OCR GCSE History B Migrants to Britain c.1250 to present: a complete thematic overview
A complete overview of OCR's GCSE History B (SHP) Migrants to Britain thematic study, c.1250 to present. Covers medieval, early modern, industrial and modern migration, the factors shaping migrants' experience, change and continuity, and the Paper 1 question types and mark tariffs.
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What this option demands
Migrants to Britain c.1250 to present is a popular OCR History B thematic study, often paired with the Norman Conquest or the Elizabethans on Paper 1. It traces migration to Britain across about 750 years. Because it is a thematic study, the exam rewards an understanding of change and continuity and the factors that shaped migrants' experience (the economy, government and law, religion and race, and the attitudes of the time). This overview ties the period and case-study pages together.
Medieval migrants, c.1250 to 1500
Migration is woven into England from the start. Jews were important as moneylenders (since the Church banned Christian usury), Flemish weavers strengthened the cloth trade, and Italian bankers and Hanseatic merchants handled finance and trade. Migrants came mainly for economic opportunity and faced a mix of welcome and hostility, ending with the expulsion of the Jews in 1290.
Early modern migrants, c.1500 to 1700
England became a Protestant haven. The Huguenots (French Protestants fleeing Catholic France after 1685) arrived in their tens of thousands, many skilled silk-weavers; Protestant Dutch refugees also came; and Jews were readmitted under Cromwell in the 1650s. A small Black presence began, linked to trade and slavery. Migrants came for religious refuge and opportunity, and enriched industry and culture.
Migrants in the age of empire, c.1700 to 1900
Industrialisation and empire transformed migration. The Irish came in huge numbers (above all fleeing the Great Famine of the 1840s) for industrial work; Jewish refugees fled Russian pogroms from the 1880s; and Black and Asian people came through empire and trade. Migrants built the railways, staffed industry and enriched towns, but faced poverty and prejudice, leading to the 1905 Aliens Act.
Modern migration, c.1900 to present
Modern migration is the largest and most diverse. The Windrush and Commonwealth migrants came to fill post-war labour shortages (staffing the NHS and transport) as British subjects; refugees fled conflict and persecution; and from 2004 many Europeans came for work. Migrants made vast contributions but faced discrimination (the 1958 riots, the Windrush scandal), and immigration law tightened from 1962.
Check your knowledge
A mix of recall questions covering the whole option. Attempt them, then check the solutions.
- Name two medieval migrant groups and why they came. (2 marks)
- In what year were the Jews expelled from England? (1 mark)
- Who were the Huguenots, and why did they come? (2 marks)
- Who readmitted the Jews to England, and roughly when? (2 marks)
- What drove the surge of Irish migration in the 1840s? (1 mark)
- What does the Windrush generation refer to, and from what year? (2 marks)
- Name two factors that shaped migrants' experience in every period. (2 marks)
- Give one strong continuity in migration across the whole period. (1 mark)