Sue Appleby

Sue Appleby's Cornish ancestors and childhood vacations spent in Cornwall gave her an early interest in Cornish family life and history. She lives on the island of Antigua and has spent most of her working life in the Caribbean assisting in the development of information systems and services for international, regional and national organisations.

Her first book, "The Hammers of Towan: a Nineteenth-Century Cornish Family", was published in 2011 and looks at the impact of the Great Emigration on Cornish ancestors on her mother's side of the family. In 2021 she brought out a 2nd edition which contains new information, including old Cornish recipes and additional photographs.

In 2019 Sue published "The Cornish in the Caribbean from the 17th to 19th Centuries", which was shortlisted for the 2020 Cornish book awards - the Holyer an Gof. The book tells the story of the contribution made by Cornish people in the Caribbean: the miners who worked the copper mines of Cuba and Virgin Gorda and the gold mines of Guyana and Aruba; the captains and crews of the Falmouth Packet Mail service to the West Indies; Methodist missionaries; colonial governors; wealthy planters; navy and army personnel stationed in the Caribbean; pirates and buccaneers. "The Cornish in the Caribbean" also became the catalyst for songs written and performed by the Cornish-Cuban band Kewbanda as part of their Cornish in the Caribbean Project. A paperback edition was published in 2023.

Her latest book "Wives-Mothers-Daughters-Widows: Cornish Women in the Caribbean" examines the lives of the Cornish women who went to the Caribbean colonies, filling a gap in the literature of the Cornish diaspora which previously focused on the male-dominated mining industry.