African Caribbean / West Indian Community
The West Indies refers to a group of islands, enclosing the Caribbean Sea and located to the South East of North America. African-Caribbean or West Indian people from these islands have been engaged in a close relationship with Britain and British culture for hundreds of years…
Most black West Indians and African Caribbean people living in Britain are descendants of Africans, transported involuntarily to the Caribbean during the Slave trade and forced to work on British owned plantations.
Following the abolition of Slavery in 1833, fewer Black people came to Britain and many assimilated into British society by marrying into the white population. A small number of West Indians continued to arrive in Britain throughout the 19th century. Some had served in the British Armed forces; the army and navy, others arrived as merchants and students. However, the next major wave of migration of West Indian settlers to Britain was not until the 1940s.
During World War II, many West Indian service men and women fought for the allies and many were based in British towns and cities. The 1948 British Nationality Act gave British citizenship to all citizens in commonwealth countries, meaning they were free to work and live in Britain. A number of West Indian service men chose to return to Britain following the War to find work as civilians. Many worked as entertainers, prompted by a surge in popularity for Caribbean and Calypso music and a need, especially in London for post War cheer.
Following World War II there was a massive labour shortage in Britain and America. The first wave of migration to Britain was marked by the arrival in 1948 of 500 Jamaicans on board the ‘Empire Windrush’. However, due to proximity, many West Indians were choosing to settle in America rather than Britain. This changed in 1952 when a draconian law was passed in the American congress that allowed only 100 people per island per year to emigrate from the West Indies to the United States. This put a block on migration and made it necessary for any intending migrant to switch their focus to Britain. Throughout the 1950s, thousands of West Indians arrived and settled in Britain.
By 1961, there were 175,000 West Indians living and working in Britain. Throughout the 50s and 60s, important employers such as London Transport and the NHS recruited large numbers of West Indians to work in the UK.
Between 1955 and 1961, 4000 West Indians joined London’s transport system; many of these workers were young men from Barbados. A large number of Jamaican nurses were also encouraged to come and work in Britain; many became specialists in midwifery.
There was an acute housing shortage in London following the war. West Indian settlers found it especially difficult to find lodgings with signs such as ‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’ greeting emigrants to Britain. During the 60s, many West Indians who had come to work in London dispersed to smaller towns across the country and New Towns such as Stevenage where offers of houses often accompanied jobs.
During the 1970s, children born in Britain to West Indian settlers faced difficulties defining their identities as Black and British. Many faced prejudice, with ‘Sus’ laws enabling police to stop and search young West Indians. The 'Sus law' was a 1824 Vagrancy Act which meant that a person could be convicted on the sole testimony of the arresting officer for being "a suspected person loitering with intent to steal". Most people who were stopped were never charged with any offence and tensions came to a head in 1981 with the Brixton riots.
Many West Indians associated with Hertfordshire have excelled in Sport. Roland Butcher, brought up in Stevenage, was the first West Indian born Barbadian to play test cricket for England. Although born in Jamaica, the England footballer John Barnes first played professional football for Watford FC.
In 2001, there were over 6000 people who identified themselves as ‘Black or Black British Caribbean’ living in Hertfordshire. The largest numbers live in North Hertfordshire; in Hitchin, Letchworth and Stevenage and in Watford.
Caribbean Presence in Letchworth Garden City
The end of World War II symbolised the beginning of the end of the British Empire. It was also the period when people travelled to Britain from all over the scattered islands of the Caribbean, encapsulated in one word: ‘Windrush’.
The Windrush generation arrived full of expectation of the ‘Mother Country’. They really did believe the streets would be paved with gold. Of course this was far from true but they stayed, worked and assimilated into multi-racial Britain.
African-Caribbean people have been present in the UK for over 400 years, but the labour shortage in Britain during the 1950s and 60s meant a greater movement into British industry.
A lack of opportunities in the West Indies forced people to migrate at an early age to seek fortunes away from home. Therefore, many of the immigrant population were under 24.
Caribbean migrants played a pivotal role in the modernisation and rebuilding of Britain but for them, these were turbulent times. Making the transition from the Caribbean to Britain was a real challenge. These new arrivals faced considerable problems in a hostile environment; finding a place to live was a soul destroying experience and disparity in income levels and social status left them with a deep sense of dissatisfaction.
Caribbean People in Letchworth Garden City:
The Caribbean people who have made their home in Letchworth come from many different islands including Jamaica, Trinidad, Grenada and Barbados. West Indian inhabitants are known to be hard working and self sufficient with a society based around the family. The extended family remains an important part of their every day life, therefore their primary motivation in entering Britain was twofold, firstly to help re-build Britain post War and secondly to provide financial support for their families back home.
The majority of the Caribbean population in North Herts worked in local industry such as George Kings, Borg Warner, Armco Bundy Tubing, the Rubber Factory and K&L Foundries, often doing jobs the locals found dirty and undesirable. They worked long hours in poor conditions for minimum wages.
Initially West Indian people found lodging within Indian households as they were restricted from rental opportunities on the open market. It was common to find a great number of people from migrant groups living close to each other as this provided personal safety as well as social support.
Personal Experiences
Clement Dacosta Small was born in Barbados and qualified as a carpenter. He left for England at the age of 27 on a long and tiring journey by sea. On arrival, he found England to be a very cold and un-friendly place. He stayed at Baldock hostel for a period then moved in with a Polish family at Ridge Road, Letchworth Garden City. He wasn’t taken on as a carpenter by any local firms and his frustration took him to K&L Foundries where he worked on the shop floor for 23 years. Clement met his wife Hilda in Letchworth and they went on to have six children who all live in the town.
Headley Perkins from Jamaica was the first black member of North Herts District Council in 1979. Coming to England in 1954, he had a variety of factory jobs before joining the RAF in 1956. After he was demobbed in 1961 he trained as an engineer and obtained a job in Works Road, Letchworth as an Engineering Draughtsman with Cooper-Compressors. He says: ‘Letchworth has been good to our family. We have all grown up in the town. My wife Jennifer and I bought our first house in Letchworth in 1962 where we still live.’
In 1967, Headley enrolled as a full time student and gained an HND in mechanical production engineering. He moved into teaching, studied for a BA and became Head of Technology at the school where he worked for 22 years. It was at this time he became involved with the Council as he represented Letchworth East Ward. He acted as a community advocate in the North Herts Minority Ethnic Forum.
Norris Kensley Lalite arrived at Baldock Hostel in June 1957 and found the weather cold, even though the sun was shining. He didn’t like the hostel or having to walk a little distance to the canteen with his cup and cutlery every day to queue up for food which he would take back to his room.
He moved to Letchworth the following month and found lodgings and a job in the Letchworth Bacon Factory. It was here he met his wife Phyllis from Jamaica. Norris grew to love Letchworth and found the people polite and helpful. He says of his experience: ‘Life was very hard, suffering the bitterly cold grey winter days, bringing up a family, working shifts and sending gifts back to the West Indies to help our parents. Housing accommodation from the local authority for Caribbean citizens was non-existent which meant couples and young families had to live in one room together in a house, sharing a kitchen and the bathroom’.
From 'Caribbean Presence in Letchworth Garden City' by Eric Blakeley and Gurdev Delay
