Americans in the United Kingdom

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Americans in the United Kingdom
Flag of the United States and United Kingdom.png
Total population
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg US-born residents in the United Kingdom: 231,853 – 0.3%
(2021/22 Census) [note 1]
Flag of England.svg  England: 198,656– 0.4% (2021) [1]
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland: 23,863 – 0.4% (2022) [2]
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales: 4,625 – 0.1% (2021) [1]
Northern Ireland: 4,990 – 0.3% (2021) [3]
US citizens/passports held:
122,794 (England and Wales only, 2021) [4]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
American English and British English
Religion
Predominantly Christianity and Judaism
Related ethnic groups
American diaspora and British Americans
  1. ↑ Does not include Americans born in the United Kingdom or those with ancestry rooted in the United States

Americans in the United Kingdom or American Britons are emigrants from the United States who are residents or citizens of the United Kingdom.

Contents

Population

United States-born residents by ethnic group (2021 census, England and Wales) USA-born residents by Ethnic Group, Census 2021.png
United States-born residents by ethnic group (2021 census, England and Wales)

The 2001 UK Census recorded 158,434 people born in the United States. [6] According to the 2011 UK Census, there were 173,470 US-born residents in England, 3,715 in Wales, [7] 15,919 in Scotland, [8] and 4,251 in Northern Ireland. [9] The Office for National Statistics estimates that 197,000 US-born immigrants were resident in the UK in 2013. [10] In a 2020 House of Commons research briefing on immigrants working in the National Health Service out of 1.28 million members of staff, 1,380 declared that they were American. [11]

The largest single local cluster of Americans in the UK recorded by the 2001 UK Census was in Mildenhall in North-West Suffolk—the site of RAF Mildenhall and nearby RAF Lakenheath. This is because of the legacy of the Cold War and NATO cooperation. 17.28% of Mildenhall's population were born in the United States. In London, the majority of Americans are businesspeople and their families which ties in with the strong economic relations between the City of London and New York City or Washington, D.C. Chelsea (where 6.53% of residents were born in the US in 2001) and Kensington (5.81%) have large American communities. [12]

Prior to the end of the Cold War, the highest proportion of Americans resident in the United Kingdom per head of population was centred on the Scottish seaside town of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, the former site of the Holy Loch US Navy base. At its height in the early 1990s, around one quarter of Dunoon's population was American. [13]

In the 2000s, some Americans in the UK were older, ex-servicemen who returned to Britain after being based in the UK during World War II. [12]

Notable people

Nancy Astor, Britain's second Member of Parliament, was born in Virginia and married into the wealthy Anglo-American Astor family.

Henry James, considered one of the greatest novelists in the English language, was born to a Boston Brahmin family and moved to London in 1869. Aside from brief periods spent on the Continent and two short trips back to the US, James spent the rest of his life in England. (See Lamb House). He was naturalised as a British subject in the final year of his life.

T. S. Eliot left his family home in St. Louis, Missouri, to go to Harvard, in New England. From there he moved to Europe and stayed in Germany and France. When World War I began, he moved to Oxford, United Kingdom. He gained British citizenship and joined the Church of England. [14]

Wallis Simpson was the American-born wife of Anglo-American businessman Ernest Simpson before her marriage to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII. The latter famously abdicated in 1936, the same year he ascended the British throne; in order to marry her. Despite living primarily in France, she was buried next to her husband in the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, the first American to be interred there.

Zoë Wanamaker is a US-born British actress of Jewish-Ukrainian ancestry, [15] Louis Theroux is the son of American writer Paul Theroux, [16] whilst Mika has a Lebanese mother and an American father born in Jerusalem. [17]

Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019-22, was born in New York City. Until 2016, he held dual citizenship of both the United States and the United Kingdom. He relinquished his US citizenship to prove his allegiance to the United Kingdom. [18] [19]

Andrew Tate is an American-British former professional kickboxer and social media influencer, was born in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., then moved to United Kingdom. [20]

YouTuber Evan Edinger who does vlogs about the comparisons between the UK and the United States since moving to the UK in 2012, gained British citizenship in June 2021. [21]

African-American immigration to the UK began as early as the late-eighteenth century [22] after American slaves failed in their attempt to defend the British Crown in the American Revolution. The Revolution began in the thirteen American colonies and United States in the late-1770s. The British promised freedom to any slave or rebel who fought the Americans on their behalf. [23] African Americans made up over 20% of the American population at the time, which was the second-largest ethnic group in British North America only after the English [24] and as many as 30,000 slaves escaped to British lines. [25] The largest regiment was the Black Pioneers who followed troops under Sir General Henry Clinton. [26] Working as soldiers, labourers, pilots, cooks, and musicians, they were a major part of the unsuccessful British war effort. African Americans who fought against the British were known as Black Patriots (modern day African Americans in the US), but rather if they were fighting for the Crown or American Independence both were mostly doing it in return for promises of freedom from enslavement or indentured servitude. [27]

The British-American Commission identified the Black people who had joined the British before the surrender, and issued "certificates of freedom" signed by General Birch or General Musgrave. Those who chose to emigrate were evacuated by ship. [22] The fallout of the Revolution resulted in an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 Black Americans scattering across the Atlantic world, profoundly affecting the development of Nova Scotia, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the African nation of Sierra Leone as prominent leaders in the emerging freed black communities. [27] [28] [29] To make sure no one attempted to leave who did not have a certificate of freedom, the name of any Black person on board a vessel, whether slave, indentured servant, or free, was recorded, along with the details of enslavement, escape, and military service, in a document called the Book of Negroes. [22] Between 400 and 1,000 African Americans emigrated to London and were later given the title of Black Loyalist for their service in the British Armed forces and formed the core of the early Black British community. [27] [29]

African-American guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix started to get his big break in London as part of his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. He first entered the UK on 24 September 1966 at London Airport (now Heathrow Airport).

The African-American singer Edwin Starr, moved to the UK in the 1970s, and lived there until his death in 2003. [30]

The British politician and former Labour MP Oona King, is the daughter of the African-American civil rights academic Preston King.

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex since her marriage to Prince Harry, kept her American citizenship and has a mixed-raced heritage with parents both American, of German and English ancestry for her father and of African-American background for her mother. Their son, Archie, who was born in London on 6 May 2019, has had dual British and American citizenship since birth.

Sheila Ferguson, a former member of The Three Degrees, was born in and grew up in Philadelphia and has permanently settled in England since the 1980s where she is still famous with her own solo career. [31] [32] [33]

Covert Affairs star Sendhil Ramamurthy resides in London, and is of Indian descent.

English musician Dhani Harrison is the son of George Harrison of The Beatles and Mexican-American Olivia Trinidad Arias (who also now lives in the UK). [34]

In 2001, 306 Puerto Rican-born people alone were residing in the United Kingdom (the nineteenth-most common birthplace amongst Latin American states). [6] The most notable Puerto Rican-Briton is Wilnelia Merced, the widow of the late entertainer, Sir Bruce Forsyth.

Martin Frobisher returned from a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage in 1576, bringing with him a native Inuit that he had seized. The man died days after reaching London and was buried in the churchyard at St. Olave's. [35]

Sir Richard Grenville captured the Roanoke Island Native American Raleigh (named for Sir Walter Raleigh) and brought him to Bideford following a skirmish in 1586. He had his baptism at Saint Mary the Virgin's Church in March 1588. He died from influenza in Grenville's house on 2 April 1589. His interment was at that same church five days later. Raleigh was the first Native American to have a Christian conversion and an English resting place. [36]

Chief Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas spent some of her life in London two years after she married English colonist John Rolfe. [37] At age twenty-one, Pocahontas died due to an unknown disease. She was buried at St George's Church in Gravesend afterwards. Her son Thomas Rolfe lived in England until the age of 20 before returning to Virginia.

Lakota tribes arrived in England when they were part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Surrounded By the Enemy, a twenty-two-year-old Oglala gun-slinging and horse-riding stuntman and a year old boy named Red Penny died during the tour in 1887. Their interments were at West Brompton's cemetery. Brulé tribesman Paul Eagle Star died after breaking his ankle when he fell off a horse in Sheffield on 24 August 1891 at age twenty-seven. His interment was in West Brompton near the same plot as Surrounded. Fifty-nine-year-old Oglala Sioux, Long Wolf, died during the tour due to pneumonia on 13 June 1892. His interment was in West Brompton. Two months later, a two-year-old girl named White Star Ghost Dog died when she fell from her mother's arms during horseback. Her remains shared the same grave as Long Wolf's remains. Long Wolf and White Star Ghost Dog's coffins were repatriated to the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1997. [38] Two years later, Paul Eagle Star's coffin was repatriated to the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Tribal descendants include John Black Feather (Long Wolf's great-grandson), Moses Eagle Star and Lucy Eagle Star (Paul Eagle Star's two grandchildren).

Blackfoot Sioux chief Charging Thunder came to Salford at age twenty-six as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1903. Like many Lakota tribesmen, Charging Thunder was an exceptional horseman and performed thrilling stunts in Buffalo Bill's show in front of huge crowds, on the site of what is now Lowry in Salford Quays. But when the show rolled out of town, he remained in the North West. He married Josephine, an American horse trainer who had just given birth to their first child, Bessie and together they settled in Darwen, before moving to Gorton. His name became George Edward Williams, after registering with the British immigration authorities to enable him to find work. Williams ended up as an elephant keeper at the Belle Vue Zoo. He died on 28 July 1929 from pneumonia at age fifty-two. His interment was in Gorton's cemetery.

More recently, notable British people of Native American descent include actress Hayley Atwell, who has dual UK-US citizenship due to her part-Native American father. [39]

Education

American schools in the United Kingdom:

International School of Aberdeen was formerly the American School in Aberdeen. [40]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of the United Kingdom</span>

The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at 67,596,281 in 2022. It is the 21st most populated country in the world and has a population density of 279 people per square kilometre, with England having significantly greater density than Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Almost a third of the population lives in south east England, which is predominantly urban and suburban, with 8,866,180 people in the capital city, London, whose population density was 5,640 inhabitants per square kilometre (14,600/sq mi) in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of England</span>

The demography of England has since 1801 been measured by the decennial national census, and is marked by centuries of population growth and urbanization. Due to the lack of authoritative contemporary sources, estimates of the population of England for dates prior to the first census in 1801 vary considerably. The population of England at the 2021 census was about 56,489,800.

The foreign-born population of the United Kingdom includes immigrants from a wide range of countries who are resident in the United Kingdom. In the period January to December 2016, there were groups from 23 foreign countries that were estimated to consist of at least 100,000 individuals residing in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black British people</span> British people of African descent

Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British people of either Sub-Saharan African or Afro-Caribbean descent. The term Black British developed in the 1950s, referring to the Black British West Indian people from the former Caribbean British colonies in the West Indies sometimes referred to as the Windrush Generation and Black British people descending from Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British African-Caribbean people</span> British ethnic group

British African-Caribbean people or British Afro-Caribbean people are an ethnic group in the United Kingdom. They are British citizens whose recent ancestors originate from the Caribbean, and further trace much of their ancestry to West and Central Africa or they are nationals of the Caribbean who reside in the UK. There are some self-identified Afro-Caribbean people who are multi-racial. The most common and traditional use of the term African-Caribbean community is in reference to groups of residents continuing aspects of Caribbean culture, customs and traditions in the UK.

Somalis in the United Kingdom include British citizens and residents born in or with ancestors from Somalia. The United Kingdom (UK) is home to the largest Somali community in Europe, with an estimated 108,000 Somali-born immigrants residing in the UK in 2018 according to the Office for National Statistics. The majority of these live in England, with the largest number found in London. Smaller Somali communities exist in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Cardiff.

Ghanaians in the United Kingdom encompass both Ghana-born immigrants and their descendants living in the United Kingdom. Immigration to the UK accelerated following the independence of Ghana from the British Empire in 1957, with most British Ghanaians having migrated to the UK between the 1960s to the 1980s owing to poor economic conditions at home.

British Nigerians have formed long-established communities in London, Liverpool and other industrial cities. Many Nigerians and their British-born descendants in Britain live in South London, and they are one of the larger immigrant groups in the country.

British Jamaicans are British people who were born in Jamaica or who are of Jamaican descent. The community is well into its third generation and consists of around 300,000 individuals, the second-largest Jamaican population, behind the United States, living outside of Jamaica. The Office for National Statistics estimates that in 2015, some 137,000 people born in Jamaica were resident in the UK. The number of Jamaican nationals is estimated to be significantly lower, at 49,000 in 2015.

Latin American migration to the United Kingdom dates back to the early 19th century. However, before the 1970s, when political and civil unrest became rife in many Latin American countries, the United Kingdom's Latin American community was not particularly large. Economic migration to the United Kingdom has since increased. Brazilian and Colombian-born residents are the two largest groups standing at a estimated 95,000 and 36,000 respectively as of 2019. A number of refugees and asylum seekers moved to the UK during the late 20th century, however, since the turn of the century, Latin Americans have been migrating to the UK for a wide range of reasons and at present the community consists of people from all walks of life. The UK is also home to British-born people of Latin American ancestry. During the 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis, Britain also became one of the favourite European destinations for some of the roughly 1.4 million Latin Americans who had acquired Spanish citizenship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese in the United Kingdom</span> Ethnic group

Portuguese in the United Kingdom are citizens or residents of the UK who are connected to the country of Portugal by birth, descent or citizenship.

Zimbabwean Britons are British people who were born in Zimbabwe or can trace their ancestry to immigrants from Zimbabwe who emigrated to the United Kingdom. While the first natives of the country then known as Southern Rhodesia arrived in Britain in larger numbers from the late-1960s, the majority of immigrants arrived during the 1990s and 2000s. The Zimbabwean community in the UK is extremely diverse, consisting of individuals of differing racial, ethnic, class, and political groups. There are a diverse mix of asylum seekers, professionals, investors, businesspeople, labour migrants, students, graduates, undocumented migrants, and others who have gained British citizenship.

Colombians in the United Kingdom or Colombian Britons include British citizens or residents who are of Colombian ancestry. According to the 2011 UK Census, the Colombian-born population of England was 25,016, Wales 166, Scotland 507 and Northern Ireland 72.

Barbadian British people, Bajan Brits or British Barbadians, are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie fully or partially in the Caribbean island of Barbados. The UK is home to the second largest Barbadian-born migrant population out of all the OECD countries, with the 2001 Census recording 21,601 UK residents born on the Caribbean island, compared to the 53,785 Barbadian-born residents of the United States.

Ugandan migration to the United Kingdom refers to the movement of people from Uganda. Today, a small proportion of people in the United Kingdom were either born in Uganda, or have Ugandan ancestry.

The British diaspora consists of people of English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish, Manx and Channel Islands ancestral descent who live outside of the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies.

Algerians in the United Kingdom are residents of the UK with ancestry from Algeria. They include Algerian-born immigrants and their British-born descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emigration from the United States</span> Ethnic group

Emigration from the United States is the process where citizens from the United States move to live in countries other than the US, creating an American Diaspora. The process is the reverse of the immigration to the United States. The United States does not keep track of emigration and counts of Americans abroad are thus only available based on statistics kept by the destination countries.

Swedes in the United Kingdom or British Swedes are immigrants from Sweden living in the United Kingdom as well as their British-born descendants. Although only around 38,000 Swedish-born people live in the UK, millions of Britons have some degree of Scandinavian ancestry that dates back over 1,000 years to the Viking invasion of Great Britain. The Swedish community in the UK is amongst the largest in the Swedish diaspora; in 2001 only the United States, Norway and Finland within the OECD had larger Swedish-born populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White people in the United Kingdom</span> Racial and multi-ethnic group

White people in the United Kingdom are a multi-ethnic group consisting of indigenous and European UK residents who identify as and are perceived to be 'white people'. White people constitute the historical and current majority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 83.0% of the population identifying as white in the 2021 United Kingdom census.

References

  1. 1 2 "TS012: Country of birth (detailed)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Table UV204 - Country of birth: Country by Country of Birth by Individuals". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 24 May 2024. '2022' > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Country of birth: UV204'
  3. ↑ "MS-A17: Country of birth - intermediate detail". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "TS013: Passports held (detailed)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Country of birth (extended) and ethnic group". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Archived from the original on 11 May 2005. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "2011 Census: Country of birth (expanded), regions in England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Country of birth (detailed)" (PDF). National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Country of Birth – Full Detail: QS206NI". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. February 2013. Archived from the original (XLS) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by sex, by country of birth, January 2013 to December 2013". Office for National Statistics. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95 per cent confidence intervals.
  11. ↑ Baker, Carl (23 June 2021). "NHS staff from overseas: statistics" (PDF). House of Commons Library (published 4 June 2020).
  12. 1 2 "Born abroad: USA". BBC News. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  13. ↑ dobson, Alan P. (2009). Luí s Nuno Rodrigues; Sergiy Glebov (eds.). Military Bases: Historical Perspectives, Contemporary Challenges. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series. Vol. 51. IOS Press. p. 29. ISBN   978-1-58603-967-7.
  14. ↑ Malamud, Randy (4 August 1955). The Wasteland and Other Poems.
  15. ↑ "'Madam Hooch' rides her broomstick in from Odesa: Actress Zoë Wanamaker offers a glimpse into her family history". www.brama.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  16. ↑ "You ask the questions: Louis Theroux". The Independent. 7 November 2001. Archived from the original on 14 August 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  17. ↑ Porter, Hugh (23 January 2007). "A Prejudice Goes Pop". Archived from the original on 10 February 2007 – via www.time.com.
  18. ↑ "Boris Johnson, Britain's foreign minister, has finally given up his U.S. citizenship". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  19. ↑ Saunders, Laura (8 February 2017). "U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Renounced U.S. Citizenship in 2016". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  20. ↑ Shabazz, Daaim (2017). Triple Exclam!!! the Life and Games of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior. Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp Print Us. p. 257. ISBN   978-0-9981180-9-3. Tate, Emory Andrew, III (son of Tate Jr.)
  21. ↑ Officially Receiving British Citizenship, archived from the original on 12 December 2021, retrieved 21 June 2021
  22. 1 2 3 "Who were the Black Loyalists?". Nova Scotia Museum. 2001. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  23. ↑ "Home Page". American Revolution. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  24. ↑ "Scots to Colonial North Carolina Before 1775". www.dalhousielodge.org.
  25. ↑ "Black Loyalists Digital Collections site". Black Loyalists. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  26. ↑ "New status for a black pioneer". Black History Month. NBC News. 11 February 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  27. 1 2 3 Walker, James W. S. (December 1976). The Black Loyalists: In Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia 1783–1870. Africana Pub.Co. ISBN   0-8419-0265-8 . Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  28. ↑ "African Americans in Early American Military History". Colorado College. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  29. 1 2 Blythe, Bob. "The Odyssey of the Black Loyalists". The Unfinished Revolution. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  30. ↑ "Edwin Starr obituary" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  31. ↑ "Sheila Ferguson Biography". www.sheilaferguson.com. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  32. ↑ "I was alone for two years says Chicago star Sheila Ferguson as show heads to Manchester". The Oldham Times. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  33. ↑ Nutkins, Kirsty (10 May 2014). "Whatever happened to The Three Degrees?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  34. ↑ Biography for Olivia Harrison at IMDb
  35. ↑ Butman, John & Targett, Simon. "New World, Inc.". Atlantic Books, 2018, p. 107
  36. ↑ Estes, Roberta (2 July 2012). "Raleigh, a Wynganditoian".
  37. ↑ "Pocahontas". preservationvirginia.org. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009.
  38. ↑ Blystone, Richard (25 September 1997). "Chief Long Wolf goes home, 105 years late". CNN. Reuters. Archived from the original on 13 May 2002.
  39. ↑ "The Times & The Sunday Times". The Times . Archived from the original on 17 June 2011.
  40. ↑ "History of ISA." International School of Aberdeen. Retrieved on 28 November 2017.
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