Joshua A Circle of Five

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-913090-48-7
Verlag: Jacaranda Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 680 Seiten

Reihe: Twenty in 2020

On a misty Monday-21st June 1948-the MV Empire Windrush sailed up the Thames and anchored at Tilbury Dock, London. There were a total of 1027 passengers on board with 802 passengers from British Colonies in the West Indies. Of these individuals, 539 were from Jamaica. The infamous images of the passengers walking down the gangplank the next morning would be the moment the Windrush Generation was born. A Circle of Five reflects on the stories of the three hundred thousand or so making the same journey between 1948 and 1971 by showcasing the voices of five Jamaican women, Evelyn, Emma, Irene, Ivy, and Melissa. Each woman tells their own story, all beginning in early 1930's rural Jamaica and spanning some eighty years. Through these women, the experiences of the Windrush Generation come alive, honouring this vital period in British history.

H. V. Joshua is a writer with a focus on black groups within the UK. He was Assistant Chief Executive at Nottingham City Council as well as a Research Associate at the Institute for Community Cohesion; and a member of the Management Board before becoming a writer full time.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Joshua, Harris

Leseproben

Chapter One

Boats and Planes

EVELYN

It is early morning on Monday, 3rd October, 1955 and Evelyn is making her way to the wharf in Kingston, Jamaica. She is about to board a ship that will take her to England. Being that she lives in the city at the time, it is a short trip to the wharf.

Evelyn is twenty-three years old. There is no way she could have known it at the time but she is amongst the first of many who will be making this journey over the next decade. In 1955 the overwhelming majority of those making this trip are men. Women and children are to follow later.

She is not travelling alone though. Against the explicit advice of her mother Winifred, Evelyn is eloping with the man who she hopes to marry.

I did not have a lot of discussion with my mother about my plan to come to England. She had made a decision that if I am not going to do what she wanted, then I won’t get her approval. My mom knew I was coming to England with Reggie. She wasn’t very happy with that either because he used to drink a lot. She always says to me: ‘Don’t marry a man who drinks.’ But I wanted to do what I want.

On the face of it, Winifred’s ‘objections’ are not unreasonable. Her daughter is unmarried and about to leave their island to a foreign land with a man she does not like. She has no idea if or when she will see her daughter again. What remains clear, however, is that Evelyn is determined to get her way. Her decision to leave Jamaica and create a new future in England is based on precious little. She doesn’t know much about England. None of her immediate family had gone before. Reggie, Evelyn’s fiancé, agrees with Winifred—he too is far from certain about Evelyn’s plan to immigrate.

I started talking to him about it because his brother came. So we decided to come. It was a joint decision because he didn’t want me to leave him. He didn’t want to lose me, so we came together. He said: “If you want to go—I’m coming.” So both of us decided to leave.

Evelyn presents Reggie with an ultimatium—he either joins her on her journey to England or they end their relationship. Evelyn did, however, admit to having some doubts at the time.

Looking back, it was taking a big chance and I was told not to. It was not long when the war had ended and England was on its knees.

Though she is in her early twenties and living in Kingston, Jamaica, Evelyn is not in paid employment. No doubt this is a factor in her decision, made all the easier by what she was then reading in local newspapers.

They were advertising for people to come to England and help build the country. So immigrants started coming. A lot of people was coming and we decided that we would come.

It has to be said that anybody reading the newspapers in Jamaica in the early 1950’s and 1960’s could not avoid the message that ‘Going to England’ was the correct thing to do.

The advertisement section of the Daily Gleaner—Jamaica’s national newspaper—was full of promotions and adverts enticing Jamaicans to leave their home country for England. At the time these commercials were put in place by local travel agents and shipping lines advertising their wares. Airlines—in particular the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)—would come into the mix later. In short, if you were Jamaican and thinking of immigrating to England at the time, you would be spoiled for choice.

IF YOU PLAN TO TRAVEL

TO ENGLAND—GO SITMAR

TRAVEL THE EASY WAY!

BOOK THROUGH CHIN YEE’S TRAVEL

SERVICE TO GO TO ENGLAND

SAILING FOR ENGLAND

THE COXE BROS TRAVEL AGENTS

TO ENGLAND?

SEE MR. TRAVEL ADVISER

PHILIP SEAGA

PICK YOUR DATE

PICK YOUR PRICE TO ENGLAND

CARIBBEAN TOURS

Travel agents and shipping lines were not competing on price. Whichever ship you chose; the standard fare was £75. Today, that would equate to around £1160. One way!

This was the immediate postwar period where there was excess shipping capacity and shipping lines were trying to fill their ships. One of the ways they did this was by combining European tourist cruises to South America and the Caribbean with West Indian passengers travelling to southern European ports. The final part of this journey would be to England and would be completed by train and ferry.

By 1959 travel agents in Jamaica had a thorough knowledge of the market and knew what factors could influence customer choice. They are aware that Jamaicans wanting to get to England were not interested in tourist routes. They, simply, wanted to go direct. An advert in the Daily Gleaner sets out the latest offer.

Your Opportunity Year—1959

TRAVEL TO ENGLAND—ASCANIA

DIRECT TO SOUTHAMPTON

Here are some of the reasons

why you should go ASCANIA

WELFARE OFFICER

To ensure that you enjoy your “ASCANIA”

Trip in every detail, we have arranged

for an experienced Jamaican Welfare Officer

and a Jamaican Cook to travel with

you on your Opportunity Trip to England.

Other travel agents continue to make similar offers but with the addition of perks such us an onboard ‘Jamaican Nurse’. Whilst this is happening, the airlines do more to attract customers and begin to offer transport to people from Jamaica to England the ‘next day’ with a stopover in New York. The standard fare is £85, not significantly more than travelling by sea. Like the shipping lines, the airlines are also competing. In October 1958, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)—the main carrier—which would later become British Airways, cut their fares in order to attract more customers.

Your Family Flies For Less When

Flying Together By BOAC.

By then a great many men—who were the first to migrate—are sending for their wives and children. Travel by air is now the preferred option. Travel agents, who were previously focused on selling travel to England by sea, are quick to catch on to the changing market and soon find ways of outcompeting BOAC. Chin Yee’s Travel Service—for example—begins offering a new service.

Chartered Immigrant Fights to London.

Full assistance given with travel documents.

Competition for customers between travel agents, shipping lines and airlines grows fierce. As early as 1955, corrupt travel agents have already penetrated the market in Jamaica. Non-existing trips to England are being advertised in local newspapers and trips are getting cancelled with customers never receiving refunds. The extent of these illegal activities are enough to prompt the Jamaican government to launch an official inquiry in 1956. Following the report, travel agents are at pains to stress their legal accreditation in their marketing.

YOUR MONEY IS SAFE

YOUR PASSAGE IS CERTAIN

CHIN YEE’S

TO ENGLAND

BOOK WHERE YOUR MONEY IS SAFE

PHILIP SEAGA

APPROVED SALES AGENT

CARIBBEAN TOURS

BOOK WITH A RECOGNISED

TRAVEL AGENT

SAIL SAFELY! SAIL SURELY! SAIL SITMAR!

Evelyn, in 1955, would have seen the many adverts that were plastered across the newspapers. She would have, almost certainly, come across this one:

BOOK NOW

on the

T.V. SANTA MARIA

MORE Travel Agents are sending More

People to England on this fine ship.

IT COSTS NO MORE to travel on the

Luxurious SANTA MARIA but you get MORE

luxurious Accommodation… MORE

excellent service and food on this Ship of the Line

that is famous the world over.

SAILING From KINGSTON OCT. 3rd

To VIGO, SPAIN via

Havana, Tenerife, Funchal.

This is the ship that Evelyn and Reggie board. Typical of the period, it offers those travelling from Jamaica a luxury voyage of discovery to England. This trip involves visiting other islands in the Caribbean, ports in the Canaries, Portugal and Spain before taking a train across Europe to Calais and then a ferry to Dover.

The Santa Maria is one of those ships taking European tourists on an outward-bound cruise to South America and the Caribbean. This ship picks up West Indian passengers bound for England on the way back. Typical of the class and racial attitudes of the period, tourists and passengers were likely to be on separate decks in different dining rooms or made to dine at different times to each other.

When Evelyn made her decision to go to England, apart from what she remembered being taught in school—she had little or no knowledge of her destination.

I didn’t know anything about England then. It was just what I read about England. History tells you about the Mother Country. You read about Sir Walter Raleigh and you read about Captain Morgan and the whole thing. You realise so many things were sent and exported there. Your school books came from there. Everything, it was England.

Nor did she know how they were going to earn a living once they arrived. There were many reasons behind her decision to leave Jamacia but in the end it all came back to Winifred—her mother.

I didn’t know what I was going to do in England. I got on the boat not knowing. You do not know what you’re going to do or see. But you think to yourself: ‘At least, if I work, I can...