The 'Windrush' Generation Flashcards
When did the Empire Windrush arrive and where did it arrive?
On 22nd June 1948, Tilbury docks in London
How many people were on board?
492, most of them were men
Why were people on board?
They had come to live in Britain.
What did Britain still have after WW2?
In 1948, Britain still had an empire of nations around the world that they controlled.
What did the people from all over the British Empire do in WW2?
The helped Britain win the war.
What are the islands in the Caribbean Sea known as and what are they?
They were known as the West Indies and they were part of the British Empire. The included Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.
What had these islands done in the war?
They had supplied over 10,000 men for Britain’s army, navy and airforce and they had been proud of their role in helping Britain.
What was it like for the West Indies after the war?
After the fighting ended, they found they had little to celebrate upon returning home. Life was very hard in the Caribbean in the 1940s, Jamaica had been devastated by a hurricane in 1944, there was no tourist industry and the price of sugar, which was their main export, was at an all-time low.
What was it clear that they needed to do for some people?
It was clear that their future laid abroad in Britain.
What was Britain known as?
The ‘mother country’
Why did people come to Britain from the West Indies?
Lack of work. Many couln’t earn wages
What did most married men have to do with their families wen coming to Britain?
Leave them and hope to send for them later.
How many complete families sailed?
5
What did the parlaiment pass in 1948?
The British Nationality Act.
What was the British Nationality Act?
Everyone in the Empire, now called the Commonwealth, were British passport holders and were allowed to work and live in Britain. So even if you had never been to Britism before, as a British citizen you had the right to enter the country and workand settle there if you wanted to.
