Tag Archives: immigration

Telling family stories

Posted on May 2, 2017 by

As part of my research I will inevitably have to tell you some family histories. I say have to – it’s a vital, fascinating and relevant part of my research. But have you ever had someone try to tell you their … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, History, Irish, Maps, Migration, PhD, Sources, Wolverhampton | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Black Country Irish: Wednesbury

Posted on October 19, 2016 by

The town of Wednesbury was home to probably the most significant Irish population in the Black Country, after Wolverhampton. The nationalist journalist Hugh Heinrick reckoned that in 1872 there was at least 3,000 in the Irish community (based on his own … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, Irish, Poverty | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Legitimate concerns?

Posted on October 6, 2016 by

There’s been a lot said in the last few days about migrants – how they should be listed and categorised, how people’s “legitimate concerns” over influxes of labour should be heard, how funding should be changed so we don’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Irish, Migration, Wolverhampton | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Black Country Irish: Wolverhampton, 1851

Posted on August 8, 2016 by

I’m starting my series on the Irish in the 19th century Black Country by looking at Wolverhampton. This is familiar ground for me, or at least should be – so I’m broadening my normal hyper-local view of Carribee Island out to look … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, Irish, PhD, Quantitative data, Space, Wolverhampton | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Coming over here, taking our jobs…

Posted on July 25, 2016 by

Crowds of miserable Irish darken all our towns. The wild Milesian features, looking false ingenuity, restlessness, unreason, misery and mockery, salute you on all highways and byways… He is the sorest evil this  country has to strive with. So wrote the great crusading reformer … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Irish, Politics, Representation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Other immigrants of Carribee Island: Wolverhampton’s Jewish community 1

Posted on February 1, 2016 by

My PhD research focuses on a small section of Wolverhampton town centre in the nineteenth century that was well-known – perhaps notorious, even – for it’s substantial Irish immigrant population. “Carribee Island” and the “Stafford Street district” became by-words when … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Space, Wolverhampton | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Slums” of the Black Country: The Mambles, Dudley

Posted on October 12, 2015 by

I’ve had a wonderful time speaking on my research at Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Archives recently – I’ve met tons of new people, heard anecdotes and stories and generally had a ball. I was discussing Carribee Island, a site of … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Country, Housing, Maps, Slum | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Genuine asylum seekers or economic migrants?

Posted on September 4, 2015 by

If I were to write about large groups of desperately poor families travelling long distances by unsafe boat or on foot, risking their own and their families’ lives fleeing poverty and disaster in their own land, trying to settle either in … Continue reading →

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First as tragedy, then as farce

Posted on April 20, 2015 by

History can be a depressing mistress sometimes. Most people will be familiar with an expression attributed to Marx, that history repeats itself “the first as tragedy, the second as farce.” In fact, Marx was quoting Hegel and referring specifically to “great world-historic … Continue reading →

Posted in Irish, Representation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

We learn from history that man can never learn anything from history

Posted on November 5, 2014 by

It’s a bit un-nuanced to simply say “history repeats itself”. I’d be arguing with Marc Bloch (“it is impossible to find two events that are ever exactly alike, because the conditions from which they spring are never identical”) and Jacques … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment