Advanced Genealogy

Introduction to Migration


Twentieth Century Migrants

The first half of the twentieth century was one of incremental regulation of immigration; the second half witnessed the era of mass immigration. The outbreak of the Second World War and the horrors of the Holocaust prompted an influx of refugees from Europe. By the end of 1945 the Poles formed the largest group of Europeans in Britain. They were actively sought in the period of economic rebuilding that followed six debilitating years of conflict, and formed, with other eastern Europeans, the European Volunteer Workers. These were joined in the late 1940s and 1950s by the first immigrants from the Caribbean, followed by those from India and Pakistan. All these people were welcomed – admittedly not by everyone – for their willingness to work, in particular to fill jobs the indigenous population was unwilling to do.


Migrant Records

Throughout the past 500 years or more all immigrants to British shores have been touched by the hand of authority some lightly, some oppressively. Yet this contact means that records were kept, of which many remain. It is simply a question of what they are, and where they can be found. The answer to the latter is, on the whole, the Public Records Office in Kew. This enormous complex – half pebble-dashed, beige carbuncle; half airy, modern glass box houses all government records for the United Kingdom, going back to the Doomsday Book and beyond. The records are said to occupy 170 Kilometres (105 miles) of shelving. Most genealogists and family historians, however amateur they may be, end up at Kew, revelling in the wide-open spaces denied them at the FRC. The only thing you need to remember for your visit is this; buy a pencil. Pens are strictly forbidden.

But how do you find your immigrant ancestor? Let’s assume you discovered he or she was an immigrant through information on a census return. It may be worth looking at later censuses because one of these might offer more than just the country where they were born. Perhaps a specific town might be mentioned. The census might also tell you whether they settled within a community – perhaps one, such as the Jewish community, that was adept at keeping thorough records. They might have lived with and alongside their fellow countrymen. If so, why did they escape or leave their home countrymen. If so, why did they escape or leave their home country? For answers to these questions you will have to acquaint yourself with what was going on in the world at that time. You can track back and see whether any record was made of their arrival in Britain: were they registered by the authorities, or they on the passenger list of the vessel that brought them? Did they become naturalized, that is, a British subject? It is almost certain that at some point they will have left a trace, however faint.

www.movinghere.org.uk is a welcome site that is well worth checking out. It boasts a database of digitised photographs, maps, objects and documents collected from 30 local and national archives, museums and libraries. There are histories of immigrants from the Caribbean, Ireland, southern Asia and the Jewish Diaspora, and tips on tracing your immigrant roots. Best of all, there is a searchable archive of 150,000 items.