Topic 3: 1700-1900

• Changes in government

  • Migrant groups were attracted to Britain because it offered greater civil liberties and political freedom
• Changes in industry

  • Migrant groups were attracted to the greater job opportunities. The factories and docks needed workers
• Changes in transport

  • Migrant groups could travel to and around Britain much more easily. Improved transport also provided job opportunities
• Growth of the British Empire

  • Britain's contact with the world grew, leading to an increase in migration. The transatlantic slave trade led to an increase in forced migration
• Throughout the eighteenth century, only five per cent of the population of Britain could vote. The 1832 Reform Act gave the right to vote to more men. This was extended in 1867 and 1884 to working-class men
• The Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829 allowed Catholics almost all the civil rights of Protestants
• The restrictions on Jewish people were lifted in the 1830s
• Industrial Revolution in Britain

  • Factories were built to meet the demand for manufactured goods, and workers were needed. Machines were built to increase the production of goods. Coal was mined to power factories
• Transport changes

  • By 1820, there was a canal network that linked industrial towns and Britain's ports. The Liverpool to Manchester railway opened in 1830, making the transport of goods faster and cheaper. By 1900, five major railway companies operated across Britain
• Growth of the British Empire

  • By 1900, Britain ruled one-fifth of the world's land and a quarter of the world's population. Britain used the countries in its Empire to sell its manufactured goods. Food and raw materials were exported from these countries too, which led to the decline of some local industries
• Sugar from the plantations in British-owned West Indies (the Caribbean) made merchants in port towns very wealthy. This was made possible because of the transatlantic slave trade and slave labour in colonies such as Barbados
• In 1807, Britain's slave trade was abolished. In 1833 slavery in the British Empire was forbidden. However, the enslaved African people were tied to the plantations as apprentices. Those who had become free, and could afford to migrate, were attracted to Britain
• Growth of industrial towns

  • By the mid-nineteenth century, large industrial towns included Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester. The population of towns grew from 5 million in 1700 to 32.5 million in 1900. Docks were built in Liverpool, London, Cardiff, Bristol and Glasgow
• Transport improvements


  • By 1840, there was a network of roads from London to all major cities. Steam power transformed shipping connecting Britain to ports around the world. Ships sailed from Bristol and Liverpool to New York and Australia
• In 1858, the British Government took over the control of India from the East India Company
• In 1885, European powers began to colonise African countries. Britain controlled land in Southern Africa, Egypt and Sudan
• European migrants

  • Aristocrats and clergy migrated from France, due to the French Revolution, to Britain because of its political stability
  • Germans were attracted by the freedom to think and express their political thoughts, as well as Britain's economic strength
  • Italians were attracted by the opportunity to continue working in agriculture
• African migrants

  • By 1750, Britain was the largest participant in the transatlantic slave trade. This period of the trade and enslavement led to the forced migration of some African people to Britain and affected the lives of free black African people already living in Britain
• Asian migrants

  • After Britain took control of India in 1858, Britain's presence and trade increased. This led to thousands more Indian people migrating to Britain
  • After being forced out of their land by the British government, some Indian princes migrated to Britain with their riches
  • Some Indian students migrated to attend British universities
  • Some Indian servants migrated to continue to work for the families who had colonised their land
  • Some lascars worked on the ships of the East India Company, eventually settling in Britain
  • Following an increase in trade with China, there was a demand for Chinese lascars in Britain
• Jewish migrants

  • As restrictions on Jewish people were lifted, Britain became more attractive to Jewish migrants
  • Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire migrated to Britain because of its already established Jewish communities, and because it appeared to be a place of safety
• Irish migration patterns

  1. 18th century: Irish came to Britain for seasonal work and then returned to Ireland

  2. 19th century: Irish migrated due to high rents, food shortage, lack of jobs for Catholics in Ireland following the Great Famine of 1845

  3. 2 million migrated to England, settling in London, Liverpool and Glasgow
• Irish migrants

  • Took on labouring work in docks, mines and railways
  • Work carried out was dangerous and many were killed or injured
• Irish migrants faced prejudice and hostility

  For several reasons, including competition for jobs, their Catholicism, and a feeling that the English were superior due to their Anglo-Saxon heritage
• Jewish migrants

  • Most settled in London
  • Existing Jewish communities were worried about how the arrival of thousands of poor Jewish migrants would affect their relationship with the authorities and the existing population
  • New Jewish migrants were urged by the authorities to learn English and assimilate alongside keeping their traditions
• Increase in Jewish migrants

  Led to overcrowding and competition for jobs, which in turn led to resentment, which was increased by the media
• In 1858, Jewish people were able to become Members of Parliament. In 1871, they were able to take up fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge Universities
• European migrants

  • Had positive experiences in Britain as they set up small businesses that were successful
  • Some experienced hostility when they settled in areas of cities such as London
• African migrants


  • There were 10,000 black African people living in Britain by the mid-eighteenth century
  • Their legal status was unclear
  • Some could not find work in Britain and relied on begging
  • In 1786, the 'Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor' was set up to organise the exodus of African people to West Africa and establish Sierra Leone
  • In the nineteenth century, the population of black people began to grow in British cities including London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Cardiff
• Asian migrants

  • Some ayahs arrived in Britain with a return ticket, however some were left stranded without employment or accommodation
  • In the mid-nineteenth century, a group of English women set up a hostel for abandoned ayahs that was later run by a Christian organisation, the London City Mission
  • Shipping companies were responsible for Chinese lascars while they were in Britain, and for their return home
  • Some lascars chose to stay and found work in ports such as Liverpool, those who could not find work turned to begging or stealing
  • Chinese migrants were viewed negatively by the existing population and the media and barred from some jobs
  • Hostels, such as The Strangers Home in London, were opened to help lascars who struggled to find work
• Improved transport enabled newspapers to be distributed quickly and widely. A German migrant, Paul Reuter, set up the Reuter's News Agency in 1851 and was the first to report accurate stories of international importance
• A Russian Jewish man, Michael Marks, migrated to Britain in the nineteenth century to escape persecution. In 1894, he was joined by Tom Spencer. They opened Marks and Spencer stores throughout Britain
• The first Indian restaurant in London was opened by Sake Dean Mahomed
• The canals and railways built by Irish and Italian navvies enabled the movement of raw materials and finished goods more easily
• Many migrant companies were successful and helped the British economy. For example, Johann Jacob Schweppe was a German-Swiss migrant who developed carbonated water
• Migrant businesses were successful because of the financial investment from German bankers in the City of London, including the Rothschilds
• Italian migrants popularised ice cream
• In 1787, the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed to educate the British public about the horrors of the trade through meetings, published books and pamphlets. Black African people in Britain such as Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Ougcana, were an important part of this movement and shared their experiences. In 1807, the slave trade was abolished, and, in 1833, so was slavery in the British Empire
• The Chartist movement emerged in the nineteenth century to convince Parliament to give working-class men the vote. Two leading Chartists were migrants, Feargus O'Connor, Irish-born, and William Cuffay, whose father had been enslaved in the Caribbean
• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels migrated because of the freedom Britain offered to develop their ideas. Marx and Engels wrote Manifesto of the Communist Party in which they urged the working classes to unite and challenge the political system
• Canals and railways were built throughout Britain by Irish and Italian navvies, including the Leeds to Liverpool canal