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Arrival of HMT Empire Windrush -

On June 21, 1948, the ship HMT Empire Windrush arrived at the Port of Tilbury in London.

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A new beginning -

The vessel had departed Jamaica several days earlier. On board were 1,027 passengers. More than 800 of these gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean.

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Welcome to Great Britain -

The following day the passengers disembarked, ostensibly to start a new life in the United Kingdom.

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Origins of Windrush -

In 1947, Winston Churchill had implored the more than half a million British citizens who had applied to immigrate to mostly white Commonwealth countries not to desert Britain. His plea fell on deaf ears.

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The British Nationality Act -

The British government desperately needed workers to help fill post-war labor shortages and rebuild the economy. To address the situation, the British Nationality Act gave people from colonies the right to live and work in Britain.

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First wave of Caribbean immigrants -

Those who took up the offer formed the first wave of Caribbean immigrants arriving in the United Kingdom on that summer's day in 1948.

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The Jamaican contingent -

Several hundred of those stepping onto British soil were Jamaican. Others were from other Caribbean islands, including Trinidad, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Barbados.

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The Windrush generation -

These journeymen—and those on other ships that came to the UK until 1971—became known as the Windrush generation.

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Seeking employment -

Most of those who arrived were job seekers. Others were hoping to complete their trade apprenticeships and education. The first step for many was to obtain a job a interview with the Ministry of Labor and the Colonial Office.

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Serving their country -

Some of the new arrivals had served in the British armed forces during the Second World War. Pictured is pilot officer John Smythe RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve), a newly-qualified navigator. Born in Sierra Leone (at that time a British colony), Smythe was one of a few West Africans that served in the RAF during the conflict. He would go on to become a senior officer on board the Empire Windrush.

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New arrivals -

The new arrivals were housed on a temporary basis in a converted air-raid shelter set under Clapham South tube (subway) station. A canteen marquee was set up nearby where for two shillings and sixpence a week they could get food and a bed in the shelter.

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Temporary accommodation -

Accommodation was basic, but clean and safe.

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Challenging times -

The shelters provided a base from which to seek employment. But life beyond these four prefab walls was to prove challenging.

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Social rejection -

While job vacancies offered welcome opportunities to hold down a job in their adopted homeland, many of those who disembarked the HMT Empire Windrush faced the hurt of social rejection. It was not unusual to see little cards in shop windows and on boarding house doors that read, "No blacks."

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Overcoming prejudice -

Yet despite the overt prejudice and racism projected from some quarters, many of those who arrived from the Caribbean became manual workers, drivers, and cleaners, or nurses in the newly established National Health Service.

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Making their way in society -

Some found their calling in other ways. In this 1950 photograph, a black male model poses during a life drawing class at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.

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Clash of culture -

As the years progressed, the Windrush generation was pressured to let go of Jamaican culture and heritage and assimilate to British culture and aesthetics. This dilemma served as evidence of the entanglements of the colonies and the metropole.

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Interracial relationships -

Interracial relationships were frowned upon by more conservative circles of British society, but they certainly existed.

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1958 Notting Hill race riots -

In August 1953, tensions between the West Indian community and white residents finally boiled over with the racially-motivated Notting Hill riots in London. White, working-class "Teddy Boys" and others displayed hostility and violence to the black community in the area, resulting in a series of bloody head-to-head confrontations.

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Street fighting -

The street fighting sparked an ongoing debate about race discrimination and the levels of immigration to urban areas.

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Anti-immigration sentiment -

While the Notting Hill riots did not see anyone killed, the event did serve as a galvanizing force for anti-immigrant sentiment.

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Calling Great Britain home -

By 1970, the Windrush generation had made their peace with their new homeland. Many families had decided to settle, calling Great Britain a home away from home. Little did they know that the past would revisit them in the most shocking and unfair way imaginable.

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1971 Immigration Act -

In 1971, the Immigration Act was passed in Great Britain. This gave Commonwealth citizens living in the UK indefinite leave to remain—the permanent right to live and work in the UK. However, the Act limited the right to enter and live in the United Kingdom to certain subsets of citizens of the United Kingdom and colonies with ties to the UK itself, which brought demonstrators out on to the streets (pictured). But this didn't affect the Windrush generation, or so they thought.

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The nightmare begins -

In 2018, it emerged that the UK Home Office had kept no records of those granted permission to stay. Furthermore, it had not issued the paperwork they needed to confirm their status, as reported by the BBC.

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Treated as illegals -

Many Windrush generation residents were already being treated as illegal immigrants before this announcement, with older Caribbean-born people being targeted. In fact, in 2017 the British government had threatened to deport people from Commonwealth territories who had arrived in the UK before 1973 if they could not prove their right to remain in the UK.

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Wrongly deported -

Without the paperwork to prove otherwise, many members of the Windrush generation were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, or threatened with deportation. In some cases, some were wrongly deported from the UK by the Home Office.

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A 'hostile environment' -

Many more lost their jobs or homes, had their passports confiscated, or were denied benefits or medical care to which they were entitled. Very soon the Windrush scandal was frontpage news. Demonstrators took to the streets as part of an ongoing campaign against the impact of the government's 'hostile environment' immigration policies.

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Redress for victims -

In a show of solidarity, activists and campaigners gathered outside the Houses of Parliament to take part in a Justice for Windrush demonstration. A petition signed by over 170,000 people called for the restoration of legal protections for Windrush residents.

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Compensation -

The British government eventually agreed to right a wrong and compensate those impacted by the scandal. As of June 2024, the Home Office paid out £88.6 million in compensation to people affected, and more than 17,100 people have been given documentation confirming their status or British citizenship.

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Windrush Day -

Since 2018, Windrush Day has been celebrated every year on June 21. In 2023, the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Windrush was marked with a series of concerts, exhibitions, and seminars across the country. In London, King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted a reception for representatives of the Windrush generation.

Sources: (BBC) (Royal Museums Greenwich) (English Heritage) (The Guardian) 

See also: Life at Ellis Island immigration station

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