Bound for Britain

Lesson at a glance

Suitable for: Key stage 3, Key stage 4

Time period: Postwar 1945-present

Curriculum topics: Changes within living memory KS1, Diverse histories, Political and social reform

Suggested inquiry questions: What do these documents reveal about the experience of immigrants to Britain from 1948?

Potential activities: Find out more about the achievements of: Sam King, MBE who travelled to Britain on the ‘Empire Windrush’ in 1948; Amy Ashwood Garvey, co-founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); Claudia Jones, founder of the ‘West Indian Gazette’.

Download: Lesson pack

Experiences of immigration to the UK

Between 1947 and 1970 nearly half a million people left their homes in the British Commonwealth, including the West Indies, to live in Britain. In March 1947, the Ormonde set sail from the West Indies to Liverpool to bring people hoping for a better future. Later that year, another ship, the Almanzora set sail for Southampton. The Empire Windrush later docked on the River Thames in Tilbury on the 21st June 1948 with 1,027 passengers.

The West Indies consists of more than 20 colonies in the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and British Guiana (now Guyana). The people who travelled from those colonies helped to change the face of modern Britain. They were British citizens with the rights to enter, work and settle here if they wished.

They hoped for better opportunities for themselves and their children. Some came to work for a while, save money and return to the Caribbean. Many were responding to the British Government’s call for workers in the transport system, postal service and health service. Britain was a country devastated by war and needed workers to help restore the post war economy.

Some of those who came were returning servicemen from the Second World War recruited from Britain’s colonies in the Caribbean. From 1944, West Indian women served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and the Auxiliary Territorial Service in Britain. From 1944 to 1945, nearly 5,500 West Indian RAF servicemen came to Britain.

Use this lesson to explore some documents which explain the experience of those who chose to settle in Britain from the Caribbean after the Second World War.


Tasks

History Hook – Starter Activity

Look at Sources 1a, b & c. All of the photographs were taken in Jamaica during the period 1940-1950. They give us some idea about life on the island. Look carefully at the photographs and answer the questions:

  • What animals can you see? What do you think they might be used for?
  • What different forms of transport can you see?
  • Look at the houses in the photographs. What are they made from?
  • Do you think it would be comfortable to live in these houses? Give your reasons
  • Compare where you live to the city shown in photograph 1c. Is it similar or different?
  • Look at the way the people in the photographs are dressed. Why do you think they dressed this way?

2. Look at Source 2 a, b and c. These photographs are of London and Leeds and were taken between 1946 and the 1960s.

  • Compare these photographs to the ones you looked at in Source 1. How are they different?
  • How are the types of transport different to the ones in Jamaica?
  • What are these buildings made out of? Why do you think there is a difference?

3. Look at Source 3. This is one of the pages from the passenger list of the Empire Windrush, a ship which brought people from the West Indies to the UK.

  • Look at the Country of Last Permanent Residence column on the list. Which parts of the West Indies did most of these people come from?
  • Write a list of the kind of jobs you think people coming to the UK would do
  • Compare the list you have written to the occupations (jobs) shown on the passenger list, are they the same? (HINT : H.D. means Household Domestic, someone like a servant or a cleaner)

Transcript of the Empire Windrush passenger list (BT 26/1237) (Excel file, 27.50 Kb)

Transcript of the Empire Windrush passenger list (BT 26/1237) (PDF, 47 Kb)

4. Read Source 4. This is a report on conditions for black people living in Stepney, East London from 1949.

  • What difficulties would the people who came to Britain face?
  • Does the language used in this report reveal anything about attitudes at the time?

5. Look at Source 5. This is a report on ‘Negro migration in Britain’ by Eric Walrond 1947-1948.

  • Do you think Obidiah Jones was happy with his new job?
  • What clues are there to show he was settling in?

6. Now imagine you are one of the passengers who came to Britain on the Windrush. Write a letter home to your family in the West Indies describing how people are treating you and what Britain is like compared to home.


Background

Not all white Britons welcomed the black Britons. Many West Indians found that the colour of their skins provoked unfriendly reactions. Despite the desperate shortage of labour, some still found it difficult to get good jobs or accommodation due to what has been referred to as a ‘colour bar’. Often they were forced to accept jobs which they were over-qualified for, or they were paid less than other white workers. Government reports compiled in the 1940s and 1950s, like the one in this lesson, evidenced racist attitudes towards these new communities.

West Indians also experienced difficulties in finding suitable places to live. Since few had much money, they had to find cheap housing to rent near to their workplace. This was often in the poor inner cities. Even if they did have enough money to rent better quality housing, many had to face the fact that some landlords refused to rent to black people. They would be confronted with insulting signs in house windows that said ‘Rooms to Let: No dogs, no coloureds’. This meant that a lot of West Indians were forced to rent homes in the most rundown areas.

In 1958, in areas where larger numbers of West Indians lived, there were outbreaks of violent ‘race riots’. In particular, in Nottingham and London mobs of white people attacked black people in the streets, smashing and burning their homes. There were also calls for greater controls on immigration which resulted in the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962 and further legislation in the form of Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1968 and 1971 which restricted British citizenship.

West Indians had been invited to come to Britain, so they also felt that it was their home too. To be discriminated against was a shock which they had not been prepared for. Some returned to the West Indies, but many remained – despite the difficulties they faced. They have worked hard and made a contribution to British life. Today, many still face inequalities in the terms of housing, the workplace and within the social services.


Teachers' notes

This lesson has a History Hook video starter activity based on one of our documents to ‘hook’ students into the lesson tasks that follow. The lesson could be used as an introduction to the theme of immigration or multi-cultural Britain. The documents included here only show a partial glimpse of the life experienced by West Indians during this time.

Students could work in pairs or small groups to discuss the questions and report back to the class, or they could work individually. Teachers should bear in mind that the documents and the vocabulary used are of their time and as such care should be taken to make this point to students and to stress the appropriate vocabulary to use.

At the start of the lesson students first compare three photographs depicting life in Jamaica in the 1940s-1950s. After this is an opportunity to examine photographs of London and Leeds from 1946 to the early 1960s. A page from the passenger list of the Empire Windrush, follows, which helps to recap on the learning provided by the starter video which spotlighted a later passenger list. Students find out more about those who travelled to Britain. Next, students look at an extract from a report in 1949 on conditions for black people living in Stepney, East London. This is followed by a short extract from a report on ‘Negro migration in Britain’ by Eric Walrond 1947-1948. Both extracts describe the poor living conditions, difficulties faced by new immigrants and infer the racism they experienced.

Further activities

  • Students write a series of interview questions for a person from the Windrush passenger list.
  • Using maps, students locate Jamaica, Trinidad and other West Indian islands. Trace the journey taken by the Empire Windrush or earlier passenger ships to Britain. The Empire Windrush started at Trinidad and headed north up the Caribbean via Jamaica, Tampico, Havana and Bermuda.
  • Students could find out from classmates, family or neighbours if they have other relatives or friends who came to Britain, where they came from and the reasons why they came. Present this information to the class.
  • Students discuss the experience of moving to a new town or country; talking about how the West Indians would feel about moving and what they would like or dislike about being in a new place.
  • Students could start by talking about a similar experience such as moving house, or starting a new school.
  • Students could produce a leaflet to explain to anybody coming from another part of the world what to expect when they arrive in Britain.
  • A class could produce an exhibition on the contribution made by immigrants from the new Commonwealth countries to Britain e.g. in the NHS, British transport, art, music, literature, fashion, cuisine etc.
  • Students discuss present day issues of racism faced by immigrants and what can be done to overcome them.

Sources

Illustration image: Jamaican girl with piece of sugar cane, April, 1960, Catalogue ref: INF 10/149

Jamaican village scene with women carrying produce on their heads c1950, Catalogue ref: INF 10/153

Jamaican sugar estate c1940s Catalogue ref: INF 10/149

A large Jamaican city c1950, Catalogue ref: INF 10/153

Trafalgar Square London 1946, Catalogue ref: WORK 21/290

Oxford Street, London c1960 Catalogue ref: INF 14/139

City Square Leeds, 1949, Catalogue ref: WORK 25/197

Page from the Empire Windrush passenger lists, 1948, Catalogue ref: BT 26/237

‘Report on an investigation into conditions of the coloured people in Stepney E1’ 1949, Catalogue ref: CO 876/247

‘Negro migration in Britain’ by Eric Walrond 1947-1948, Catalogue ref: CO 876/88


External links

[Last accessed 8 October, 2024]

You in Your Small Corner
Short free film to view from the British Film Institute about a student confronting race and class divide in 1960s Brixton.
[suitable for Key stage 3-5]

The Windrush Generation on Google Arts and Culture
Online exhibition on the Windrush Generation using documents from the Black Cultural Archives

Pioneers: Sam King MBE
Video and biography of Sam King MBE from the Windrush Foundation.

Black Cultural Archives
Find more documents on the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain.

Before Notting Hill: Causeway Green and Britain’s anti-black hostel riots
Blog from The National Archives about anti-black hostel riots in 1940s Britain.

Education in exile: Cataloguing Polish refugee education files
Blog from The National Archives about Polish refugee records.

Connections to Curriculum

Key stage 4

AQA GCSE History

Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day:
Race & Equality: Minority rights: the development of multi-racial society since the Second World War

Edexcel GCSE History

Migrants in Britain, c800-present and Notting Hill, c1948-1970: The experience and impact of migrants

Key stage 3

Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day: Social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic education

Supports PSHE in development of knowledge and understanding of the struggle for racial justice in Britain.

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Lesson at a glance

Suitable for: Key stage 3, Key stage 4

Time period: Postwar 1945-present

Curriculum topics: Changes within living memory KS1, Diverse histories, Political and social reform

Suggested inquiry questions: What do these documents reveal about the experience of immigrants to Britain from 1948?

Potential activities: Find out more about the achievements of: Sam King, MBE who travelled to Britain on the ‘Empire Windrush’ in 1948; Amy Ashwood Garvey, co-founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); Claudia Jones, founder of the ‘West Indian Gazette’.

Download: Lesson pack

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