Barbadian British - History

History

See also: History of the British African-Caribbean community

Historically migration from Barbados to the UK was fairly simple, since many Barbadians once held overseas British citizenship (see: Barbados and British nationality), but the number of Barbadians migrating to the UK increased after the 1952 McCarran Act put "severe curbs" on Caribbean immigration to the nearby United States. In 1955, the Barbados government established a Sponsored Workers Scheme and appointed an officer in London to help find work for Barbadians in the UK, due to the perception that population pressure was too great in Barbados. Between 1955 and 1966, more than 27,000 Barbadians migrated to the UK. This represented the largest mass migration from the Caribbean island since 45,000 people emigrated to Panama in the 1900s and 1910s, and was part of a wider migration of people from the Caribbean to the UK which saw 550,000 people migrate between 1948 and 1973, with the majority doing so before the passing of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962. They were recruited to fill labour shortages in the UK in sectors such as transport and healthcare. Migration from Barbados to the UK between 1951 and 1971 represented 12 per cent of the population of Barbados.