The Migration Museum explores how the movement of people to and from the UK across the ages has made us who we are – as individuals and as nations.

Opening hours: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11am–5.30pm
Free admission – no booking

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Karen Blackett

Karen Blackett OBE is a proven business leader with a track record in creating vibrant cultures, energising teams and consistently delivering business growth and success. She has served as the UK chief executive of Group M, the world’s largest advertising media company, as well as the UK country manager for WPP, the world’s largest marketing… Read more

Meet our distinguished friends
  • Inside/Outside and All In Between

    September 12, 2024

    Inside/Outside And All In Between is a community curated exhibition at the Migration Museum, featuring local artists with a connection to Lewisham.  Read more

  • All Our Stories – Migration and the Making of Britain

    September 12, 2024

    All Our Stories is a new exhibition bringing together the Migration Museum’s work over the past decade, alongside new stories and artwork that highlight just how central migration is to our lives. Read more

  • Wall

    September 2, 2024

    A work by STIK and Thierry Noir, drawn directly onto two pieces of the Berlin Wall, sending a powerful message about how we as individuals can maintain connections across borders, walls and barriers. Read more

  • All Our Stories: Migration and the Making of Britain

    All Our Stories is a new exhibition bringing together the Migration Museum’s work over the past decade, alongside new stories and artwork that highlight just how central migration is to our lives. Read more

  • Inside/Outside and All In Between

    Inside/Outside And All In Between is a community curated exhibition at the Migration Museum, featuring local artists with a connection to Lewisham.  Read more

  • Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS

    Our critically acclaimed national touring exhibition shining a light on the stories and experiences of people who have come to Britain to work in the NHS over the past 75 years through photography, film, oral histories and an immersive experience that brings together singing and storytelling. Read more

  • Taking Care of Business: Migrant Entrepreneurs and the Making of Britain

    Taking Care of Business is an immersive exhibition at the Migration Museum shining a light on the central role that migrant entrepreneurs have played in shaping our lives – and Britain – through personal narratives, immersive art installations. Read more

  • Departures

    A critically acclaimed immersive exhibition exploring 400 years of emigration from Britain from the Mayflower to the present day through personal narratives, contemporary art and a range of media. Read more

  • Wall

    WALL, currently on display at The Migration Museum, is directly painted onto two separate surviving segments of the Berlin Wall by contemporary artists STIK and Thierry Noir. Read more

  • Room to Breathe

    An immersive exhibition inviting you to discover stories from generations of new arrivals to Britain. Journey through a series of rooms in which the struggles, joys, creativity and resilience of living in a new land are brought to life through audio, films, photographs and personal objects. Read more

  • 100 Images of Migration

    A collection of diverse images by professional and amateur photographers that together tell a compelling story about what migration means to people across the UK. Read more

  • Keepsakes

    Working with communities and individuals, we are exploring the nature and importance of personal keepsakes in telling migration stories. Read more

  • Stepping up: The role of education in responding to the riots

    In the wake of the riots, our learning team, along with two classroom teachers, reflect on the importance of teaching migration to counter dangerous and divisive narratives. Read more

  • The Irish women who built Britain

    To mark St Bridgid’s Day, the Republic of Ireland’s public holiday in honour of their patroness, St Bridgid Frances Ewings, Gallery Supervisor at the Migration Museum, shines a light on female Irish migration to Britain – in particular nurses who helped build the NHS. Read more

  • Census reveals new chapter in story of mixed-race Britain

    In this guest blog post, author Lucas Fothergill explores Britain’s mixed-race history, what the latest Census data reveals – and the significance of this moment. Read more

  • Marmite: the quintessentially British brand… made by a migrant 

    A blog post by Jen Baldwin, Research Specialist at Findmypast to accompany our Taking Care of Business exhibition exploring the history of Marmite and the man who made it famous: Frederick Wissler. Because its story, like so many other ‘quintessentially British’ brands, is a migration story.  Read more

  • From Redruth to Real del Monte: the unexpected legacies of Cornish emigration to Mexico

    What prompted Cornish emigrants to build new lives and communities in Mexico during the 19th century – and what were some of the unexpected legacies of this migration on both sides of the Atlantic? This guest blog post by Georgia Murphy, Collections and Engagement Officer at the Royal Cornwall Museum, is part of Departures: 400… Read more

  • Emigration from Liverpool to Canada: the Street family story

    Why did a family who emigrated to Canada from Liverpool in June 1924 return home just six months later – and what does their experience suggest about the reality of emigration for many British families? This guest blog post by Megan Ashworth, Archive Assistant at Merseyside Maritime Museum, is part of Departures: 400 Years of Emigration from Britain – Partner Stories, a national series to accompany our Departures exhibition and podcast. Read more

  • Mayflower 400 – Passengers, People, and Perceptions

    The passengers of the Mayflower were men, women and children. 102 of them left Plymouth on 6th September 1620. Who were they and why were they leaving? This guest blog post by Jo Loosemore, curator of Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy – the national commemorative exhibition for 2020/21 in The Box, Plymouth, is part of Departures: 400 Years of Emigration from Britain – Partner Stories, a national series to accompany the Migration Museum’s Departures exhibition and podcast. Read more

  • Trent Alexander-Arnold’s family history reveals complex relationships and links beyond Liverpool

    Trent Alexander-Arnold was part of England’s initial 26-man Euros squad, but suffered an injury in a warm-up game which forced him to withdraw from the tournament. In this post, Findmypast’s family history experts delve into the Liverpool-born player’s family tree and try to assess some of the headline-grabbing claims about his family ties to the US – and to Sir Alex Ferguson. Read more

  • From Antigua to Australia, via Angola, Ghana and Ireland: Scottish and Welsh footballers with overseas family links

    As part of our Football Moves People campaign, our friends at family history website Findmypast have been exploring the pasts of Scotland’s and Wales’s footballing heroes to see where their heritage lies. Read more

  • 50 years a British Bangladeshi

    A guest post from Iqbal Wahhab OBE FRSA, founder of London restaurants The Cinnamon Club and Roast and Distinguished Friend of the Migration Museum, who was born in 1963 in Rajshahi, and moved to London before his first birthday. I was born in 1963 in a Rajshahi hospital, in what was then East Pakistan and… Read more

  • Who was Mrs Fouracre?

    Dr Lesley Trotter contributed to our Departures exhibition and features in the latest episode of our Departures podcast, which focuses on the so-called ‘left behind’ wives of Cornwall in the 19th century. The episode page features Henry Scott Tuke’s painting ‘The Message.’ Dr Trotter chose a study for this painting as the cover image for her book ‘The Married Widows of Cornwall’. In this guest post, Dr Trotter reveals the fascinating real-life story of the woman featured in the painting: Mrs Elizabeth Fouracre. Read more

  • Did your Welsh ancestors migrate to Argentina? Here’s how to find out…

    Our latest guest post from family history website Findmypast helps you discover if you have distant Welsh cousins somewhere you might not expect: Patagonia, South America.  Read more

  • More of it than we think

    Andrew Steeds has been involved with the Migration Museum as a volunteer, trustee and as our Projects Manager for the best part of a decade. His many responsibilities have included creating and overseeing our blog. He stepped back from our core staff team at the end of 2020, although will continue to work with us on a freelance basis and to be closely involved in our future activities and developments. In this sign-off blog post, he explains why the idea of a national Migration Museum for Britain resonates so strongly with him. Read more

  • Were your ancestors transported to Australia as convicts?

    In the first in a series of guest posts, Findmypast’s family history experts have created a guide to help you discover if you could be related to someone who was transported to Australia as a convict. Read more

  • Porcelain roses

    The past few months have been an occasion for raking over the past and sifting through memories. Elzbieta Piekacz – a photographer who has documented many of our exhibitions and events – has been going over her past, recalling a moment when she travelled back to Lviv, the city that her grandparents lived in, to piece together memories, armed only with some photographs left to her by her grandmother. Read more

  • The weaving together of photographs

    In this second guest lockdown blog, Tim Smith, a photographer who has written two previous blogs for us and has been ‘with’ us since the start of the Migration Museum Project, sifts through old photos he and his father took of the Caribbean and asks how photographic memories control the narratives we spin of our… Read more

  • Phoenix City: the resilience of London

    In this period of enforced inactivity, when almost all Migration Museum staff are in furlough, we are running a small number of blogs written by friends of the Museum on subjects related to the current pandemic. The first one, written by Cathy Ross, long-term friend (and distinguished friend) of the Museum, focuses on the capacity… Read more

  • The Belle Vue Studio, Bradford

    A unique archive of photographs which records the changing face of a British industrial city through the 20th century is now being brought to a national audience in a BBC documentary, as Tim Smith, long-term friend and supporter of the Migration Museum, recounts. When the Belle Vue Studio opened in 1926 on Manningham Lane in… Read more

  • “For Sama” – a film you should see (unless you’re an MP, maybe)

    We were told that the absence of a large screen was due to the Extinction Rebellion protests in Westminster Square. The reason for the absence of anything but a small handful of MPs was not given, so we could only speculate: XR as well? Brexit-induced agoraphobia? indifference to the plight of Syria and its citizens?… Read more

  • Hold the Line – retracing a 90-year-old journey

    The route from south-east Europe to north-west Europe is one taken by thousands of people seeking asylum and refuge from war and persecution. Newspapers constantly present this as a contemporary challenge, but, as this blog illustrates, this is a well-trodden path – for the artist Freya Gabie this route is the basis of a project… Read more

  • “The whole world is here . . . ”

    The New Londoners, an exhibition featuring portraits of families from all over the world who call London home, is on display in the Breathing Space café section of the Migration Museum until 27 May. This blog profiles the exhibition, which features the photographs of Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins, a long-term supporter of the Migration Museum.… Read more

  • On knowledge, football and forgiveness

    This is a short posting about football, but really it’s mostly about forgiveness. At a time when divisions run deep and animosity is in the air, when Crystal Palace’s goalkeeper is apparently ‘desperate’ to learn about the Second World War if only to understand why the Nazi salute he was photographed making might have been… Read more

  • Shorsh Saleh – weaving identities

    In April we welcome a new artist in residence to Room to Breathe: the multimedia artist Shorsh Saleh. Shorsh’s display in the art studio inside the exhibition reveals a range of delightful artistic practices, from miniature paintings, installations to carpet weaving. His body of work reflects his layered and complex identity both as an individual… Read more

  • Textiles and lullabies – Ceyda Oskay’s residency in the art studio

    Ceyda Oskay is the new artist in residence in our current exhibition, Room to Breathe. As with previous artists, we asked Ceyda and the curator in residence of the art studio, Dima Karout, a series of questions and answers to find out more about Ceyda’s artistic practice. Ceyda uses textiles to explore symbolic themes around… Read more

  • Art therapy with asylum seekers and refugees: the New Art Studio

    We are approaching the end of our third monthly residency in our current exhibition, Room to Breathe: the New Art Studio, an art therapy practice supporting asylum seekers and refugees in London, will be leaving the gallery on 24 February, and Ceyda Oskay will be moving into the space the following week. In the course… Read more

  • Karl Marx’s London

    Much is made of Britain’s reputation for providing refuge for people seeking political asylum but many consider such self-congratulation undeserved, pointing instead to Britain’s relative resistance to taking in Jewish refugees before and during the Second World War, to the small number of Vietnamese boatpeople taken in in the 1970s (in comparison with those taken… Read more

  • The art studio as a ‘room to breathe’

    Room to Breathe at the Migration Museum takes visitors on an immersive journey through a series of interconnected rooms, revealing the multi-layered experience of migrants and refugees arriving in a new country. Intimate personal stories are brought to life through audio recordings of oral histories as visitors go through the different rooms. At the centre… Read more

  • Island to Island

    This is a guest blog by photographer Tim Smith, a long-standing friend of the Migration Museum Project and contributor to our 100 Images of Migration exhibition. He describes the background to Island to Island – Journeys Through the Caribbean, a new exhibition at Leeds Central Library which runs from 27 June until 27 July 2018.  A… Read more

  • National Lottery Heritage Fund to support Migration Museum’s collections and curatorial strategy development

    departures and arrivals exhibit at the Migration Museum

    The Migration Museum is delighted to have received funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the development of our collections, curatorial and interpretation strategy in advance of our move to our permanent home in the City of London in 2027. Read more

  • Rob Pierre joins our Board of Trustees

    We’re delighted to welcome Rob Pierre onto our Board of Trustees. Rob is an investor, advisor, and one of the UK’s most successful media leaders and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our board which will be invaluable as we deliver our ambitious plans to create a permanent Migration Museum for Britain. Read more

  • Migration Museum shortlisted for Lewisham Mayor’s Business Awards 2024

    The Migration Museum has been shortlisted in the Best Visitor Attraction category at the Lewisham Mayor’s Business Awards 2024. Please vote for us by Monday 7 October. Read more

  • Statement on recent violent attacks

    The Migration Museum stands in solidarity with people and communities under threat from recent violent attacks across the UK. Read more

  • Migration Museum reaches millions with Euro 2024 campaign

    During Euro 2024, we teamed up with Wonderhood Studios on a social media and out-of-home advertising campaign highlighting how migration has shaped the England team. Read more

  • Migration Museum Learning Team wins at the Charity Awards 2024

    The Migration Museum Learning Team wins at the Charity Awards 2024 Read more

  • City Corporation wins Planning Permission of the Year for new permanent home for the Migration Museum

    The City of London Corporation has won the national ‘Planning Permission of the Year’ at the prestigious Planning Awards 2024 for its decision to approve a mixed-use scheme at 65 Crutched Friars by Dominus, which will include a new permanent home for the Migration Museum in the City of London. Read more

  • Heart of the Nation wins Museums + Heritage Awards Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year

    Our Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS exhibition has won Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2024. Read more

  • Migration Museum receives funding from the Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme

    The Migration Museum is delighted to have received funding from the Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme to create a cutting edge new digital footprint. Read more

  • Migration Museum wins Best Shop and Rising Star awards at the Cultural Enterprises Awards 2024

    The Migration Museum’s shop has won two more awards at this year’s Cultural Enterprises Awards. Our Migrant Makers Market, which champions products made by migrant-led brands and creatives, was awarded Best Shop, while our Retail Manager Katy Clinch brought home the Rising Star award. Read more

  • A toolkit for co-created community engagement projects – produced by our People’s Panel and Network

    This toolkit is an open-access resource to support co-created community engagement projects. It has been fully co-produced by members of our People’s Panel and Network and offers a selection of ‘top tips’ and learning from the People’s Panel and Network, as well as templates to inspire and support others in their community engagement work.  Read more

  • Migration Museum awarded Museum of Sanctuary status

    The Migration Museum has been awarded Museum of Sanctuary status in recognition of our work in championing stories of people on the move and putting people with lived experience of seeking sanctuary at the heart of our work. Read more

  • In memory of George Alagiah OBE

    We are heartbroken that our trustee George Alagiah OBE has passed away. George was a passionate supporter, a remarkable trustee and a true friend and champion. Read more

  • Young Creatives Club at the Migration Museum

    Join the Migration Museum this summer from 24–28 July for a week-long creative programme. Develop your creative skills in response to the theme: ‘Who is a Migrant?’ Open to all young people in Lewisham ages 14-18. All abilities and skills welcome. Read more

  • Migrant Makers Market wins People’s Choice Awards at the Cultural Enterprises Awards 2023

    We’re thrilled to have won the People’s Choice award at the Cultural Enterprises Awards 2023 for our Migrant Makers Market, our concept store and makerspace providing a platform for a unique range of amazing products made by migrant-led businesses and creators. Read more

  • Migration Museum secures permanent home in the City of London

    After a 10-year journey, the Migration Museum is delighted to announce that it has been given the green light for a permanent home in the City of London. Read more

  • Moving Stories: Lewisham – a creative competition for young people aged 9–18

    Over the past year, young people from across Lewisham have been designing exhibits responding to what migration means to them as part of Moving Stories: Lewisham, a creative competition we ran during Borough of Culture, supported by Landsec. Read more

  • Migration Museum receives funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund

    We’re delighted to have received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for our project ‘Connecting Lewisham to its Migration Heritage’. Read more

  • Call out for NHS singers to participate in our 2023 Heart of the Nation installation

    Do you work for the NHS (or previously did) and love to sing? The Migration Museum is looking for up to 8 people to take part in an exciting project that highlights the extraordinary role that people with migrant heritage have played in shaping and sustaining the NHS – and caring for us throughout our lives. Read more

  • Join our People’s Panel and People’s Network

    The Migration Museum is looking for people to be part of our People’s Panel and Network, helping to establish our community engagement values and practices in Lewisham and beyond. Read more

  • Our statement on the invasion of Ukraine and the refugee emergency

    We know that statements alone are not enough. We all have a duty, individually and collectively, to provide support, sanctuary and welcome for people of all nationalities and backgrounds displaced by the current situation – and by other conflicts and crises around the world.  Read more

  • A note about Achim Borchardt-Hume

    It is with profound sadness that we share news of the death of Achim Borchardt-Hume, one of the Migration Museum’s longest standing and most committed Distinguished Friends. Read more

  • Departures: 400 Years of Emigration from Britain – Partner Stories

    Departures: 400 Years of Emigration from Britain – Partner Stories is a national series to accompany the Migration Museum’s Departures exhibition and podcast series. British emigration is one of the largest mass movements of people in modern history – and emigration stories resonate across the UK. We’ve partnered with museums and galleries across the country… Read more

  • The Migration Museum online shop is now open

    Our brand-new online shop is now open, featuring a hand-picked selection of artwork, books, homeware and gifts. All purchases support our exhibitions, events and education work. Read more

  • The Walk – Lewisham welcomes Little Amal

    The Migration Museum was part of the welcome for Little Amal, a giant puppet of a Syrian refugee, to Lewisham on Friday 22 October 2021. Read more

  • Migration Museum appoints new Trustees to help deliver major new cultural destination

    The Migration Museum has appointed five new Trustees to its Board to help us build on the success of our current home in the heart of Lewisham and establish a highly relevant and accessible new cultural destination that puts migration at the heart of national stories, narratives and conversations. Read more

  • Migration Museum joins forces with local organisations to aid Lewisham Covid recovery

    The Migration Museum has joined forces with 11 other key organisations in Lewisham to help the borough’s recovery from Covid-19 and improve the lives of local residents. The 12 anchor institutions have signed a new agreement to work together to boost employment, education, health and the environment across the borough. Read more

  • Pearson Edexcel launches Migrants in Britain GCSE History option at the Migration Museum

    The UK’s biggest exam board Pearson Edexcel launched a new Migrants in Britain GCSE History topic at the Migration Museum on 6 October 2021, attended by teachers and educators from across the country. Read more

  • Migration Museum launches Departures: Understanding Emigration education resource pack

    We have created a free, in-depth digital education resource pack shining a spotlight on 400 years of British emigration, designed with input from teachers and AQA’s History subject advisor.  This resource pack will be helpful to any student studying the impact of emigration from Britain; both on the countries people emigrated to, and on Britain itself. Read more

  • Football Moves People

    Football Moves People was a campaign led by the Migration Museum and running throughout this summer’s men’s European Championships highlighting how migration has shaped the beautiful game. Read more

  • Annual Lecture 2024 – Sunder Katwala asks: ‘Does the history of migration shape its future?’

    Sunder Katwala giving the 2024 annual lecture

    For our 2024 Annual Lecture, Sunder Katwala, Director of the thinktank British Future, asked us to consider: if we engage and educate people about the history of immigration, how much can we hope or expect to change how we talk and think about its future? Listen and read the full transcript of Sunder’s lecture. Read more

  • Signposting to refugee and asylum seeker support organisations in London

    A downloadable guide featuring a selection of organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers in London. Read more

  • Oxford Education Podcast – Migration: Enrich Your KS3 History Curriculum

    Aaron Wilkes and Shalina Patel discuss how effective teaching of migration can enrich your Key Stage 3 curriculum, with insights from Liberty Melly and Tia Shah from the learning team at the Migration Museum. What do students gain from studying migration at KS3? How has historical scholarship on migration changed in recent years? What is the impact of new research on how we should teach the topic? Read more

  • Lewisham: About Face by EVEWRIGHT – audio and video

    “This installation is my own unique perspective on growing up in Lewisham as the child of parents from the Windrush generation, reflecting on the places and the forgotten heroes of Lewisham’s past and present that have shaped my life. In the audio clips below, I share my memories of family and growing up in Lewisham, my… Read more

  • Moving Stories: Lewisham – a creative competition for young people aged 9-18

    Over the past year, young people from across Lewisham have been designing exhibits responding to what migration means to them as part of Moving Stories: Lewisham, a creative competition we ran during Borough of Culture, supported by Landsec. This video tells the story of the competition, featuring interviews with the six shortlisted teams and footage of the finals event. Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 9 – Brits Abroad Today

    Britain continues to be a major source of emigrants in the 21st century – not something we often hear about. So why do people leave the UK now and which countries do they choose to settle in? And how is emigration today affected by Britain’s colonial past? Mukti Jain Campion talks to sociologist Professor Michaela Benson of Lancaster University who studies modern British emigration and hears from a range of British people currently living abroad. Read more

  • Welcome back to the Migration Museum

    Contemporary artist STIK has made a video for us to celebrate our reopening, featuring amazing drone footage of WALL and our current exhibitions. Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 8 – Deported Children

    Britain is unique in its long history of exporting its own children. Well into the 20th century there were official schemes sending young children out to settle in former colonies such as Canada and Australia with the promise of a better life. While some children were fortunate enough to do well in their new country, for thousands of others the forced migration was a profoundly traumatic experience of family separation, neglect and abuse. Mukti Jain Campion hears from two former child migrants who were sent to Australia in the early 1950s without their parents’ consent. She also speaks to Margaret Humphreys, founder and director of the Child Migrants Trust which was established to support former British child migrants reunite with their families and asks what lessons can be learned from their experience?

    Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 7 – The Left Behind Wives of Cornwall

    When we speak of emigration we tend to think of the people who leave to go abroad. But what about the families and communities left at home? In 19th century Cornwall this was a pressing question. As the once-thriving local mining industry went into decline, thousands of men left each year to find better paid jobs abroad. They were often gone for years, leaving wives and families to cope alone and rely on remittances that didn’t always come. Mukti Jain Campion speaks to Dr Lesley Trotter author of The Married Widows of Cornwall to find out how these so-called “left behind” wives survived and why their stories are so important to understand the full story of migration. Amanda Drake also shares a poignant letter sent by her 19th century ancestor. Read more

  • Jewish Museum Object Talk – Dunera

    Our Head of Learning and Partnerships Emily Miller introduces the Dunera display from our Departures exhibition, as part of the Jewish Museum’s Passover Object Series of talks. Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 6 – A Welsh Utopia in Patagonia

    In May 1865, 153 men, women and children set sail from Liverpool to travel to the other side of the world.  Their dream was to build a new homeland, somewhere they could speak Welsh, govern themselves and pursue their religion and culture without interference. A romantic vision that took them 8,000 miles to the remote Chubut valley in Argentina. Did their dream of a Welsh utopia come true? And what impact did their arrival have on indigenous people who already called this region home? Mukti Jain Campion speaks to Professor Lucy Taylor of Aberystwyth University who has studied the archives of the Welsh in Patagonia, and Gareth Jenkins who has traced a family from his own village in Montgomeryshire that was amongst the early migrants. Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 5 – The Leaving of Liverpool

    From the early 19th century to the beginning of the First World War, over 10 million British people migrated. Over half of these emigrants left from the port of Liverpool. Mukti Jain Campion talks to Ian Murphy, Director of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, to discover how the port of Liverpool became the gateway to millions of new lives abroad, and examines the importance of printed propaganda in fuelling 19th century British emigration with Dr Fariha Shaikh, author and Lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University of Birmingham. Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 4 – Emigration and Enslavement

    Episode 4: Emigration and Enslavement The 17th century colonisation of North America and the Caribbean by emigrants from the British Isles was, almost from its beginning, dependent on the brutal forced transatlantic migration of millions of enslaved African people. Their labour made possible the industrial-scale production of lucrative crops such as tobacco, sugar and cotton… Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 3 – The Company Men in India

    From the beginning of the 17th century when the first ships of the English East India Company set sail from London, tens of thousands of men from Britain ventured out to live an expat life in a country that was completely different to anything they had previously known. Most never returned. Mukti Jain Campion speaks to historians William Dalrymple, Professor Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Dr Kate Teltscher and to Gurminder Bhambra, Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies at the University of Sussex, to find out more about the Company men who went to India and how their actions brought profound change for both Britain and India. Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 2 – Maidens’ Voyage

    In the early 17th century shiploads of young women were despatched to America by the Virginia Company of London. It was hoped they would marry the English planters in Jamestown and help grow the new colony. But who were these young women prepared to travel thousands of miles across the ocean in search of a husband? And how did they fare? Mukti Jain Campion talks to Jennifer Potter, author of The Jamestown Brides: The Bartered Wives of the New World. Read more

  • Departures podcast episode 1 – The Swarming of the English

    Mass emigration from England first took off in the 17th century with the colonisation of America and the Caribbean. The number of people leaving the shores of England was huge and unprecedented. Mukti Jain Campion speaks to historian James Evans, author of Emigrants:Why the English Sailed to the New World and to American historian Dr Linford Fisher to find out how those early English settlers fared and how Native Americans responded to the incursion of their lands. Read more

  • Departures podcast: 400 years of emigration from Britain

    Departures is a new podcast from the Migration Museum exploring 400 years of emigration from Britain. Read more

  • Migration and Museums – a review for the Migration Network 2020/21

    The Migration Museum commissioned a review to provide an overview of migration-related work being undertaken by museums and heritage sites nationally, to explore some of the motivations for the museum sector to address migration and the challenges faced in doing so, and to provide an initial basis and context for participants in the Migration Network 2020/21 to explore further. Read more

  • Migrants Mean Business – Karen Blackett in conversation with David Abraham

    Episode 3 of Migrants Mean Business features Karen Blackett, UK Country Manager for WPP and Chairwoman of MediaCom, in conversation with David Abraham Read more

  • Migrants Mean Business with George Alagiah – Sir Lloyd Dorfman

    Episode 2 of Migrants Mean Business features a conversation between George Alagiah and entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Lloyd Dorfman CBE. Lloyd founded Travelex at the age of 24 from one small shop in London and grew it to become the world’s largest foreign exchange specialist. Lloyd and George’s wide-ranging conversation explores Lloyd’s business and philanthropic career, his family roots and Jewish identity, the essence of entrepreneurialism and whether one ever stops being a ‘migrant’. Read more

  • Migrants Mean Business with George Alagiah – Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou

    To kick off our Migrants Mean Business series, we’ve got a cracking conversation with one of the most charismatic and recognisable business leaders of the past few decades – Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. His conversation with Daniel Franklin, executive and diplomatic editor of The Economist, ranges from shipping to dog walking, suing Netflix to going head to head with Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary. Read more

  • David Olusoga delivers the Migration Museum Annual Lecture 2018: ‘The Perils of Our Insular Illusion’

    Historian, producer, presenter and Migration Museum trustee David Olusoga delivered our 2018 Annual Lecture at SOAS on 22 November 2018, arguing that, to make sense of contemporary Britain, we need to recover the global aspects of our history and culture. Read more

  • No Turning Back: Seven Migration Moments that Changed Britain

    A video showcasing our exhibition No Turning Back: Seven Migration Moments that Changed Britain. Read more

  • Migration Museum 2017 Annual Lecture with Gary Younge

    Journalist and author Gary Younge looks at how immigration is understood in the current age and what the consequences are in terms of migration, social anxiety and democracy. Read more