A tradition of immigration

People have been coming to Britain for centuries: some to get a better life, some to escape natural disasters, some as political or religious refugees. Many Irish people came to England in 1845 to escape famine. Many more came simply to find work. Most of the roads, railways and canals built in the nineteenth century were made by Irish workers.

The greatest wave of immigration was in the 1950s and 1960s. This happened not only in Britain but also throughout Western Europe. Many companies needed people for unskilled or semi-skilled jobs. Britain advertised, particularly in the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean, for people to come to Britain and work. Other people came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Hong Kong.

Michael Vaughan-Rees, Geraldine Sweeney, Picot Cassidy: In Britain. 21st Century Edition, Cornelsen Verlag, 2000, page 20