HMT Empire Windrush arrived at the Port of Tilbury on 21 June 1948 and its passengers disembarked a day later. The ship carried 492 Caribbean migrants, many of them veterans of the Second World War. The ship and its passengers have a symbolic status as the start of the Windrush Generation. The Windrush Generation denotes the people who emigrated from the Caribbean to Britain between the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush on 22 June 1948 and the Immigration Act 1971, including the passengers on the first ship.
Haringey has a proud history of welcoming migrants from all over the world to live and work here. The collection at Bruce Castle Museum and Haringey Archive reflects a long association with diversity – a heritage reinforced with the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush in 1948. The Windrush Generation have contributed to all aspects of life in Haringey and are integral to community life in the borough helping to create a welcoming, nurturing environment for people from all over the world.
The Windrush Generation, and their descendants have made a large contribution to not only Haringey but Britain’s cultural, social and economic life.
Windrush 2020
For Windrush Day 2020 we are presenting a collection of films, images and exhibitions highlighting the stories, memories and significant contribution the Windrush Generation and their descendants have made, and continue to make, to our borough and British life beyond.
Watch our community films, read the stories – all made and told in Haringey – and get involved by creating your own oral histories, photographs and memories to be added to our archive.
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