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Tracing your Caribbean family

Recording oral history and collecting documents and information

When talking to family members, think about how you will record their stories. Do you prefer note taking to tape recording for example?  Would your interviewee be happy to be filmed? Be prepared for some family members who refuse to tell you anything: some memories may be too painful, traumatic or embarrassing for them to recall and some family members may feel more comfortable speaking with people outside their own family. 

When collecting documents and information, try to include the following:

Name: Try to get the formal name because this is the one that will be mentioned on important documents. Nicknames, aliases and maiden names may also be useful. Bear in mind how the surname was given. Is the surname of the person you are researching from the mother or father? It was not always the case that the child took the father's surname. For example, slaves did not have legal surnames. They often took the slave owner's surname which they maintained after freedom. However, many adopted their own surname derived from any source close to them once they were freed, for example, that of the mother.

Address: including those where people worked and lived.

Records of births, marriages, deaths (known as civil registration documents) are the most important records you will need in family history research as they prove a person's existence, and show family links, history and timelines. Civil Registration began in 1837 in England and Wales and later in the British territories. 

Certificates for births, deaths or marriages registered in Southwark after 1900 can be ordered online (£) from the Southwark Register Office. Telephone 020 7525 7651 or email registrars@southwark.gov.uk.

Certificates for events registered in England and Wales before 1900 in can be ordered online (£) from the General Register Office. Telephone (0)300 123 1837 or email certificate.services@gro.gov.uk.

The Caribbean islands began their civil registration systems at different times. These records are usually held at the record office, archives department or similar government department for the particular country. See the section ‘List of Caribbean Countries and Their Archive/Record/Library Departments’.

It is possible to get indexes to births, marriages and deaths from websites like Ancestry and Findmypast. The information and reference numbers on these indexes will enable you to order your civil registration documents.

You can access Ancestry Library Edition and Findmypast on the public PCs at Southwark Libraries.
Tip: When inputting names into any search engine, try to use variations on name spellings. For example, the name Mitchell may also be entered as Mitchel or Catherine may be entered as Katherine. Also, during slavery many people did not get baptised until adulthood and many women gave birth out of wedlock with their children assuming the father’s or slave owner’s name. 

Page last updated: 15 September 2023

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