 Bradford is a story of migrant arrivals becoming settled communities that contributed to its growth  This story of migration to Bradford stretches back over 500 years and continues today Pre-Industrialisation1820’s – 1870’s1870’s – 1940’s1940’s – 1970’s1960’s – 1970’s21 st Century

 Bradford began as a Saxon village by a stream  By 1086 population 500 people, three streets  By 1147 begins to host markets  Craft industries emerge - tanning and wool  Trade with other regions, East Anglia and the West Country  By 1311 Scottish raids begin  By 1479 Bradford mentioned as one of the main woollen centres along with Halifax and Leeds Gamel, a man of Norse descent is described as the biggest land owner at the time of the Doomsday Book in 1086

Undated early map Church Steeple hung with Wool-packs during the second siege of Bradford, December 1642

 1640’s foreign competition forces Bradford to diversify its textile production  Production of ‘worsted’ creates direct competition with other UK manufacturers  A time of rapid expansion  Rise of mills and population as people move into the area 1798: The first Bradford factory

 Dawn of Industrial Revolution Bradford becomes one of the fastest growing towns in England  1780: population approx 4,500  1801: population approx 6,000  1851: population approx 103,000 Industrialisation

 Fleeing the aftermath of the potato famine and poverty, the people of County Mayo and County Sligo leave Ireland  75% of those coming to Bradford cannot read or write English and a third do not speak the language  In 1851 Bradford has the highest proportion of Irish born people in Yorkshire, around 10%  Most are poorly paid hand weavers, combers or labourers  Some are street peddlers  Housed in poor, often overcrowded conditions in the inner city  Irish Catholics in a Protestant town are not wholly welcomed  Local newspaper, The Bradford Observer prints ‘Irish jokes’  Anti-Irish sentiment erupts in violence in August 1848 with rioting on Manchester Road 1820’s – 1870’s

 Jewish Textile Merchants escaping oppression and anti-Semitism attracted by Bradford’s booming Textile industry arrive from Germany and Denmark in the 1820’ & 30’s  An economic and political force their reception is very different to the impoverished Irish  Jacob Behrens first foreign merchant to export goods from Bradford, his business grew into global empire  1851 he was involved in the formation of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce and Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1882  Charles Semon became Bradford’s first foreign born & Jewish mayor in 1865  A further wave of Jews arrive from Poland and Russia in the 1880’s 1820’s – 1870’s

“Who would have thought it possible that now just fifty years after I stepped on English soil in Hull, a foreigner and Jew, I should be deemed worthy of the offer of a knighthood by the Queen’s government?” - Jacob Behrens 1820’s – 1870’s

 The political and economic impact of the Jews is marked  They co-found: Chamber of Commerce Bradford District Bank Bradford Eye & Ear Hospital  They contribute to the development of Bradford Royal Infirmary Bradford Central library  Make charitable donations equating to millions in todays terms  Yet Anti-German sentiment during the Great War damages the community and many Jews leave Bradford 1870’s – 1940’s

Bradford ’s – 1940’s

1896 Car being used by electoral candidate 1870’s – 1940’s

 People from several other European Countries settle in Bradford between the 1870’s and WWII  Italians came looking for employment opportunities  A small community is established at the bottom of Otley Road  Some make a living as street entertainers, tinkers and street vendors  Refugees from Belgium arrive during the First World War  Between the two world wars Jews arrive in Bradford fleeing persecution in Poland and Russia and others from Germany and Austria seeking sanctuary from the Nazis 1870’s – 1940’s

Bradford ’s – 1940’s

 After the Second World War there is a labour shortage in post war Britain  Migrants arrive from several European Countries  ‘Ostarbeiters’ (German for ‘Eastern Workers’) forcibly removed from their countries as slave labour for the German war effort  The majority are from Eastern Ukraine  Many others are Belarusians, Russians, Poles and Tatars Bradford in the 1950’s 1940’s – 1970’s

 SS Windrush departs Jamaica in 1948  After the Windrush, several thousands move to the UK from British West Indian Islands  Majority that settle in Bradford are from Jamaica and Dominica  Another wave of migrants arrive from South Asia in the 1960’s  The vast majority came from the Mirpur District of Southern Azad Kashmir in Pakistan Stamp issued to commemorate the Mangla Dam 1940’s – 190’s 1940’s – 1970’s

 South-asian migrants enabled Bradford to transform from a wool capital to a curry capital  Asian cuisine produced its own entrepreneurs  Mumtaz Khan Akbar, founder of Mumtaz food industries, one of the richest men in Yorkshire  Mohammed Ajeeb Became first Asian Lord Mayor of Bradford, 1985  Awarded CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2001 Lord Mayor Mohammed Ajeeb with his father 1940’s – 1970’s

 The 1971 Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh led to a civil war  Secession from West Pakistan created a huge wave of refugees flooding India  Some of these refugees found their way into the mills of Bradford 1940’s – 1970’s

 Asians had been migrating to African countries for generations  More then a ¼ million Indians had settled in Kenya  When Kenya gained independence in 1963, life for Indian citizens became difficult  By 1968 thousands fled to the UK, making a crisis for the Government  Many settled in cities like Bradford Britain brought Asians to Kenya in the 19th century to work as manual labour 1940’s – 1970’s

 In the late 19 th century Uganda acquired a large Indian workforce  In 1972, President Idi Amin condemned the entire Ugandan Asian population as ‘bloodsuckers’ and issued a decree of expulsion for all 60,000 Asians  Thousands of Ugandan Asians flew into Britain  Settled mainly in Leicester, Corby and Bradford Idi Amin, Commander In Chief 1940’s – 1970’s

 Latest wave of migrants are from EU countries  A direct result of the freedom of movement between EU states for workers  Majority are from Poland, the Czech Republic and East Slovakia  Bradford hosts a large number of refugees from: Burma, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Liberia, Rwanda and The Democratic Republic of Congo Report 21 st Century

A recent survey conducted in Bradford schools showed that 30% of children regularly use a language, other than English at home and as many as 68 languages were cited. Of these 68 languages cited, the most commonly spoken are Punjabi, Gujerati, Bengali, Pashto (Indo – Iranian), Hindi, Italian, Polish and Cantonese. 21 st Century

On the 18th November 2010, Bradford was officially recognized as a ‘City of Sanctuary’ “.. a place where a broad range of local organizations, community groups and faith communities, as well as local government, are publicly committed to welcoming and including people seeking sanctuary”