The first book to look specifically at the movement of Cornish men and women to and from the Caribbean from the early days of colonialism. A meticulously researched and very readable book. A fascinating subject for those with an interest in all things Cornish, be they in Cornwall, in the Caribbean, or in the wider Cornish diaspora. The Cornish in the Caribbean tells the stories of some of the many, and diverse, Cornish men and women who went to the Caribbean. Some were wealthy plantation owners who made fortunes out of the labour of enslaved Africans whom they owned. At the other end of the social scale, many came to the early English colonies like St Kitts and Barbados as indentured servants to eke out lives little better than those of the enslaved Africans. Cornish men were active in the armed services, taking part in the innumerable sea and land battles throughout the region. Others worked in the merchant marine, like the Packet Captains and men who sailed on the ships of the Falmouth Packet Service which took the mail to and from the Caribbean.

Methodism was especially strong in Cornwall and still other Cornish men, often accompanied by their wives, came as Methodist missionaries to evangelise enslaved and newly free people in many parts of the Caribbean. But the most striking transfer of Cornish skills to the Caribbean was to be found in mining. As Cornish mining declined, and the Great Emigration of miners and their families got underway, Cornish mining engineers, captains and miners went out to mines throughout the Caribbean. This book makes an original and valuable contribution to the literature on the Cornish Diaspora, while its focus on the many human stories of Cornish people in the Caribbean makes it a readable and engaging study.