Today we are going to be looking at why Britain is such a diverse society by looking at the history of migration to the British Isles People moving to Britain is not a new thing, it has been going on for thousands of years

One of the first recorded instances of migration is an African division of the Roman army who were stationed at Hadrian’s Wall - the 3rd Century. The Romans themselves were from Rome in what later became Italy rather than Britain, so they were emigrants

During the Roman occupation of Britain it was not just people from far away countries that came to England. This period saw movement within the British Isles with people from what became Scotland, Ireland and Wales opposing Roman rule

In the 10 th century we saw a classic example of migration right here in Essex. The Vikings, from Scandinavia, conquered large parts of Britain and one of the key battles was in nearby Maldon

Does anyone know what happened in 1066? Show picture of Norman… The Norman conquest! When Harold lost the battle of Hastings, the Normans took over large parts of Britain bringing with them their language and traditions. Lots of people still have French sounding surnames… these often date back to the Norman conquest!

Portrait of Oliver Cromwell

It wasn’t just countries invading that made Britain a more diverse place. People often came here to avoid religious persecution in their own countries. A lot of Jewish people moved to Britain in the early middle ages because Britain was more accepting of their beliefs. They were, however, kicked out in 1290, but in 1656 Oliver Cromwell, decided they should be allowed to stay.

Religious groups did not just move to Britain to escape persecution. Some of them chose to move here because they hoped for a generally higher quality of life. The Muslim population in Britain dates back at least to the 18th Century when Muslim sailors serving on British merchant ships began settling in the port cities of Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow and London. As of 2001 there were approximately 1.6 million Muslims in Britain, making it the largest religious minority in Britain. So when we see newspaper reports about Muslims moving to Britain, it is not a new thing!

From the 15 th to the 19 th centuries Britain did a bit of invading and empire building for itself, taking over countries which later became Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, parts of North Africa and Hong Kong. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries other countries started to jump on this empire-building bandwagon which was one of the eventual causes of World War One. After this, empires declined with more countries that had been ruled by European nations in the past ruling themselves independently. In the 1960s Britain attracted immigrants from former colonies, especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who now make up the largest immigrant communities. Many came because of the prospects of work in industry especially in textiles.

So, when you hear about ‘Migrants’, ‘Immigrants’ and foreigners coming to this country to live just remember that this is not a new idea, it has been going on for thousands of years!