immigration

immigration refers to settlement in a country not one's own. It has been a characteristic of the British Isles from earliest times, often through invasion and subsequent colonization, as well as through peaceful movements of individuals and groups. Historians can trace patterns of immigration from archaeological remains, and from the persistence of languages and place-names, as well as from historical records.

Celtic peoples came to the British Isles from the European mainland centuries before the Roman invasion of the 1st cent. ad. Celtic languages, Erse, Gaelic, Manx, and Welsh, continue to be spoken in Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, and Wales. In Cornwall, the Celtic language was spoken until the 18th cent. and even now is preserved in Celtic literature. Within the areas where these languages were spoken there were often separate legal traditions, particularly concerning landownership.

In those areas of the British Isles which formed part of the Roman empire immigrants settled alongside the indigenous people. After the Roman empire collapsed in the 5th cent., Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from continental Europe moved into most of what had been the Roman provinces. They were followed between the 9th and 11th cents. by Scandinavian immigrants, many of whom settled in the Danelaw, those parts which became Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire as well as further north, particularly Yorkshire.

The Norman Conquest of 1066 brought settlers from various parts of northern continental Europe. Many continued to use the French language and maintained cultural and dynastic ties with their former homelands. Initially their prestige and military power set them apart. However, by the 14th cent. they had mingled with the indigenous population to such an extent that Anglo-Saxon and French had blended to form the English language and, in various arts, including architecture, distinctive English styles had emerged.

Some groups of immigrants remained identifiable. For example the Jews, who arrived in Britain after the Normans, kept their religious and ethnic differences, but were dependent on royal protection to keep them from persecution. In addition Jews were forbidden to hold land and undertake a variety of trades and often they made their living by money-lending, an activity nominally forbidden for Christians. In 1297 Edward I expelled the Jews, after he had exploited their financial resources. Although it is not known whether all Jews left the country, there are records of Jews active as doctors in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. However, they did not receive religious toleration until the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell in the mid-17th cent. After that time there were further immigrations as a result of persecutions, particularly in the Russian empire during the 19th cent., and the Nazi regime in Germany during the 1930s. Other minorities have also settled in the British Isles. gypsies first came to Britain in the 15th cent., and in the 16th and 17th cents. numbers of protestant Christians came to England fleeing from persecution by Roman catholics in Europe. Amongst these the largest identifiable group was the Huguenots, who left France because of the hostility of Louis XIV. They brought with them economically important craft skills relating to silk textiles and created for themselves positions of wealth and prestige in their adopted country. Starting in the 17th and continuing into the 18th cent. black slaves were brought to Britain. Their number is unknown and their history has only recently attracted any attention.

To a considerable extent immigration during the later 19th and 20th cents. was characterized by the recruitment of workers with skills which were in demand. For example, a shortage of clerical labour in London gave rise to the recruitment of German clerks, as well as well-educated Germans who could develop applications of science and technology in industrial chemicals. Similarly in the 20th cent. after the Second World War labour shortages at all levels prompted the recruitment of workers from the Commonwealth and former empire, such as the West Indies, the Indian subcontinent, and western Africa. These workers were recruited to vacancies in a range of occupations in the health service, in public transport, in local government, as well as in textiles and heavy engineering.

Since the 1960s the right of immigrants to settle in Britain has been subject to ever stricter political control focused on the definition of citizenship. The period after the Second World War was also marked by the immigration of refugees and others from communist-dominated societies in eastern and central Europe. See also asylum.

Ian John Ernest Keil