On 22 June 1948, 492 Afro-Caribbean people were brought to Tilbury Docks, Essex, in the UK, on the Empire Windrush ship. News reports at the time reported that the number of people was 492, but the ship's records show that the ship was carrying 1,027 passengers.
According to the passenger lists, 802 of those on board the ship gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean.
After World War II, the United Kingdom's economy needed to be repaired. In doing so, the British government recruited Afro-Caribbean migrants and offered them jobs.
These jobs included the production of steel, coal, iron, and food, and also jobs in the service sector, such as running public transport and staffing the new National Health Service in the United Kingdom.
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