Welsh Migration in the late 19th century - Essay Example

Welsh Migration in the late 19th century This paper looks at immigration to Wales in the years 1840 to 1900, causing a population boom in the region. The phenomenon is analysed by identifying the countries of origin of the different peoples who settled in Wales, determining whether they lived together in separate communities or blended into the wider community, investigating the presence of tensions or violence in these communities due to migration, and specifying the causes of tension amongst the various immigrant communities. Why Wales is Special The main reasons why Wales became a melting pot in the United Kingdom (U.K.) where migrants from all over the world settled down are its geography, people, and culture. Wales occupies the western part of the island of Great Britain facing the sea across Ireland. It was settled by Celts thousands of years ago and, by nature of the rugged mountainous terrain that isolated it from the rest of the island, the Welsh developed a culture, language, and history that is distinguishable from the rest of the U.K. With three sides facing the sea - the Irish Sea to the north, Bristol Channel on the south, and St. George's Channel and Cardigan Bay in the west-Wales developed to become a major source of seafarers and a centre of shipping. Cardiff, the Welsh capital, has one of the best natural seaports in the kingdom. Tucked at the south-eastern corner and close to the boundary between Wales and England, Cardiff's seaport towns of Tiger Bay and Butetown provided a perfect crossroads for ships and their cargoes of goods and people to and from England and the rest of the world. This explains partly why the Welsh are tough, universal, and open to other cultures as the exposure to other peoples have taught them to be tolerant in human nature and temperament. This also justifies why the Welsh are amongst the most daring of English peoples to settle in far-off lands like Australia and Patagonia. Wales is also a land rich with natural resources, mainly coal, iron, slate, gold, and other metals. This is why mining was the main industry and source of employment for many years, supported by the presence of shipyards and ports that brought in workers from over the world to mine the land and ship out coal and other minerals that were sold to the world. Industrial Revolution and Immigration The industrial revolution in late 18th century England caused a huge demand for coal, the fuel that provided the energy needed by steam engines in so-called manufactories producing anything from steel pins to textile. The wealth boom is much like what we are witnessing with the oil-producing nations of our century, as coal was then the oil of industry. The revolution caused a huge demand for raw materials and minerals and, because of economic wealth, a parallel demand for gold and building materials was generated. This led to the opening of more mines to extract natural resources and finding new and more efficient ways to transport these materials to other parts of England and the world. Amongst the results was an explosion in the demand for workers. Initially, these workers consisted of British and Welsh farmers displaced by the drop in agricultural labour demand due to higher wages being earned by work in factories instead of farmlands. This resulted in internal migration from other parts of Wales and the British Isles until the middle of the 19th century into the southern counties of Bridgend, Rhondda, Glamorgan, Merthyr, and Cardiff. However, in such a rough and sparsely populated land, the supply of labour was soon exhausted, so the people had to come from abroad. The magnitude of the immigration phenomenon can be grasped by looking at Welsh population figures in the early, middle, and later 19th century: 600,000 in 1801, 1.2 million in 1851, and 2 million by 1901. In the last decade of the 19th century, an estimated 240,000 immigrants moved into the coalfields of South Wales. Glamorgan's population boomed from 70,000 in 1801 to 1.1 million by 1901, whilst Rhondda's exploded from 2,000 in 1851 to over 150,000 in 1901 (Williams et al., 2003; O'Leary, 2000/2004; Hughes, 1992). Origins: Where they came from The employment vacuum created by the industrial revolution conspired with Wales' long coastlines and shipyards and ports in Cardiff to suck in migrants from all over the globe. The Irish sailed from across the sea, meeting met up with Jews from Eastern Europe, Chinese from half a world away, Italians from the Mediterranean, and blacks from Africa. Ships sailing to Tiger Bay in Cardiff discharged commercial and human cargoes and reloaded coal from fields in the north and south and copper and porcelain from Swansea in the southwest. Irish The Irish were the largest group of immigrants to Wales during the second half of the 19th century. O'Leary (2000) recounts the arrival of the poor and hungry Irish that turned from a trickle in the late 18th century into a flood by the mid-19th century. The potato famine in Ireland led many of the Irish to leave their country, with the first group of starving and desperate men, women, and children arriving by ship in Newport in 1847. Wales, with jobs and food abundantly available because of the wealth-creating effect of the industrial revolution, became a magnet for the Irish. By 1861, there were over 30,000 of them in the four largest southern Welsh towns of Merthyr, Swansea, Newport, and Cardiff. In fact, Cardiff boasts of a Famine Memorial built by the Irish migrants in their adopted land. The Irish settlers were not all desperate farmers and unskilled industrial workers who were looking for food and jobs. Immigrants included physicians, lawyers, and businessmen who fled Ireland because most of their patients and clients had already done so (O'Leary, 2000 and 2004). Jews Henriques (1993) chronicled how Jewish migrants ended up in Wales before, during, and after the second half of the 19th century for various reasons. Most of the Jews comprised the secondary wave of immigration that met the needs of the first wave who were miners who worked underground, in the steel mills, building factories, docks, and railways. The Jewish immigrants were businessmen and merchants who sold foodstuff, clothing, medical services, and various forms of recreation to the first wave of workers. A bigger portion of these migrants were Eastern European Jews who were fleeing the regular cycle of persecutions or pogroms during the period. Due to the presence of Jewish communities in Wales, for example in Swansea, that dated to the early 18th century, this new wave of migrants were able to establish themselves and grew their presence in the other Welsh counties such as Pontypridd, Tredegar, and Merthyr by the middle of the 19th century. So established were their presence that they built synagogues or places of worship, such as that at Merthyr with its gothic structure completed at Thomas Town in 1872, and several others built all over south Wales. Italians Hughes (1992) recounts extensively how the Italians ended up in Wales. Like the Irish, many of the Italians came over to flee hunger, poverty, and destitution, but like the Jews, other Italians came over to provide support services to the large mass of workers in the mines and factories. From the mountainous regions of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy most of these Italians came to escape the political chaos and wars to take advantage of the economic boom and employment opportunities in Wales. Hundreds of families from the town of Bardi ended up in South Wales, one of the eminent beneficiaries of the industrial revolution that provided a better alternative to get rich in comparison to their hometown's small and unproductive lands, large families, high illiteracy, and low earnings. The Italians brought in their culinary heritage through restaurants and the Bracchi or Italian cafs, named after the first family that moved to Wales and set up coffee shops selling fish and chips. Chinese, Blacks, and Others Cardiff was one of the Roman ports in Britain that had launched ships to trade with China as early as the first century, selling raw materials for food and luxury goods like spices and silks. It was only in the 18th century, however, that the Chinese began settling down in Wales as young men fleeing the political turmoil in China began arriving to look for work, especially the most menial, and began moving in to shanty towns close to Cardiff. Most of the first blacks in Wales came from Somaliland in Africa that Britain occupied from the middle of the 19th century. A few were remnants of the slave trade and settled down in the sea ports of Wales or came over from the Caribbean (Llwyd, 2005). There were communities of Spaniards in Dowlais and Abercrave, Scandinavians, Russians, Poles, and French in Merthyr, and seafarers from Portuguese colonies off the West Africa, and Yemen in Cardiff during the period, where the docklands community of Tiger Bay became a melting pot as residents of many races and backgrounds mixed together and intermarried through the early years of the 20th century (Williams et al., 2003). Communities in South Wales Sources show that immigrants from different parts of the world lived together in separate communities and it was not until early in the 20th century that intermarriage took place amongst different ethnic populations (Williams et al., 2003; Llwyd, 2005; O'Leary, 2000/2004; Hughes, 1992). There were large settlements of Jewish immigrants in Pontypridd and Tredegar, and Irish communities were largest at Cardiff and Newport, but both Jews and the Irish lived in co-existence in the larger towns of Merthyr and Swansea. Like the Jews, the Italians were all over the South Wales valleys opening restaurants and cafs and with some males working in the mines. It is also noteworthy that the system of 24-hour work shifts in the mines meant that several families occupied the small lodgings that were available close to the coalfields and where several generations within the same family took turns taking baths, having their meals, and sleeping in the few beds that were available. Many of these houses were occupied by relations of the immigrants so that peaceful co-existence could be guaranteed, but as the years went on and the coal mines took their tool, by the end of the 19th century most of these houses were occupied by people who only shared their heritage of being willing and able to work at the mines. Work at the mines were harsh and the wages were relatively low, but there was a constant growth in the population of immigrants as sick, tired, and decimated (with sickness and tragedy) Welsh and English workers returned to their farms (the pay may not be as good, but the quality of life was certainly better), eagerly replaced by the inflow of immigrants who arrived by the boatloads, willing to receive low wages and to live in housing conditions that could not be as worse as those they left behind. This resulted in the degradation of living conditions but an improvement in the mixing of different customs, traditions, and lifestyles. Here again, the geography of South Wales played an important role in bringing these immigrant communities together. Living quarters were crowded and squeezed into the narrow valleys and streets were carved along the length of the valleys in monotonous terraces. This increased the interaction amongst the peoples crammed into an area of high population density where pubs, sports, cafs, churches, and narrow neighbourhoods became the focal point of much socialisation. Unlike the case of other industrial zones in Britain, however, the Welsh valley communities were closer to open countryside which provided the venue for new forms of social interaction, resulting in the formation of an immigrant identity that was uniquely Welsh. The influx of immigrants during the period and the outflow of disgruntled locals to their farms, other regions in Britain, or other countries in the world resulted in the loss of usage of the Welsh language. By the late 19th century in South Wales, English became the language of choice even amongst the children of the Welsh coal miners, which allowed communication with the immigrants who found it easier to learn English as it was taught in the schools. In the southern valley region, Welsh were restricted in social life to usage in worship and religion, unlike in the Western coal mines where the language continued to be spoken at home, in schools, and in recreation aside from worship. One factor that strengthened the immigrant networks were the places of worship (Henriques, 1993). Jews had synagogues; Irish Catholics had their churches, which were different from those of the Calvinist Welsh, which were likewise different from those Anglicans. The Italians were mostly Catholics, but they also had their cafs that were filled on Sundays. These different forms of faith and worship had a marked effect on the communities as will be discussed below. Aside from Sunday worship services, the burials, baptisms, and weddings contributed to the formation of social networks that marked the boundaries amongst the different immigrant communities during the period (O'Leary, 2000). Another was entertainment of various forms which led to greater understanding and harmony amongst the different immigrant communities. There are accounts of hobbies like pigeon-fancying and rabbit-snaring, family outings, theatre performances, and sports like boxing, rugby, sprints, and handball. The pub also became a geographical centre of social life for the miners, soon to be matched by the Italian Bracchi or cafs that sprouted all over the south Wales valley. It would be appropriate at this point to mention the special role of women in the coal fields. Whilst coal miners worked seven to eight hours, but the women who cooked the meals, fixed the house, and heated the water for their fathers, husbands, and sons worked almost the whole day. This is probably the reason why many of them died early from over-work, together with their husbands and sons who died from inhaling coal dust. Through the second half of the 19th century, the boundaries between these immigrant communities began dissolving due to these factors: overcrowding, entertainment and recreation, the common plights and concerns of families where women were over-worked, and even most children were forced to work, and fathers, husbands, and sons working long hours, and the presence of the capitalists who want to maximise their profits as the common enemy. All these explain partly why Wales became a fertile ground for trade unionism in the last years of the century and in the early years of the next one. Tensions and Violence: Evidences and Causes O'Leary (2000 and 2004) documented substantial evidences of tension and violence caused by immigration into the Welsh coal fields. Soon after the coming of the Irish, there were reports in Parliament and in the newspapers of the alarming and lamentable presence at Newport of the hungry and desperate immigrants. The first race riots in Cardiff took place in 1848 that ended with the stabbing of a Welshman by an Irishman. The riots were fanned by rumours that the Irish sucked the blood of sheep, murdered children, and ran faster than any dog. Lodging houses were crammed with Irish immigrants, as much as fifty occupying a single room, which made the local treat them with suspicion. Riots led to assaults on Catholic churches and homes. Mobs rampaged through the streets looking for the criminal, who was found, arrested, judged guilty, and sent to Australia, the U.K.'s penal colony halfway around the world (O'Leary, 2004). Another source of tension, aside from racial differences, was religion. The Jews were guarded against the Christians, and the Christians had differences amongst themselves (Catholics against Welsh Calvinists, Welsh Calvinists against Welsh Anglicans, etc.). A combination of Anti-Semitic sentiment, socialist propaganda, and Welsh nonconformity amongst some of these Christian immigrants led to attacks against Jewish shops and mob riots in South Wales, leading to a decline in the Jewish population in most towns except Cardiff. Unlike the Irish and the Italians who numbered in the tens of thousands during the period, there were only a few thousand Jews but they controlled commerce in the region, making them easy targets for disillusioned immigrants who suffered poverty and hardships. Welsh non-conformist attitudes became a significant source of conflict in other ways, like in the issue of drinking at public houses or pubs. These dotted the villages and became social places in the coal mining villages where workers got drunk on pay days and weekends. The harsh working conditions of many of the miners who worked underground and in the dark for weeks on end and never saw the sun shining led several of them to seek consolation in getting drunk. This led to social unrest, much philosophical discussions, and channelling of hatred and frustrations on almost anybody: immigrants, capitalists, government, and religion (Williams et al., 2003). There were campaigns to close down pubs on Sundays and this led to the Temperance Movement, and it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that episodes of drunkenness declined as alternative forms of recreation such as libraries and outdoor organised sports replaced the pubs as places of merrymaking. Italians generated controversy as they took advantage of the campaign against the pubs to keep their cafs open on Sundays, leading to several instances of Welsh attacks against Italian pubs (Hughes, 1992). Lastly, the other issue that generated tension and violence that could be linked to immigration is local politics. Poor and unsafe working conditions, low standard wages, and lack of political unity were indirectly caused by the influx of immigrants who kept wages low and living and working conditions deteriorating. The departure of locals for other parts of England also affected the formation of a semblance of social unity that would address economic and political issues, leading to episodes of mob riots and violence during the 19th century. Examples are the Chartist revolt in Newport (1839) and the Rebecca Riots (1843). With a thin upper and middle class, the population of Wales was predominantly proletariat, which made it a seedbed for trade unions to gain support and strength in the 20th century (Llwyd, 2005; Williams et al., 2005). Wales Today: Cosmopolitan, Wild, and Nonconforming The immigration boom during the period 1840 to 1900 saw the influx of peoples from different nations who were looking for opportunities to give themselves and their families a better life. Wales, with its coal fields and ironworks that fed the growth of the industrial revolution, provided a perfect place where these immigrants could find work and livelihood. The immigrants were very much welcomed, and the towns of southern Wales became a magnet for more immigrants through the early years of the 20th century. Soon, the economy that built on coal declined, but the traditions that were left behind by its immigrant past continue in Wales. This is reflected in the complexion of its capital city, Cardiff, and its population that is a wild mix of cultures and nationalities. The presence of these immigrants and their blending with the local population continues to define what it means to be Welsh and enrich the cultures and economies of the United Kingdom and other parts of the world as the descendants of these families export Welsh non-conformism, ruggedness, toughness and daring. Reference List Henriques, U. R. Q. (Ed.) (1993). The Jews of South Wales: historical studies. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. Hughes, C. (1992). Lemon, lime and sarsaparilla: the Italian community in South Wales 1881-1945. Bridgend: Seren. Llwyd, A. (2005). Black Wales: a history of black Welsh people. Cardiff: Butetown History and Arts Centre. O'Leary, P. (2000). Immigration and integration: the Irish in Wales, 1798-1992. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. O'Leary, P. (Ed.) (2004). Irish migrants in modern Wales. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. Williams, C., Evans, N. and O'Leary, P. (Eds.) (2003). A tolerant nation Exploring ethnic diversity in Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. Read More