history from London back six generations — to ancestors enslaved on a sugar plantation in North America 200 years ago, and further still to forebears on the Gold Coast of West Africa.

Paul gained national recognition with his acclaimed historical novel Ancestors, based on his family’s story, and he appeared as an expert on Black British genealogy on Who Do You Think You Are? with Moira Stuart. His second book, A Tree Without Roots, is regarded as a seminal guide to tracing Black British ancestry.

Paul is credited with inspiring an upsurge of interest in Black and British genealogy and is recognised as having sparked a movement in African Caribbean family history research, linking generations separated by slavery and reconnecting people of African descent with their ancestral heritage.