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Design
details: Pride and belonging.....
On 21 June 1948, a ship called HMT Empire Windrush docked
at Tilbury in Essex after arriving from Jamaica.
It carried 1,027 passengers, 802 of which were British subjects, including
men, women and children, who gave their last country of residence as
somewhere in the Caribbean, travelling to the United Kingdom hoping to
start a new life. Marking the date of disembarkation, Windrush Day takes
place on 22 June each year.
Whilst it was not the first ship to transport British Caribbean passengers
to the country following the Second World War, many of the people on board
were UK ex-service personnel. These people sought work in the ‘mother
country’, as the war had left the UK with a significant labour shortage
and a decimated economy. By 1961, the national population census recorded
161,000 Caribbean-born people were living in England and Wales.
Windrush garnered much attention upon its arrival and has since become
symbolic for many of the Caribbean communities who, alongside numerous
Commonwealth citizens, arrived in the UK between 1948 and 1973. They
played a pivotal role in rebuilding the UK after the Second World War, as
well as shaping modern British culture and society.
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