The information here is from my own research and experience but I have compiled it to the best of my abilities to help where I can :) If you read this and spot any mistakes or mis-information, please let me know so that I can correct it. Everything I have written here is applicable to laws/rules currently in place now
Britain has experienced many relatively small episodes of immigration over the
centuries. For nearly a thousand years migration was on a very small scale compared to the size of the population. In the decades between the Second World War and the late 1990s, foreign immigration grew steadily at a relatively modest rate before declining in the late 1960s and becoming fairly stable between 1971 and 1981. The massive increase in the level of migration since the late 1990s is utterly unprecedented in the country’s history, dwarfing the scale of anything that went before. Updated 12 May, 2014
Notes
The Census of 1851 was the first to record those born abroad. The first national census was in 1801. Page 7, House of Commons Library standard note, “Migration Statistics” http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn06077.pdf? LTIM is not a new and separate system. It is the E-type IPS with additional categories such as asylum. James Walvin, "Passage to Britain-Immigration in British History and Politics' (Pelican Books, 1984)
Martin Millett “Roman Britain”(1995), 33
Peter Salway “Roman Britain- A very short introduction”, (Oxford University Press, 2000), p.1
Don Henon “The Origins of the Anglo-Saxons” (Anglo-Saxon books, 2006),
Ibid, p.28
David Shotter, “Roman Britain” (1998, Routledge), p.16
Martin Millett “Roman Britain” (1995), p.37
David Shotter, “Roman Britain” (1998, Routledge), p.38
David Shotter, “Roman Britain” (1998, Routledge) p.37
Valerie Hetet, ‘Life in Saxon and Viking Britain’
Ibid, page 3
Bassett, 1989 Esmonde Clearly 1989
Don Henson "The Origins of the Anglo-Saxons" (Anglo-Saxon books, 2006), p. 50
Ibid, p.53
Winder, R “Bloody Foreigners-The Story of Immigration to Britain”, p.24, cited in David Conway’ “A Nation of Immigrants? A Brief Demographic History of Britain?” p.32
Miles D, “The Tribes of Britain” (London, 2005), p.236, cited in David Conway “A Nation of Immigrants? A Brief Demographic History of Britain” p.32
James Walvin, "Passage to Britain-Immigration in British History and Politics' (Pelican Books, 1984), p.20
Ibid
Fyer, P. “Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain” (London, 1984)
Hermann Kellenbenz Immigrants and Minorities in British Society in Colin Holmes (eds.) (Allen & Unwin, 1978), p. Dr Bland, of Westminster General Dispensary recorded the birthplaces of patients between 1774 and 1781. His sample included 3246 people. Of that total, 824 or 25% had been born in London, 1870 or 58% were born in other counties of England or Wales, 209 or 6.5% were born in Scotland, 280 or 8.6% were born in Ireland and 53 or 1.64% were born abroad. George’s London Life in the Eighteenth Century (LSE, 1951), p.111
Ibid, page 8
In 1596, Queen Elizabeth 1 issued an order that all Black people should be deported from England and the effort failed and the order was reissued in 1601. Cited in Fyer, P. “Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain” (London, 1984)
Ibid
Iin 1764, for example the Gentleman’s Magazine estimated that there were 20,000 black people living in London alone , while in 1772, another estimate put the number in the whole of England at 15,000. The first scholarly work to deal with Britain’s black population was the 1921 book London Life in the Eighteenth Century, which documented a small but well integrated black population in the Capital. The BBC cite there being 14,000 Black people living in England in 1770. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/short_history_of_immigration.stm #1500
Except from The Gentleman's Magaine 1764, vol.34 p.493 "The practice of importing Negroes into the Kingdom is said to be already a grievance that requires a remedy and yet it is every day encouraged, insomuch that the number in this metropolis only is supposed to be near 20,000." Cited in Nigel File and Chris Power Black Settlers in Britain 1555-1958 (Heinemann Educational Books 1981) page 1
In the 1771-1772 Somerset vs. Stewart legal case which found that chattel slavery was unsupported in English law, Lord Mansfield accepted that there were between 14,000 and 15,000 slaves in Britain. George London Life in the Eighteenth Century (LSE, 1951), p.134
Tessa Hosking, Black People in Britain (Macmillan Education, 1984), p.45
Nigel File and Chris Power Black Settlers in Britain 1555-1958 (Heinemann Educational Books, 1981), p.1
Folarin Shyllon states that the Black population in the eighteenth century was constantly ‘in flux’ and was quite transient. He states that ‘after weighing these factors, it seems that the black population of Britain throughout the eighteenth century at any given time could not have exceeded 10,000.’ From Black People in Britain 1555-1833 cited in Tessa Hosking Black People in Britain (Macmillan Education, 1984), p.45
Tessa Hosking, says ‘in the 1760s and 1770s estimates were made that varied widely. They ranged from 14,000-30,000 for the whole Kingdom and 14,000-20,000 for London alone.’ Black People in Britain (Macmillan Education, 1984), p.45
E.D. George’s London Life in the Eighteenth Century (LSE, 1951), p.110
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/short_history_of_immigration.stm #1500
Tessa Hosking, Black People in Britain (Macmillan Education, 1984), p.46
E.D. George’s London Life in the Eighteenth Century (LSE, 1951), p.111
Ibid, p.27
Ibid, p.62
Ibid, p.73
Jews in Britain-Origin and Growth of Anglo Jewry (1943) This publication states that the Jewish population increased from 300,000 in 1931 to 370,000 in 1938. p.7
The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. James Walvin, "Passage to Britain-Immigration in British History and Politics' (Pelican Books, 1984), page 28. It is estimated that by 1700, about 50,000 Huguenots had settled in England. They may have made up as much as 1% of England’s total population in 1700, according to Materlene Frow’s The Roots of the Future: Ethnic Diversity in the Making of Britain (London: CRE, 1996), p.13
James Walvin, "Passage to Britain-Immigration in British History and Politics' (Pelican Books, 1984) P.62
Burrell, Kathy (2002). "Migrant memories, migrant lives: Polish national identity in Leicester since 1945" (PDF). Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (76): p.60
For example, the number of Polish born people recorded at the 1951 Census was 162,339. Cited in C Holmes, John Bull’s Island-Immigration and British Society (Macmillan, 1988) p’s 168, 211-212. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/intro/intro.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/short_history_of_immigration.stm #1500
Rosina Visram estimates the number as being ‘several hundred’ at the beginning of the 19th century in Peoples on the Move-Indians in Britain (1987), p.1
E.D. George London Life in the Eighteenth Century (LSE, 1951), p. 138
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/short_history_of_immigration.stm #1500
JP May The Chinese in Britain in Colin Holmes (eds.) Immigrants and Minorities in British Society (Allen & Unwin, 1978), p.121
James Walvin, “Passage to Britain-Immigration in British History and Politics” (Pelican Books, 1984), p.74
Ibid
Control of immigration: statistics UK 1999: table 6.6 footnote 1
Control of Immigration: statistics UK 1999: table 6.6
AS Hasley Trends in British Society since 1900-A guide to the changing social structure of Britain , p454
Censuses between 1851 and 1931 used a number of categories to record people born abroad. These categories were: those born in British Dominions or Colonies, those who were British subjects by naturalisation, those who were Aliens or had no stated Nationality, those born at sea and those whose birthplace was not stated. For purposes of this report, all the afore mentioned categories have been included in the ‘foreign born’ total. Those born in Ireland have been excluded from the category foreign born. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom until 1921 and we have chosen to exclude those born in Ireland from the foreign born category because of this unique historical connection. All data used in the report is taken from official census records, as provided by the official census upon request. After 1921, only those born in the Republic of Ireland are included.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/370886/20141106_immigration_rules_introduction_final.pdf
