The Windrush story
On Wednesday June 22, 1948, the ship Empire Windrush docked in the UK at Tilbury near the Thames Estuary. The log recorded 1027 passengers, over 800 of them from the Caribbean.
Evening Standard newspaper front page Empire Windrush arrives in Britain. Issue date: 21st June 1948. Courtesy of John Frost Newspapers and Mary Evans Picture Library
Many of the passengers on the Empire Windrush had strong links with the United Kingdom. Some of them had served in the armed forces during World War Two. Some of them had family in the UK and felt the nation to be their home. All their stories are different and important!
Jamaican men on board the Empire Windrush who have come to Britain to seek work. Courtesy of Illustrated London News Ltd and Mary Evans Picture Library
The British Nationality Act of 1948 gave these people British Citizenship, as well as the thousands who followed them from the Caribbean and from Commonwealth countries. Britain needed workers to rebuild the country after World War Two. Ministers invited the UK’s former colonial citizens who had been allies in the war to assist in this task, especially to staff the newly-created National Health Service.
The passengers onboard the Empire Windrush were travelling from islands including Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. It wasn’t always easy for them, many people faced prejudice, discrimination and racism after arriving in Britain. But the people who travelled from these Caribbean lands contributed towards the modernisation of Britain. If you want to find out more we have provided links to websites with further information and some great teaching resources at the bottom of this page.
London is our home now! Scenes of Brixton by photographer Maurice Ambler - for 'a Caribbean Challenge' feature - 'lifting the curtain on London's 'Caribbean Quarter’. Courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library and Maurice Ambler Collection
Many thanks to Audrey West - Cultural Activist, Trainer and Psychotherapist, for her assistance with this content. To find out more about Audrey and her work visit https://blackhistorywales.org.uk/our-team/audrey-west-north-wales-arts-development-officer/
The Windrush Ship.
The story of the ship itself is a really interesting one. It was built as a cruise ship in Germany in 1930 and was originally known as the MV Monte Rosa. After the outbreak of the second world, the ship was initially used to transport German troops. Later in the war it was transformed into a prison ship and used to deport Jewish people from Norway.
The Empire Windrush sails up the English Channel towards London's Tilbury Docks. Courtesy of Illustrated London News Ltd and Mary Evans Picture Library
The ship was captured by the British toward the end of the war and renamed Empire Windrush after the river Windrush in the Cotswold area of England.
You can find out more about the history of the Empire Windrush on the Royal Museums Greenwich website here;
Suggested links