Before Windrush: Mapping Migrants in an Age of Controversies

The image of migrants clustering into specific areas of the town remains a powerful and significant symbol of the challenges of integration, but an analysis of the sources show that it lacks strong historical foundations in the UK. Migrants’ settlement behaviour is more nuanced and quite responsive to environmental factors.

Using a sample from Edinburgh in 1911, Marc Di Tommasi will discuss the underlying causes behind migrant housing practices. A comparative, quantitative and spatial approach will highlight the role played by socio-economic conditions.

Marc Di Tommasi is a teaching fellow in History at the Centre for Open Learning and at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. His main research interest is the history of international migration to the UK before the First World War. His approach is interdisciplinary with strong quantitative elements, striving to combine historical demography sources with geospatial analysis tools to reconstruct the internal structure of the migrants’ households and understand the factors behind their housing practices. The long term aim is to shed light on the long-run processes of integration

This seminar talk will be followed by a drinks reception.