Migration into Coventry

Coventry' population increased substantially during the inter-war years: the 1921 census figure was 114,197, whereas by 1941 it was 214,380. The 1941 figure would have been affected by the war: many people came (or were sent) to Coventry to work, and others would have left for various reasons. Obviously, the near doubling of Coventry's population during this time was mainly due to migration, mainly from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northeast England. How did the locals respond to this great influx of "foreigners"? Were they discriminated against? I've heard of trouble in Coventry pubs and dancehalls between locals and Irish, and I know of one Welshman who changed his name so he didn't appear Welsh on job application forms (this was in Birmingham, but I'm sure it happened elsewhere). Both parents came to live in Coventry during this period. My dad arrived in 1938, an unemployed Welsh miner, and my mum was conscripted and sent from County Durham to work in Coventry. Did the migrants create enclaves/ghettoes where they stayed, except when going to work? I know certain districts attracted people from a particular area, like the Irish in and around the Stoney Stanton Road. And were these districts predominantly a migrant enclave, or were they still mainly populated by indigenous people?

There are a few topics about the Irish and Irish pubs and there are books about coming to Coventry but they may be about specific ethnicities.

Early in September 1938 the Midland Daily Telegraph reported on disturbances in Coventry city centre. There were headlines such as: '300 Irishmen in Street Fight'; 'Fierce Clash of Coventry Gangs'. It said trouble had occurred outside 'a dance hall' in Ford Street and it was not the first of its kind. Coventry City's Irish footballer Jackie Brown was involved in this fracas, and was later transferred by the club, allegedly because of his involvement. The above information comes courtesy of the excellent Jim Brown's Journal. Jim is Coventry City's historian.

Belushi Most of this has been discussed before on here, and it goes back to Home Rule. Ireland itself was divided on it 1912. De Valera in 1919 escaped from Lincoln gaol were he had been jailed for attempting to organize a Sinn Fein rising, and it went on from there.

Belushi A century ago, Ireland was torn in two by the British, and all the trouble since - bombing, imprisonment, torture, and hatred - stems from that year, so what a bad time to choose to ask about attitudes about the two peoples. when it's in Irish minds. The paper in 1938 was about people already settled in this country, I believe not between migrants and Coventry people.

Belushi is asking questions Kaga, no need to be offended. Lots of us have Irish ancestry. At one point there was even a slave trade sending young fit English peasants to Ireland, so there might be more English blood there than people might expect. Though I agree that this is a delicate subject.

Hi Kaga You will always be a migrant if you've moved elsewhere to live - you don't suddenly become indigenous. Those Irish involved in fighting the locals would have recently migrated from Ireland, and would have identified themselves as Irish. 1945 was when World War Two ended, but you probably knew that. It would have been the year when British and Irish people stopped coming/being sent to Coventry to work in war production. My initial question was a serious academic one, based on a desire to learn about the kind of discrimination my mother and father may have faced when they migrated to Coventry. And my interest stems from having studied History and Geography at University, and living in Coventry all my life.

Coventry's huge population expansion in the first half of last century, folk had to come from somewhere, what's more most arrived by civic invitation. No matter where folk come from, Scotland, the North East or wherever, they arrive with cultures & customs, some of which might look strange to some.

My father migrated to Coventry from South Wales in 1938. Many people left Wales to live in England in the 1920s and 1930s, and large numbers chose to come to Coventry. They would have come to work in the booming car industry, and later making armaments. How did this impact on Coventry?

I'm not sure how many could directly answer that question but there could be ways to research it. Were there Welsh sub communities or were they dotted about? A look at the census for where your family were living might give you clues, as might the name of any local pubs. Your own memories might also be useful. How much bullying did you get? Were you the only Welsh kid there? Were the other kids Coventry bred or had their parents come in from other places? People feel more anxious and aggressive if they feel that their area is changing too fast because of people arriving. There was a lot of building in Coventry before the war. Did it create the same feelings of resentment it does now? Were your parents in new built areas or not? TBC

Another thing that affects how a new group is received is behaviour. Was the Welsh community in Coventry hard drinking and hard fighting or polite church going types? Searching the newspaper might bring something up. Ironically sometimes people are disliked for not drinking at all. It's considered to be judgemental on those who do drink. Work. With lots of new factories, there would have been a lot less resentment. People who start together fit better than those who arrive later and have to find their place in existing teams/friendships. Only if people came in at higher levels or progressed very fast might there be widespread objections. I'm not sure how you'd research that. Wider issues. Groups can end up resented because of something done elsewhere and reported in the newspapers. Were the Welsh prominent in the national news at the time? I'm not sure if any of these thoughts might help but it's a very difficult question.

My time in primary school was 1957-64, and I attended Hill Farm. The area around the school was what you would call working class, mainly a mixture of 1920s council housing and 1930s private housing. Most of my classmates were like me - born in Coventry but to parents from elsewhere: Irish, Geordie, Welsh, Scottish and Eastern European. I cannot remember any animosity shown towards any particular group, and similarly I have no recollection of any ill-feeling shown towards my Welsh dad or Geordie mum. In the late 1960s, however, when the first Asian families moved into my street, only two of them and really nice people, some of the neighbours weren't too happy. Perhaps they didn't blend in as well as previous groups of migrants.

My dad died in 1984 so I cannot ask him about his experiences about moving to, and living in, Coventry. When he moved here in 1938 he lodged with his sister and brother-in-law. They kept a shop in Beacon Rd, and I'm aware that this part of Holbrooks was a bit of a Welsh enclave. The Welsh didn't seem to bring their culture with them like the Scots and Irish - I'm not aware of any Welsh clubs like the Tam O'Shanter or Finbarrs. Coventry Welsh RFC was founded in 1945, and for several years in the late 1970s/early 1980s I played for them (albeit mainly in the 2nd and 3rd teams).

Holbrooks, Beacon Rd was fields in 1919 but by 1937 they were partway through building the estates. So your Dad was joining a new town essentially. The few people living there before the houses were built, might have resented the newcomers but they would have been outnumbered.

In the 1930's there were so many Welsh people in Coventry that they said that's why Owen Owen came to Coventry. The Asians started to come to Coventry in the early fifties when I believe they had been given British dual passports in 1947 - don't know much about it but was it the end of the Commonwealth. They caused a lot of trouble, they took the jobs, like road sweepers, conductors etc that Coventry kids left to go in highly paid jobs in the car factories. Then, when the big strikes started they wanted their old jobs back from the Asians, and so caused friction. In 1939 Coventry lost most of its workforce to the forces, so there was plenty of accommodation and work, but mining was not getting recruits so the government sent out a poster to Wales and other places offering both. In the end it was so bad it created the Bevin Boys. The Welsh had not come to Coventry in droves like the Irish or for so long. In 1945 I served in the forces for two years with two Welsh/Coventry boys, great friends but were ragged as being in a Coventry battalion and not the Irish one.