Everyone who lives in Britain today is either descended from people who migrated to this country - whether a short or a very long time ago - or is a migrant, someone born elsewhere in the world who has come to make his or her home here. So it is important to remember that migration to this country has always happened - both large and small scale - and it is an important part of our history. Some migrants came to escape religious or political persecution and others harsh economic conditions - a matter of survival. Sometimes people came here to trade and stayed on. Others were involuntary migrants, that is they had no choice in the matter, such as those Black people who were brought to Britain as slaves.

From the nineteenth century onwards, there was a significant increase in the numbers of people coming to Britain. There are several reasons for this: the European countries had been at war with each other at the beginning of the century, there were improvements in travel conditions and Britain had a large merchant navy with ships sailing to countries all over the world to sell and buy goods. There were big developments in Britain too, at this time, as the country was changing from a mostly rural society to an industrial one, with the creation of large manufacturing towns in the Midlands and north of England. The persecution of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe was the reason for many Jewish people coming to England in the 30 years from 1880. Most settled in the United States but a significant number made their homes in England in places such as London, Manchester and Leeds.

This part of the site describes the Acts of Parliament made over the past two centuries that relate to migration and naturalisation. By following the links you can read copies of the Acts. As a result of this legislation, records of people coming to this country began to be accumulated that are important sources for people tracing their family history. These are listed in detail. So what follows is both a history of the laws relating to migration and also a guide to the surviving documents. An important part of the records are the documents relating to naturalisation. Many of these documents are in The National Archives in London where they can be consulted by anyone interested in finding out about their ancestors.

During the nineteenth and early twentieth century the word 'alien' was the accepted word used to describe someone of a foreign nationality or allegiance coming to the United Kingdom. In 1971, the Aliens Department of the Home Office was replaced by the Immigration and Nationality Department.

Roger Kershaw and Mark Pearsall, Immigrants and Aliens: A Guide to Sources on UK Immigration and Citizenship (The National Archives, 2004)

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