On 22nd June 1948 the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks carrying hundreds of men and women from the Caribbean to help rebuild post-war Britain. We are marking this important day by showcasing some oral history interviews about people who moved to Leicester in the post-war years of the 20th century.

These interviews come from the Migration Gallery of the Post-War History of Leicester online exhibition hosted by Special Collections at the University of Leicester. The exhibition is based on the project ‘An Oral History of Post-War Leicester 1945-1962’, which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and conducted by the East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) and a team of volunteers.

For most people the experience was one of entering a culture different from their own and having to adapt in the face of friendliness from some and outright hostility from others.

From the Post War Leicester exhibition

Oral history interviews

Interview with Icilma John | Icilma came to England from Antigua in 1955.

Interview with Alice Coker | Alice moved from Jamaica to Birmingham in 1961 before moving to live in Leicester.

Interview with Catherine Daley | Catherine came to England from Montserrat in the 1950s.

Interview with Sylvia Clarke | Sylvia came to England from Jamaica in 1959.

Other useful resources

Barbuda Project | A National Lottery funded film made in 2005 featuring decedents of the Caribbean island of Barbuda who reside in the UK city of Leicester. Participants share their stories and reminisce about what it felt like to arrive in Leicester for the first time after living on the island of Barbuda.

Leicester Windrush Project | This promotional video from the Leicester WindrushProject in 2018 captures some of Leicester Caribbean community’s most influential individuals, community leaders and companies and tracks their migration and experiences over the last 65 years.

Many Rivers to Cross | This Heritage Lottery funded film, made in 2014, tells the story, humorous and emotional in parts, of nine people who came to the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s.

Moving Here | This archived website, created between 2005 and 2007, explores, records and illustrates why people came to England over the last 200 years and what their experiences were and continue to be. It was created by a consortium of 30 archives led by The National Archives and supported by the Big Lottery Fund.