This snapshot, taken on
20/06/2007
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Who came when?

Significant numbers of people coming from one place at one time include:

  • Huguenots from France in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the greatest numbers arriving in 1572 and 1685
  • Jews fleeing religious persecution in Eastern Europe towards the end of the 19th century, and again from Germany and other countries in the 1930s
  • British citizens from the commonwealth answered the call for skilled workers needed in the UK in the post WW2 period and the 1950s
  • In the 18th and 19th centuries some Indian and Chinese seamen (lascars) serving on East Indiamen and other merchant ships who found themselves stranded in the UK stayed on in Britain and established settled communities in the main ports especially London.

There have also been more recent migrants fleeing war or persecution from countries around the world.

Through the centuries many individuals - merchants and craftspeople seeking to start a new life - chose to make their homes here.

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