If you’ve looked at our pages concerning black British history in the 18th and 19th centuries you will know that there was a lot going on before the dawn of a new century on 1st January 1900. But the 20th century certainly saw a rapid expansion of the black presence in Britain unequalled by anything in earlier centuries. Britain at the 31st December 1999 had been transformed and the increased black presence was a major contributing factor. Britain looked different, sounded different and even ate different food.
Those changes didn’t happen overnight when the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury on 22nd June 1948, they had been long in the making. But June 1948 was a watershed moment as it signalled the start of a step change in British society. Most of those who disembarked from the Windrush (and those who followed) initially intended to stay only a few years, to make some money before returning ‘home’ to the Caribbean. One of those disembarking said his intention was to ‘get a job’, while another, Harold Wilmot, indicated his desire to help himself and support his mother back in Jamaica. But for many, things didn’t work out as planned. They married, had children, put down roots and, although they might speak wistfully about ‘going home’, most never did.
Instead they stayed and contributed to the re-building of a ‘Mother Country’ shattered by war. They came to work in the newly established NHS, on the buses, in the Post Office, on building sites or in factories. They paid their taxes. But what some of them didn’t do was keep up with the successive changes to British immigration policy. Many didn’t keep their paperwork up to date and when they had served their purpose and outstayed their welcome this had disastrous consequences for some of their children.
The way the British Government treated members of the Windrush generation, a situation that came to a head in May 2018, truly deserves to be described as a scandal. That it happened can be directly attributed to the ignorance of British politicians and officials. That’s why it is so important to tell the stories of the people who came to support the Mother Country (as many of them would describe Britain), to educate and inform and ensure that the contribution of the Windrush generation can never again be forgotten. We feature the stories of a small sample of them here.
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Nadia Cattouse -
Allan Wilmott and Neil Flanagan -
Edna Chavannes