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 and Gof. "The Cornish in the Caribbean" 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. A paperback edition was published in 2023.

She is currently researching and writing about Cornish women in the Caribbean.

"The Cornish in the Caribbean from the 17th to 19th Centuries", short-listed for the 2020 Cornish Publishers Awards - the Holyer an Gof, is the first study to tell the stories of some of the many Cornish men and women who went to the Caribbean.

Some became wealthy plantation owners, while others came as indentured servants and labourers. Cornish men were active in the armed services, taking part in the numerous sea and land battles fought by the competing European powers throughout the region. Cornish officers and crew sailed on the ships of the Falmouth Packet Service which took the mail to and from the Caribbean. Methodism was strong in Cornwall and Methodist missionaries and their wives came to the Caribbean to evangelise both the enslaved and the newly free.

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.

Her first book, "The Hammers of Towan: a Nineteenth-Century Cornish Family", tells the story of the impact of the Great Emigration on Cornish ancestors on her mother's side of the family as they left Cornwall for Australia, Tasmania, South Africa and - a much shorter journey - for Hackney in London.

With a Master's Degree in Information and Library Management, Sue has spent most of her adult life in the Caribbean working for various international, regional, and national organisations. Married to Bernie Evan-Wong, she has two daughters, Meiling and Sarah, and lives on the island of Antigua.