20th Century Migration: 1948 – Citizenship and Empire

In this episode, we’re looking at two different migration experiences shaped by the British Nationality Act of 1948. For our first story, we explore the challenges faced by those arriving in Britain on board the Empire Windrush. We then follow the story of a young man who leaves Pakistan in search of adventure and opportunity.

Download the full episode transcript here.

Documents from The National Archives used in this episode: BT 26/1237; CO 875/59/1; LAB 26/198; LAB 26/198; HO 334/1489/19981.

You can read about the hostel riots in our blog, Before Notting Hill: Causeway Green and Britain’s anti-black hostel riots.

If you’re interested in finding out more about records covered in this episode take a look at our research guides to Passenger lists and Immigration. For help navigating our catalogue you can watch our top level tips on using Discovery.

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