Historical immigration to Great Britain

The historical immigration to Great Britain concerns the movement of people, cultural and ethnic groups to the British Isles before Irish independence in 1922. Immigration after Irish independence is dealt with by the article Immigration to the United Kingdom since Irish independence.

Modern humans first arrived in Great Britain during the Palaeolithic era, but until the invasion of the Romans (1st century BC) there was no historical record. With the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, large numbers of Germanic speakers from the continent migrated to the southern parts of the island, becoming known as the Anglo-Saxons and eventually forming England. Beginning at the end of the eighth century, bands of Vikings began to invade and subsequently settle. In 1066, the Normans successfully took control of England. Subsequently, the Plantagenet Dynasty held the Throne of England from 1154 to 1485. These events resulted in a continuous flow of migration from France during this period. Other European migrants included Flemings and French Huguenots.

The Great Famine in Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom, resulted in perhaps a million people migrating to Great Britain.[1] Throughout the 19th century, a small population of 28,644 German immigrants built up in England and Wales. London held around half of this population, and other small communities existed in Manchester, Bradford and elsewhere. The German immigrant community was the largest group until 1891, when it became second to Russian Jews.[2] After 1881, Russian Jews suffered bitter persecutions and as a result 2 million left the Russian Empire by 1914. Around 120,000 settled permanently in Britain, becoming the largest ethnic minority from outside the British Isles,[3] and by 1938 this population had increased to 370,000.[4] Unable to return to Poland at the end of the Second World War, over 120,000 Polish veterans remained in the UK permanently.[5] After the war, many people immigrated from colonies and former colonies in the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent, as a legacy of empire or driven by labour shortages.[6] In 1841, only 0.25 per cent of the population of England and Wales was born in a foreign country, increasing to 1.5 per cent by 1901,[7] 2.6 per cent by 1931 and 4.4 per cent in 1951.[8] DNA studies have been used to provide a direct record of the effects of immigration on the population.[9]

  1. ^ Richards, Eric (2004). Britannia's children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600. London: Hambledon, p. 143. ISBN 978-1-85285-441-6.
  2. ^ P. Panayi (1906). P. Panayi, 'German Immigrants in Britain, 1815–1914' in Germans in Britain since 1500, ed P. Panayi, (London: Hambledon Press, 1996). pp. 73–112. ISBN 978-0-8264-2038-1.
  3. ^ Panayi, Panikos (1996). Germans in Britain Since 1500. ISBN 978-0-8264-2038-1.; "East End Jews". BBC.
  4. ^ Jews in Britain: Origin and Growth of Anglo-Jewry. p. 7.; "A summary history of immigration to Britain". Migrationwatch UK.; "The Jews". Victoria County History, London, 1969 – via British History Online.
  5. ^ Gibney, Matthew J.; Hansen, Randall (2005). Immigration and asylum: from 1900 to the present, ABC-CLIO, p. 630. ISBN 978-1-57607-796-2
  6. ^ "Short History of Immigration". BBC News. 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  7. ^ Green, Lord Andrew. "A summary history of immigration to Britain". Migration Watch UK.
  8. ^ Coleman, David (17 April 2013). "Immigration, Population and Ethnicity: The UK in International Perspective". The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  9. ^ Coop G, Pickrell JK, Novembre J, Kudaravalli S, Li J, Absher D, Myers RM, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Feldman MW, Pritchard JK. (2009). The role of geography in human adaptation. PLoS Genetics 5:e1000500. PDF Archived 8 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine