Immigration (1951-1954)

Question 1

The Empire Windrush
(1948)

Answer 1

• A ship named the ‘Empire Windrush’ sailed from Kingston, Jamaica to London, England in May 1948
• Carried 492 migrant workers wanting to seek a new life in Britain
• 75% were male to support their families
• 1948-1958: roughly 250,000 immigrants arrived from the West Indies and other parts of the New Commonwealth, e.g. Indian subcontinent
• Existing laws led them to have the full rights of a British citizenship
• The official welcome was warm and they were assured new jobs/homes soon
• There was a mixed welcome from the British public
• General feeling of tolerance or there was outright racism from certain communities
• Economy regarded it as desirable as they used immigrants to fill out lower paid roles

Question 2

White British Migration

Answer 2

• Considerable amount of outward migration from Britain
• 1950s: Australia was particularly keen to attract new citizens from Britain
• Offered assisted passages, and help with jobs and housing
• Steady flow of British emigrants to North America
• 1950s: Britain received a total of 676,000 immigrants seeking permanent residence
• 1,320,000 Britons left for life abroad
• 1960s: inward immigration-1.25 million
  outward immigration-1.92 million

Question 3

The Notting Hill Riots
(1958)

Answer 3

• Outbreaks of violence in the Notting Hill, London, late 1950s
• An area with a large concentration of Caribbean people
• Landlords who exploited their tenants with overcrowding and poorly maintained housing
• Originally, youths attacked West Indians, pub brawls with white youth gangs
• Police were unprepared when it came to riots, no experience
• August 1958: most disturbing incident
• Over 600 white males tried to batter their way into black-owned properties
• TV newsreels showed disturbing scenes
• Fires due to petrol bombs
• 7 prison sentences were imposed on the ‘ringleaders’
• Racist leader of British facism Oswald Mosley tried to use the issue to send immigrants back to their home countries

Question 4

The Salmon Report

Answer 4

• Macmillan’s Conservative government set up an official inquiry under Lord Salmon to examine the reasons of the riots
• Chief reasons consisted of:
• Sexual jealousy of young white males who resented white women for going out with black males
• Anger of whites as blacks were willing to work for low wages
• Bitterness at the rise of rent, whites believed that due to the readiness of blacks to lived in poor/cramped conditions meant that whites had to pay more collective rent than individual whites could afford
• White ‘teddy boys’ who used violence against immigrants as they wanted to become ‘local heroes’ to whites fearful of the growing number of black residents

Question 5

The 1962 Commonwealth
Immigration Act

Answer 5

• The Notting Hill Riots brought national attention to racial tensions and that immigrant numbers had to be controlled
• There was a reluctance to use legislation as the immigrants had come from British Commonwealth countries with close historic links to Britain, however the situation was getting out of control
• A consequence was that the act was prepared during another rush of immigrants before it came into force
• 1960-1962: Over 230,000 more New Commonwealth citizens arrived
• Marked an immigration peak, large numbers within a small period of time, fuelled anxieties of those who wanted a complete block of entry
• Highly controversial measure and was condemned in many quarters as being racist as it would place restrictions on ethnic origins
• Labour strongly opposed the act but didn’t repeal it after the 1964 Election