Reader Reviews

Amazon - 5 out of 5 stars - A fantastic book!, 13 Oct 2011 By James Davies

I have been struggling to trace my family roots in Barbados for a number of years. This year on a visit to the Barbados Archives a very helpful member of staff recommended that I buy this book to help me with my research. It's been brilliant value for money and has made my research far easier. Very user friendly, written in an accessible, but not patronising style. I really cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you buy just one book to help you with your Bajan family research, make sure it's this one!

Amazon - 4 out of 5 stars - Tracing my Ancestors in Barbados, 11 Mar 2011 By DJW23  

During a visit to Barbados I saw a saw a sign to a plantation with my surname. As I have already traced my UK ancestors to the early 1700's I was interested to find out more. Until I read this book I had made little progress. I now have an ancestor who was a plantation owner and a list of 65 others with my surname obtained from a list of gravestone names online. This book is a treasure of information and has many online addresses and details of records held at various locations in Barbados. Due to hurricans and fires and cholera epidemics, plus poor original records (where they still exist) there are large gaps in the information available. For the really serious researcher a long visit to Barbados to view these records is a must. Having said that - this book is the most comprehensive guide you are likely to find.

Amazon - 5 out of 5 stars - Excellent source, November 8, 2007 By Verdenal H. Johnson

The best book I have found for genealogical research in Barbados... excellent coverage of sources and methods.

Amazon - 5 out of 5 stars - A great practical guide September, 15, 2007 By John A. Hunt MD This is an excellent practical guide. It fulfils its title. I have learned many things from it. The plantation of the Lake family that I'm researching is right on the map on the front cover! I have found several books and CDs of interest. 

Two valuable old books have been digitized by Google and one can read the whole book online or buy them from one of 4 linked bookstores. I have bookmarked several pages in Ms. Lane's book with websites I am still working on. The book has given me access to an amazing amount of data. In brief, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Sheila (researching Mapp family)

Dear Geraldine I visited the National Archives last Friday and bought your book. What a treasure trove! Every page is filled with so much detailed information – I’m sure that it will keep me busy for the foreseeable future. You must be saluted for gathering it all together.

Thank you! 

Nominated for Family History Magazine’s Book of the Year 2006 by Caribbean expert Guy Grannum Guy

It’s easy to read and is well set out – clearly explaining resources available in Barbados for novice and experienced researchers alike. Although its emphasis is on Barbados it is also useful for other Caribbean researchers as the sources and techniques are similar to those on the other islands.

Family Tree Magazine, England

"If ever a book filled a gap in the market, this is it. A number of scholarly works have featured the rich archives of Barbados over the years, but this is the first to be written with the needs of the genealogist in mind. Geraldine Lane has had plenty of experience in working with the Barbadian archives; she knows her way around them, and shares that knowledge with us in a book which packs a remarkable amount of relevant information into its 154 pages, constituting essential reading for beginners and the experienced alike. This is exactly right, comprehensive and clear, and published at a very affordable price." John Titford

The Dallas Morning News, USA, 5 Feb 2006

"The genealogical ties between Barbados and the other English colonies in America are significant. Unlike many other colonies, Barbados remained under English control until granted independence in 1966.

Barbados, however, has not had a guide for genealogical research. Family historians have had to be self-taught. In Tracing Ancestors in Barbados: A Practical Guide, Geraldine Lane has produced a most-needed handbook to the records and sources for tracing the island's families.

She blends well both published sources and those available on the Internet. Her coverage of the archives, historical society library and other repositories is excellent, and her bibliography of sources is especially impressive."