Taking Care of Business, a new exhibition shining a light on the central role that migrant entrepreneurs have played in shaping our lives – and Britain – opens on 9 April at the Migration Museum in the heart of a London shopping centre.
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 Years of Emigration from Britain – Partner Stories, a national series to accompany the Migration Museum’s Departures exhibition and podcast.
With the decline of the Cornish mining industry from the early 1800 onwards and faced with a severe lack of jobs, local newspapers and noticeboards began filling up with adverts enticing skilled Cornish miners and workers abroad.
Recruitment poster for Cornish miners c.1840 © From the collections of the Courtney Library, Royal Institution of Cornwall
Mexico was a major early destination for these Cornish emigrants, with the country’s existing silver mines lying derelict following the Mexican War of Independence against the Spanish Empire. The first Cornish men women and children, primarily from the towns of Camborne and Redruth, travelled by boat from Cornwall to Mexico in 1825. Arriving in yellow fever season, many died within weeks. Those who survived then faced an arduous year-long journey to the state of Hidalgo, using horses and rope to drag huge mine engines through jungles and across mountains.
Once they arrived, Cornish miners started building new lives and communities, with many more following in their footsteps in the years to come. As well as bringing their mining labour and skills Cornish emigrants also brought with them many of their local traditions and culture. These influences were most evident in the city of Pachuca and neighbouring town of Real Del Monte, which have become known as Mexico’s ‘Little Cornwall’.
Pachuca market place, Hidalgo Province, Mexico 1898-1900. Photographer unknown: most likely taken or brought back by a Cornish emigrant. © From the collections of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
While the history of Cornish migration to Mexico has often been positioned as a positive one of Cornish ingenuity and triumph, there is of course another much less documented side to this story – the impact of the arrival of these Cornish immigrants on existing indigenous and Hispanic populations and the different dynamics that were at play here. This is a topic that merits far greater exploration than is possible in this blog post – and perhaps tellingly, on which very little published research currently exists. Additionally, and not unrelated to this, it is also important to note that the expansion of mining and industry across the world, and the Cornish labour emigration that came with it cannot be separated from the wider systems of colonialism and imperialism whereby Britain has (and in many cases continues to) benefit from the use and exploitation of other countries’ resources, land and labour.
One of the most renowned and often celebrated legacies of Cornish migration to the region is that of the Cornish pasty. Due to its ability to stay warm for a long time and its crimped edges (perfect for holding with dirty hands in the mines) it was a staple for Cornish miners and quickly became popular in Mexico, where miner’s wives are thought to have taught their Mexican maids how to make them – a reminder of the power dynamics at the heart of this, and so many other, emigration histories.
Cornish miners eating their pasties at ‘Croust time’ in East Pool Mine, Cornwall 1893. © From the collections of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
However, as is often the case when new cultures collide, the pasty did not remain unchanged and was soon adapted according to local tastes and ingredients. Mexican pasties, which are now known as ‘pastes’, have their own unique flavours and ingredients. Some popular fillings include: refried beans, blackcurrants and cheese, pineapple, tinga (shredded meat marinated with tomatoes and chipotle chillies) and mole (a green or red chilli and chocolate sauce). Even when pastes are made with potatoes, turnips and meat to resemble their ‘traditional’ Cornish predecessors, they are almost always accompanied by a generous dose of jalapeños or hot chilli sauce.
Souvenir papier maché paste in a wicker basket with wooden base made by the owner of Pastes El Portal, Real del Monte, Hidalgo, Mexico and given to English members of the Redruth-Real del Monte Twinning Association at the 8th International Pasty Festival at Real del Monte, Hidalgo, Mexico, October 2016. © From the collections of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
With paste shops lining almost every street, Real del Monte is now known as the ‘paste capital of Mexico’. This small town, nestled 2,600 metres up in the mountains, is also home to the world’s very first pasty museum and the Festival Internacional Del Paste, a three-day international pasty festival which celebrates the town’s cultural and culinary heritage through live music, dancing and food.
Poster promoting the 8th International Pasty Festival at Real Del Monte, Hidalgo, Mexico, October 2016; given to members of the Redruth-Real del Monte Twinning Association at the festival. © From the collections of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
The impact of Cornish labour emigration not only left its mark in the mining towns and cities of Mexico but could also be seen back home on the other side of the Atlantic. It is said that Spanish could often be heard echoing from the streets or pubs of Camborne and Redruth, and that Cornish miners returning home caused much confusion as they walked around their hometowns wearing ponchos and sombreros. If you look hard enough, you can even still find Spanish street and house names in many of the old Cornish mining towns and villages; serving as a small visual reminder of the complex and sometimes surprising histories of emigration that can be found all around us.
Listen to episode 7 of our Departures podcast: The Left Behind Wives of Cornwall
This post 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.
About the author: Georgia Murphy
Georgia (she/they) grew up in West Cornwall and went to SOAS University, where they studied Social Anthropology. They have worked as an Education and Events Coordinator at Two Temple Place, running participatory art workshops and helping to coordinate the exhibitions education programme, as well as at TATE as a Learning Facilitator. Having recently completed a year-long curatorial traineeship at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Georgia is now going on to work as a Learning Coordinator at the Museum of London, helping to engage families and school children with London’s diverse history. They are passionate about challenging and reimagining the ways stories are told in museums as well sharing hidden histories and increasing access, participation and representation within the sector.
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 the Migration Museum’s Departures exhibition and podcast.
In the archive collections at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, one family’s story of emigration from the city stands out.
The Street family emigrated to Canada on board a Canadian Pacific ship in June 1924. But just six months later, they returned to Liverpool. The Canadian Pacific shipping line played an important role in promoting the promise of a new life across the Atlantic and facilitating these journeys. However, this life wasn’t always all it was set up to be – as the Streets found out…
A postcard of the Canadian Pacific ship the CPS Montrose, which the Street Family emigrated to Canada on board in June 1924, from the Merseyside Maritime Museum archive (Reference number: EVA/B/242)
Meet the Streets
The Street family consisted of three members: John and Ada and their two-year-old daughter Dorothy. The family lived in Oldham, then Lancashire, but decided to emigrate to Canada from the Port of Liverpool in June 1924.
They travelled as third-class passengers on the Canadian Pacific Montrose, and arrived in Quebec before settling in Toronto. However, just six months later in January 1925, the Street family returned to Liverpool on the Montclare due to homesickness.
In this display a New Year’s card which they received from loved ones only a few days before their return reads:
To our Ada and Jack,
From Ma, Pa, Frank and Dora
To wish you a Bright and
Happy New Year
across the world,
O’ersea and Land
I stretch out a loving hand
Their longing to return to Lancashire demonstrates that emigrant life was perhaps not quite as some had imagined. Their story therefore provides evidence that stands in contrast to the idyllic advertisements created by Canadian Pacific to encourage Britons to emigrate.
Liverpool: gateway to the world for millions of emigrants
On both their outbound and return voyages the Street family travelled on Canadian Pacific ships, a journey which took between 7 to 10 days from Liverpool.
Before their travels in the 1920s, Liverpool had already been established as the most significant port for emigration in Britain, with more than 12 million emigrants passing through Liverpool between the early nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The landing stage at Liverpool port around the time of the Street Family’s voyages. Courtesy of Peel Archives (MDHB Archive at National Museums Liverpool, Maritime Museum, MDHB/PHO/1360)
Initially, guidebooks were published to provide advice to prospective emigrants about work, customs and climate in the countries soon to be called home. In this particular guide to Canadian life, the advantages of Canada over the United States, a more popular destination for emigrants at the time, are emphasised:
“What we desire is that the advantages of Canada should be known, so as to induce men to weigh them as compared with the United States.”
Later, however, with the rise of steamships from the 1860s onwards and amid increasing competition between shipping companies to attract custom, it became part of their role to provide information to potential emigrants. Canadian Pacific used bright graphic designs, depicting both voyage and settlement, in their posters and brochures to encourage people to choose their company.
In particular, the shipping line presented images of picturesque farm scenes in an attempt to grow Canada’s farming population to work the land of the Manitoba and Northwest Territories, which they called “the granary of the world”.
So, it was in Canadian Pacific’s best interests to produce publicity that was as persuasive as possible in order to bring over people to farm the country’s land and work on its infrastructure, most notably the railways. The company stated that in the decade following the end of the First World War in 1918, more than 55,000 families settled on Canadian soil.
Promotion versus reality
The Street family’s voyages with Canadian Pacific highlight that the promotion of life overseas wasn’t always reflected in the lived experience of the passengers.
While many people chose to emigrate in hope of a better life and the opportunity to own their own land, some soon realised that emigrant life was not quite as they had imagined, and homesickness prompted them to return.
For these families, the rhetoric used by shipping companies to sell tickets didn’t always match up to reality – as the Street family discovered.
Sources and further reading
Marc H. Choko. 2015. Canadian Pacific: Creating a Brand, Building a Nation. Callisto.
John Herson. 2008. Liverpool as a Diasporic City. Working papers 8012, Economic History Society.
Written by Megan Ashworth, Archive Assistant at Merseyside Maritime Museum. This blog post is based on records which are part of the collections held at The Archives Centre.
This collaboration 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.
“The news stories on migration often look at people coming to the UK but what about those who’ve left? A new display at this wonderful museum looks at people who’ve moved elsewhere over the last 400 years — from the Mayflower Pilgrims fleeing persecution, to the shameful deportation of Windrushers. There are lesser known stories too, such as Welsh emigrants who went to South America to form their own “little Wales beyond Wales”. The exhibition is creatively designed with departure boards and trollies carrying suitcases to give the place the feel of an airport.”
