Migration and Empire: Issue 4

Question 1

Irish contribution

Answer 1

• Irish provided Scot’s with cheap readily available labour
• Orange order
• Thomas Lipton, son of a poor Irish immigrant who moved to Glasgow who expanded his grocery shop into a commercial empire famous for teas and was a millionaire by 30
• Hibernians and Celtic established in 1870’s and 1880’s by the Irish having a cultural impact
• Increased catholic population, leading to one of the largest catholic populations in mainland Britain since Henry Vll

Question 2

Italian contribution

Answer 2

• Opened fish and chip shops which provided working class people with a nourishing, staple meal, Nardinis
• Also opened ice cream shops which changed leisure life and many were thankful for these as it was somewhere to go that didn’t serve alcohol.
• Hair dressing college in Glasgow established by Italians

Question 3

Jewish contribution

Answer 3

• Jewish immigrants had an important effect on tailoring, Julius Pinto
• Gave life to the tobacco industry with their own workers, Jacob Kramisch Imperial Tobacco Company
• Had detrimental effects on the trade union movement as they were willing to work for less and undermined workers unions

Question 4

Lithuanians contributions

Answer 4

• At first, most were employed by mining companies, eventually integrated into worker’s unions despite initial hostility from the Scots, and campaigned for better working conditions
• Lithuanians set up their own communities with shops, newspapers, recreational societies and their own insurance company

Question 5

Investment at home and abroad

Answer 5

• Scots invested in America, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Burma.
• In the 1880s 40% of all Australia’s borrowing came from Scotland
• The Forbes family rescued itself by using money earned in India and buying back its old estate
• Money made in the empire helped to fund projects in Scotland e.g. Dr Gray s hospital and the Anderson Institute in Elgin were both set up with wealth from India.

Question 6

Competition from the empire

Answer 6

• Scottish agriculture was negatively affected by chilled and frozen beef and mutton from Australia after 1870.
• The cotton industry centred in Glasgow was challenged by cheaper foreign competitors.
• Scotland lost trade to the USA during and after WW1 because America became a huge industrial power
• After WW1 the jute industry declined - Scots set up factories in India which were much cheaper than Dundee as pay of labour was lower and there was less demand for jute

Question 7

Impact of empire on Scotland - Industry

Answer 7

• North British locomotive works company in Glasgow was the largest centre of railway engine production in Europe producing 800 locomotives a year. Engines were exported all across the empire and South America.
• Clydebank shipbuilding also became important. Between 1851 and 1870 Clyde produced 70% of iron ships made in Britain
• Dundee benefitted from being part of the empire due to the Jute industry. It was exported from Dundee to India. Whale oil was used and linen was also centred in Dundee which strengthened the economy.

Question 8

Impact of empire on Scotland - Wealth

Answer 8

• The middle class grew to 267,300 in Scotland by the late 1860s due to money invested in the empire.
• A handful of families made huge fortunes from the profits of the export industries that serviced the empire. Scottish Businessmen like Sir Charles Tenant selling chemicals, Sir James and Peter Coats selling cotton thread and William Weir who sold coal and iron were thought to be worth more than 2 million.