I did some research which was published and is ongoing. Documentary evidence comes in the form of a will dated 1883 and ships records from China of those who came as indentured labour dated 1863. The research unearthed relatives who came from Africa, (Sierra Leone) Bardados, China, South India and Maderia.

T hanks Maat- In 1838 'East Indians' who were mostly from Bilal, the hilly areas of Bengal and Tamil states were indentured to work in the former British Guiana.

*Begin by speaking to family members. Obviously the older ones have information that may be lost to younger ones. Others may know family links that others don't.
* Find out dates of marriages, births, deaths.
*Find locations where they lived/ migration patterns.
*Get visual descriptions, colouring, visual distinguishing marks.
*Find out family illness. Useful for passing on information to new generations.
*Find out occupations.
*Do a history of what was happening in their area that possibly affected their decisions i.e. lack of work, migration, etc.
*Look up the internet directories in different countries for family names and write to these people once a link has been established from the memories of older ones.

*Record everything no matter how small it could be a thread that someone else knows about.

I was able to locate one of my mother's first cousin's who she had not heard from in over 45 years. He in turn gave me information which lead to other links that reached to many different Caribbean Islands and even Nova Scotia.

*There is also a website that could help.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/p...s/blackhistory.

Maat- Tap in your family name on Google you might come up with something. I found pages of my family that way. I was also able to find family in Canada and then email them.
Tap in your family name and the different countries they have links with. When questioning your family write down who gave the information. Sometimes it is good to record them for prosperity. Yes, it is going to be jumbled for a while, But as you get more information things will become clear. I have been doing this for many years. It is just like fitting together a giant jig-saw puzzle.
As regards to your great grandfather, try to get a description of him . That might be the best you can do and ask the elder ones who in the family resembled him. What you can do is write down the age he died and from what, if you know. Did he have any family other than himself? That might give an indication whether he was from India or local. Try ships records. I went to the record place in Kew but I found that tedious because I was not sure what I was looking for. I also joined the british library and researched the African Caribbean section after a lead from the internt. I also found information from the Ellis island records of family who had gone to the States in the 1920's. Without knowing where your family is from I cannot point to direct links.
I cannot stress how important it is to get descriptions: height, hair texture, colouring, distinguishing marks, work, anything they were known to say, habits.
I recently spoke to a cousin who knew our grand father and though I didn't know him. I am building up a picture of the type of man he was. Remember each relative would have a different perspective of the same person. Quiz everyone then go back again because onesession would stil something else and when you gleam informatin from a different person relay it to the person you are talking to. That might trigger a memory that was 'locked in.' Get a book and write everything down as you progress you will start to ask questions relationg to the information you already have. It is very rewarding because it give an individual a new sense of self and a deeper identity and belonging. It also makes the elders feel more vauled and gives them a connection to the young.

@Sargaco: Thank you for the advice. It makes a lot of sense. The hardest thing is that my family name on my mums side is soooo common I could be related to most part of the western world!!

I even see that one villager shares the same name. Who knows if we are related somewhere down the line. I sometimes even wonder if I'm talking to family online without even knowing it but don't want to hail out their names as such LOL. I really would like to find some of my immediate cousins. Being the oldest girl of this side I feel a sense of responsibility to make sure we find each other seeing as my uncles don't seem to see it as important.

Anyway, I'll take that advice and see what comes up when I goggle the name. So far I've stuck to what the family have told me.

Caribbean Surname Index :: Index

If you scroll down the page on this site there is a 'Useful Links' section Lot's of advice on there.


Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library


RootsWeb: CARIBBEAN-L Archives (September 1999)

Searchable Genealogy Databases on the WWW

Sources of Jamaican Genealogy

The National Archives of the United Kingdom

TRINIDAD: Genealogy Queries

NLJdigital
Also National Library of Jamaica

DPLS Archive: Slave Movement During the 18th and 19th Centuries

Paul Crooks experience of geneology.

http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~prcrooks/index.html

Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834


This database contains the slave registers for the following colonies and years:

Antigua (1817-1818, 1821, 1824, 1828, 1832)

Bahamas (1822, 1825, 1828, 1831, 1834)

Barbados (1817, 1820, 1823, 1826, 1829, 1832, 1834)

Berbice (1818-1819, 1822)

Dominica (1817, 1820, 1823)

Grenada (1817-1834)

Honduras (1834)

Jamaica (1817, 1820, 1823, 1826, 1829, 1832, 1834)

Mauritius (1817, 1819, 1822, 1826, 1830, 1832, 1835)
Nevis (1817, 1822, 1825, 1828, 1831)

Sri Lanka (Ceylon) (1818-1832)

St Christopher (1817, 1822, 1825, 1827-1828, 1831, 1834)

St Lucia (1815, 1819)

St Vincent (1817, 1822, 1825, 1828, 1831, 1834)

Tobago (1819-1834)

Trinidad (1813, 1815-1816, 1819, 1822, 1825, 1828, 1831, 1834)

Virgin Islands (1818, 1822, 1825, 1828, 1831, 1834)

The following colonies are not included in this collection but can be viewed in paper form at The National Archives:

Jamaica (pieces 193, 206-208)

St Christopher (pieces 261-263)

Grenada (piece 264, 266)

Dominica (pieces 359-363)

Nevis (piece 369)

St Lucia (pieces 382-390)

Demerara (pieces 391-436)

Berbice (pieces 441-446)

Montserrat (pieces 447-451)

Bermuda (pieces 452-455)

St Vincent (pieces 494, 496)

Mauritius (piece 566, 571)

Cape of Good Hope (pieces 652-662)

If anyone wants a look up let me know...

Searching the archives recently I found the archives for Sam Sharpe including the reason for his death.

All needs putting onto one site and formatted so it can be researched properly.

It is all on one site...Remember the petition about some company profiting!

The second list, that is the list not yet digitalized is available like all the rest to view for free via the National Archives

It is only a matter of time before the whole lot is available on line (as quickly as those Indian and Chinese transcribers can work that is)