Caribbean Family History

You can now research some of your Caribbean ancestors without leaving Solihull, thanks to the efforts of the Solihull & Birmingham Caribbean Family History Group, which meets at Solihull Central Library and is making records available at the library.

Bringing Caribbean records to Solihull

The largest collection of Caribbean records in the UK is held by the London Family History Centre in Hyde Park. However, now that Solihull Central Library is an affiliate FamilySearch Centre you can also order records for viewing here in Solihull.

The Solihull & Birmingham Caribbean Family History Group, which meets at Solihull Central Library, hopes to create a large collection of Caribbean records in Solihull and currently has made available many records from St Christopher [St Kitts], Nevis, Anguilla and Jamaica. These records are available at Solihull Central Library anytime during normal opening times (see list, attached right for a full list). More records are being ordered, especially for Jamaica, so do check back regularly.

Beginning your research

The basic principles of family history apply wherever your ancestors are from.  You should always start with yourself and work backwards.  Talking to family members is vital and even quite distant relatives can have really important information.  Read our general family history pages for information on how to begin and how to record what you find.

Births, marriages and deaths

Records of births, marriages and deaths are the most vital records for family history.  For anyone who was born, married or died in England & Wales after 1st July 1837, then it should still be possible to obtain copies of the certificates. Read our guide to births, marriages and deaths for further information.

The common use of nicknames within families of Caribbean descent may make it very difficult to identify people in official records if the formal names are not known.  Make sure you ask family members if they know relatives' full names as well as their nicknames.

Registration of births, marriages and deaths by the state, called civil registration, began at different dates in the various Caribbean islands.  Many of the records have been microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), often referred to as Mormons, and are available for you to order to look at in this country.  Solihull Central Library is now an affiliate FamilySearch Centre so you can order microfilms from the LDS church to view here - find out how! There is a list (attached, top right) of the Caribbean records that are currently held at Solihull Central Library.

Church records

Before the establishment of civil registration, church records of baptism, marriage and burial are particularly useful.  For most of the older British colonies, the Anglican church was the most popular church but for those countries captured from the French, the Roman Catholic church was more important.

Nonconformist churches such as Moravian, Baptist and Methodist churches began to be established from the 1780s and may also be a useful source of family records.

Sometimes, church records will still be at the church concerned but many will be at the main library or archive centre.  Records for St Mary's Anglican church, Anguilla are also available at Solihull Central Library (see list, attached top right for full details).

Ships' Passenger Lists 1878-1960

Most people came to England from the Caribbean by boat and may be listed on the passenger lists of the ship they sailed on.  Many people from the West Indies arrived by train in London via Calais and Dover after disembarking from ships at continental ports.  There are no records of these passengers in records held in England but they may be recorded in the countries where they disembarked.

For ships arriving in Britain, the National Archives holds inward passenger lists for 1878-1960 (catalogue reference BT26).  These records, which give details of people arriving at UK ports from outside Europe and the Mediterranean are also available on the Ancestry website.  You can view images on the Ancestry site free of charge from library computers.  Further details are on our Ancestry page.

Inwards passenger lists between March 1948 and October 1960 detailing Indian and Caribbean migrants to the UK have been indexed by ship and by person and are available free of charge on the Moving Here website (click on 'search the catalogue' and make sure 'catalogue of digitised records' is selected).

Slave registers

The trading of slaves in the British Empire was abolished in 1807, although slavery itself was not abolished until 1834.  To combat illicit transportation, many British colonies kept lists of so-called 'lawfully enslaved' black slaves.

Registers were usually compiled every three years from approximately 1814 until slavery was finally abolished in 1834.  These registers are available on the Ancestry website, which you can access free of charge from all Solihull libraries.

Individual islands

Many of the records have been microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), often referred to as Mormons, and are available for you to order to look at in this country.  Solihull Central Library is now an affiliate FamilySearch Centre so you can order microfilms from the LDS church to view here - find out how! Some records for Anguilla, Grenada, Jamaica, St Christopher [St Kitts] and Nevis are already available in Solihull (see list, attached top right for full details).

Island	Date civil registration began	Records held at Solihull Central Library (see list attached top right for full details)	Notes and links
Anguilla		Birth indexes 1901-1931 Birth registers 1883-1938 Marriage indexes 1905-1932 Marriage registers 1886-1943 Death indexes 1901-1910 Death registers 1883-1991 St Mary's Anglican church: baptisms 1827-1935; marriages 1826-1957; burials 1827-1974	Government website: http://www.gov.ai/vitalrecords.php
Antigua and Barbuda	1856		Public Library website: http://www.thepubliclibrary.edu.ag/ Registers of births, marriages, and deaths, 1856-1935 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records
Bahamas	1931, although there was voluntary registration from 1802		Bahamas National Archives - http://www.bahamasnationalarchives.bs/ Birth, marriage and death registers, 1850-1959 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records
Barbados	1890 (births and marriages); 1925 (deaths)		Parish register transcripts, 1900-1931 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records. The Ancestry website (available free of charge in Solihull Libraries) has a searchable database of English Settlers in Barbados 1637-1800.
Belize	1885		Belize Archives - http://www.belizearchives.gov.bz/ Birth, marriage and death records 1881-1951 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records
Bermuda	1866		Government web portal for Estates and Information Services (including: National Library, Archives and Registry General)
British Virgin Islands	1858		Births, marriages and deaths 1859-1992 and Wesleyan Methodist church records, 1815-1933 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records
Cayman Islands	1885		The Cayman Islands were under Jamaican jurisdiction until 1962 so some records are included in marriage and death indexes compiled by the Registrar General of Jamaica.
Dominica	1861		Birth, marriage and death records, 1901-1991 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records
Grenada	1866	Birth indexes 1894-1935 Death registers 1871; 1873-1874 Death registers Jan. 1866-July 1890 (St George only0	Birth, marriage and death records, 1866-1940 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records
Guyana	1869
Jamaica	1878, although there was voluntary registration between 1825-1844	Marriage indexes 1880-1950 Marriage registers for Clarendon 1880-1920 Marriage registers for Manchester 1921-1930 Marriage registers for St Ann 1915 (part)-1920 Marriage registers for St Elizabeth 1880-1890; 1899-1909 Marriage registers for Trelawney 1880-1900 Marriage registers for Westmoreland 1893-1904 Death indexes 1878-1930 (and 1950s/60s for some parishes -see list top right) Death registers for Clarendon 1913-1915 Death registers for St Andrew 1976-1977 Death registers for St James 1918-1920	Jamaican birth certificates 1878-1930 are available to search and view free of charge on the FamilySearch website Registrar General's Dept - http://www.rgd.gov.jm/ The website http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/ has a wealth of records relating to Jamaica - some are available to registered members only. You can see if anyone else is researching the same family as you are at http://genforum.genealogy.com/jamaica/
Montserrat	1862
Nevis	1862	Birth indexes 1861-1931 Birth registers 1861-1930 Marriage indexes 1905-1932 Marriage registers 1905-1930 Death indexes 1861-1910 Death registers 1861-1930
St Christopher (St Kitts)	1859	Birth indexes 1859-1931 Birth registers 1874-1930 Marriage indexes 1885-1932 Marriage registers 1885-1930 Death indexes 1859-1930 Death registers 1859-1930
St Lucia	1869
St Vincent	1864
Tobago	1868
Trinidad	1848
Turks and Caicos Islands	1863 although there was voluntary registration from 1802		Parish register transcripts, 1864-1991 and Probate records, 1849-1954 have been microfilmed by FamilySearch, so you may order these for viewing in Solihull by following our guide to ordering FamilySearch records

Useful links

Caribbean Family History Groups (Solihull & Birmingham, Lambeth) - http://caribbeanfamilyhistorygroup.com/

Moving here website - http://www.movinghere.org.uk/

BBC website - Caribbean family history - www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/caribbean_01.shtml

London Family History Centre - http://www.hydeparkfhc.org/
(Has the largest collection in the UK of Caribbean records)

Useful addresses of libraries, archives and register offices - www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/roots/caribbean/lifeevents/usefuladdresses.htm

Paul Crooks' website - http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~prcrooks/
Paul has researched his family from London to Jamaica and back to Africa.  His novel, Ancestors, is based on his research.

Empire's children - http://channel4.empireschildren.co.uk/

Caribbean GenWeb Project - http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~caribgw/

Caribbean Family History - http://www.caribbeanfamilyhistory.org/
free access to Burials, MIs, Plantations, Slave Compensations, Quaker and Minister lists mostly for Antigua and Barbados

Further reading

Tracing your West Indian ancestors, 2nd ed. by Guy Grannum. The appendix lists all the available records, island by island.

Ancestors by Paul Crooks. A novel based on the author's family history research from Jamaica back to Ghana.  Includes 'afterword' indicating how he researched his family tree.

Tracing ancestors in Barbados: a practical guide by Geraldine Lane

Empire's children: trace your family history across the world  by Anton Gill. Book to accompany the Channel 4 series where six celebrities trace their ancestors across the British Empire.

Jamaican records: a research manual  by Stephen Porter. This is a comprehensive list of records available in Jamaica and England.

All of these books are available in Solihull Libraries. Search the library catalogue to find your nearest library that has a copy.