Elstree & Museum 96 Road Borehamwood Email: info@-museum.org.uk A teacher’s curriculum resource pack WD6 1EB Website: www.elstree-museum.org.uk Tel: 01442 454888 Facebook: www.facebook.com/EBWmuseum

1 Introduction for teachers

These resources have been created to support student exploration of migration. Migration has significantly shaped the places we live, the communities we are part of, and the lives we lead. The impact of migration is far-reaching, with impacts on the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the language we use, and the music we listen to.

Elstree and Borehamwood has an important history of migration. Over the past 100 years many people from across Britain and the world have moved to the area, contributing to its diverse and vibrant community and history.

In 1901 Borehamwood and Elstree were small villages with a combined population of 1,423. By 2011, the area had become one of the most populous civil parishes in , with a combined population of 37,065. After , is the most diverse district in Hertfordshire. In Elstree, the most diverse ward in the Borough, 20% of the population are not from a White British or Irish background. (Source: ‘Diversity in Hertfordshire and Districts Report’.)

In 2015, Elstree and Borehamwood Museum led an oral history project to capture this important history of migration. 46 stories of migration to Elstree and Borehamwood were recorded as part of the project culminating in a major exhibition at the museum: ‘From Village to Town: A Century of Migration’, (January-June 2017.)

The eight stories included in this pack highlight the different reasons people migrate, and represent the different periods of migration to Elstree and Borehamwood, starting with the movement of agricultural labourers and rural craftsmen at the end of the 19th century, the search for work during the Depression in the 1930s, the exodus from bombed cities after World War II to the many people from within the UK and beyond who came in search of work, housing and a better life for themselves and their families.

1 2 Interview summaries Clive Treacher Clive Treacher was born in Elstree, on Elstree Hill South. He talks about his grandfather, Henry John Carpenter who was born in Somerset in 1874 into a long established Somerset family of agricultural workers and carpenters. He moved to and married Catherine Schmidt, whose father had come to England from Bavaria in Germany about 1870. Henry, a Dairy Foreman, moved to 5 Shenley Road, Borehamwood in 1912. Clive’s mother, Dorothy was born there in August 1912.

Florrie Cowley Florrie Cowley was born in Kentish Town on 6th September 1920. Her father came from Kingscler in Hampshire. She and her husband moved to Borehamwood after World War 2 in 1949. He was an accountant at Elstree Rural District Council. They lived in Eldon Avenue. For many years Florrie ran the Brownies group in Borehamwood.

Dzemal Paratusic Dzemal Paratusic was born in Bosnia. He arrived in England in September 1992 and in Borehamwood in December 1992. He was one of a group of people escaping from war in Bosnia, and re-settled in the UK by the Red Cross as part of the British Government’s programme to support those with medical needs. Dzemal had been in a concentration camp during the Bosnian War. He has lived in Borehamwood for 24years.

Grace Silvera Grace was born in Jamaica and had a British passport. As a single mother, she wanted a better education for her three year old daughter. She got a visa to come to the UK and at first stayed with a friend in South London. She then moved to Borehamwood because her best friend lived there and could give her somewhere to stay with her daughter until she could find her own place. She lived in Hartford Road. She remembers how cold she felt when she first arrived in England.

2 Victor Eni Victor Eni came from Germany with his wife in 1995. They decided to settle in Borehamwood because his wife found a job at Witham Lodge in Borehamwood. He talks of Borehamwood being quite rural, relaxing and welcoming. Victor became a Councillor in May 2015 and represents BrookMeadow Ward.

Lorraine Reed Lorraine originally lived in Ilford, Essex but moved to and then Borehamwood in 1997/8 to be with her new husband. She decided to live in Borehamwood because it was a quiet, safe area and people were friendly.

Jack Gardiner Jack was born in 1915 in Brandon Colliery, a small mining village in Durham. As a young man in the 1930s he couldn’t find work because of the economic depression in the north of the country. He talks about the mayor of London’s scheme to bring people down south to find work. Jack found a job at Keystone’s in Borehamwood.

Fred Midson Fred was born in Braunston, near Rugby in 1942 and then lived with his parents in Hoxton, London. He and his family came to Borehamwood in 1952 to live in one of the new houses on the estates which were being built by the London County Council to rehome people from London which had been bombed during the war.

3 3 Transcript extracts Clive Treacher (example of internal migration) CT: I am Clive Treacher. My father, Ronald Treacher, who came from a long established Shenley family, married Dorothy Carpenter in 1937. Her father was Henry John Carpenter who was born in Wells, Somerset in 1874 into a long established Somerset family of agricultural workers and carpenters. In 1881 he was a scholar but by 1891 he was a general servant in Wells, but 1901 finds him lodging with a Mrs Catherine Schmidt in Marylebone, London. Mrs Schmidt was originally from North Mimms, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, (her father, Horace Nash, ran a successful carpentry business employing several workers). Her husband, Charles Schmidt came to England around 1870/5 from Bavaria, Germany. Charles was a live in Butler at a house just off Park Lane. Henry married Catherine’s eldest daughter, also Catherine in 1902 and his occupation was listed as Dairyman. They moved to St John’s Wood from the Marylebone house of Catherine’s mother just before 1911, his occupation then was then a Dairy Foreman. They moved to 5, Shenley Road, Bore ham Wood in 1912, and his daughter, Dorothy, my mother, was born there in August of that year. His occupation is now Master Dairyman as he was the owner of Station Farm Dairies at 5 Shenley Road. Two shops up towards the Church just past Glen haven Avenue. He ran the shop there until his retirement (not sure when but he was retired in 1937). As well as being a dairy (milk supplied by Lears Farm, Theobald Street) they ran a cafe to meet the needs of the fast growing local workforce. After that he moved to Oakwood Avenue where he sold sweets and homemade ice cream from the house. He also had a push cart which he trawled around Bore ham Wood selling to eager local school children and adults as well! He died in 1955. I don’t know why he came to Bore ham Wood but it could have been the proximity to where his wife’s mother’s family, the Nash’s, still lived.

4 Florrie Cowley (example of internal migration) FC: Oh I was born in Kentish Town the 6th September 1920. But I wasn’t there very long because Dad bought a house at Whetstone village because he was used to the country and we moved out to the house, so I was a little girl, yes. I moved to Borehamwood in ’49, September ’49. We moved to here – actually I was in the village earlier, but my son was born here at this house. (laughter) – he’s lived all his life in this house, yes. Dad was born in Kingsclere, it’s in Hampshire and his father was head of a racing -um - a chap with racing horses that used to be exercised on the Downs of Kingsclere and he was the head gardener all over the estate and so that’s why my father wanted to move away from London. Yes, so, but mother was born in London, but I don’t really know where. Oh yes, that was after the war. My husband of course came home and first of all he was an accountant at Friern Barnet Council and he’d been there about a couple of years I think and he saw this advert in the Newsletter they had at the Council, but they wanted somebody for accounts here and he said “I think Elstree’s going to grow” (laughter) and so he applied for the position and he got the job. So then Mr Lancashire, who was the Clerk of the Council - the Elstree Rural District Council – he was there and he said “I like all the staff to live in the neighbourhood, so would you be inclined to move?” Well we’d got a flat, we were alright, but we thought well, right we would and so they put us on the housing list and we had a prefab (laughter).

5 Dzemal Paratusic (international migration: war) DP: We came on 15th December 1992, and basically we came to England 15th September 92, and Borehamwood three months later. I came to Watford General Hospital, the first load of people from concentration camps, from the trouble back home. I was born in Bosnia, but because people don’t understand history.... Yugoslavia was made of six republics, I am from one of these republics - called Bosnia Herzegovina. So you came to this town? Why Borehamwood? Why this part of England? DP: I didn’t choose England, because when we were in the camp, the Red Cross registered us, as part of the British government arranging the evacuation. They arranged evacuation, with a focus on support for medical needs. I was one ‘of them’, and then I went..... I didn’t know that I would be coming to England, until the plane arrived, and told me that we would be landing in England. What did you first think when you came here? What did you like - what did you make of it? DP: Its very difficult - I was in bad condition, I didn’t have many thoughts - I was only surviving. My thoughts were that we would come here, recover for about six months, then go home. We didn’think we were going to stay. That was for everyone of us. And now you’ve been here nearly twenty four? How have you found this town, this part of Hertfordshire? DP: Its a lovely village. I engaged with community later on, and basically I was very involved with the local community. I find it okay, no problem at all.

6 Grace Silvera (international migration: better life) GS: I was born and grew up in Jamaica and I lived there until I was forty, but as a single mother I needed to pay for my daughter’s primary education and I had a good job but not good enough to be able to afford the type of education I wanted for her. Because my parents are British, I’m British so therefore I was able to get a visa for her and we came to England. Originally we were in South London in Norbury, but due to family circumstances I wasn’t able to stay there, so I came up to Borehamwood because my best friend lived here and she let me sleep on a mattress in her living room with my three year old until I could get my own place. Well the weather was a shock. When I came was December 20, my brother was meeting us at the airport with winter coats. Unfortunately our plane was rather late and so when it arrived at Heathrow it did not have a gate to go to and it was parked on the tarmac and we had to go down steps and get on a bus to go to the building. My daughter had on tights and lots of stuff for her that my mother had gotten in Miami, but pretty much I was just in trousers, shirt - um trousers a sweater, jeans and a jacket, a regular work type jacket that definitely was not lined or made for England, so I remember being freezing. In comparison to when I first moved here? I remember my friends who I was staying with, who are black Jamaicans, well a black Jamaican and the husband is mixed, he is Sri Lankan and English, white English, but he grew up in Jamaica and when they first moved to Borehamwood and were talking – I’ve been here twelve years, so in their case it’s probably fourteen years maybe, then there were about one or two families and now it’s totally, totally different. It’s very mixed; it’s very mixed with everybody now so you see lots of different races.

7 Lorraine Reed (internal migration: marriage) LC: So, originally, I’m from Essex, and I moved to Bushey in 1997, to be with my now husband Darren, and then in 1998, I moved to Borehamwood, and that’s when we had our first daughter Jade, and then a couple of years later, we had Rebecca, and then in 2007, had Hailey - all girls in our house! And what about... what attracted you? What brought you to this part? LC: Well. Originally I moved to Hertfordshire from Essex, to be with my husband, he was the living in Elstree, and we looking around for somewhere to live, and we looked at Borehamwood. We actually really liked Borehamwood, it seemed quiet and quite a safe area. People were friendly, and that’s what we really liked about it. So that is how we ended up in Borehamwood.

Jack Gardner (internal migration: work) JG: I’m 93 born on 1 April 1915 in Brandon Colliery. That was a small mining village in Durham. I was out of work until I was seventeen. I searched all over Durham County. I had a bike and there was no work anywhere. The Lord Mayor of London had a scheme, he brought people from distressed areas and found work for them in different parts of the country and people at Keystone came from my area, from South Wales, from Liverpool, all the distressed areas around the country. The Labour Exchange offered me several unsuitable jobs, Bootboy in hotels and that sort of thing, which I wouldn’t accept and then they called me in one day and said there’s a job going at Keystone in Borehamwood, would you like it or more or less you’ve got to take it and there’s ten of us came down together.

8 Victor Eni (international migration) Which year did you first move to Borehamwood? VE: That would be 1995 I think it was August. Where had you lived previously? VE: Before coming here I was in Germany. Now of all the places in London or or the South why did you chose Elstree or Borehamwood? VE: When we planned to move to England from Germany we decided to look for a job first before coming. One of the jobs my wife got was in Southend too close to the sea, which personally I wouldn’t have liked. The next one is at Wiltam Lodge in Shenley, which is not too close to London but enough distance and I think I prefer to live outside a big city, yes so this was on the outskirts of London and very close to London at the same time. What were your first impressions on the first day/week you came here? What were your very first impressions? VE: I had an open mind like in everything I do. I wasn’t expecting something special I see it as another European town or city. Having said that, it was a bit rural compared to normal cities, but still I think I love it. It was quiet, relaxing; the people were welcoming even up ‘til now I’ve had no issues living in Borehamwood. Now how long had you been living in this town before you became a Councillor? VE: I became a Councillor last year, so I would say exactly just a few months less than 20 years, yes. I was actively here August 1995 and became a Councillor May 2015. We came here with our first daughter and I have a boy and a girl - one is 16 one is 14 and they went to the local school. It’s a very lovely area to live in.

9 Fred Midson (international migration) What year were you born? FM: 1942. And we moved to Borehamwood in ’52, so I was ten years old. Ok and just going back one stage further, your family history, do you know much about where your family came from? FM: From Hoxton. Me mum and dad was from Hoxton. What happened ‘cos the war started and I was born in ’42 during the war, me mum – me father was obviously in Normandy and all that, but my grandparents who lived in - moved from Hoxton to Braunston, which is near Rugby and that is a little village as well. That’s a big change, wow. FM: And that’s where I was born in Braunston. I’m 99% sure but it’s nothing to do with this bit, I was born in Althorp House where Princess Diana used to live. I was actually born there. What makes you think that? FM: Cos me parents told me. They told me I – well me mother did obviously. You were born there? FM: Yeah in Althorp House. What were your parents staying there? FM: It was turned into a Maternity thing so … Oh wow, what during the war? FM: Yeah, during the war, so … Gosh, that’s extraordinary. FM: Yeah, but me father he got hit by a shell and damaged all his arm, so he come back and then eventually the war finished and we moved back to Hackney. ‘Cos we come from Hoxton, me parents did, so we moved back to Hackney and that’s where we had this prefab house, asbestos one …

10 Oh my gosh. FM: And they only last for ten years apparently, so that’s when me father was in Borehamwood working and he happened to think ‘oh what’s going on here, all this building, looks quite interesting’ and he transferred from Council to Council – from Hackney Council to London Council and they moved us down here and I can still remember the day we moved, in the back of the removal lorry because my parents never had a car from day one they never had a car anyway, sitting in the back of the lorry on the armchairs going up the A1 as it was in them days, the old A1, single road, sitting there ‘til Borehamwood wondering where we was ‘cos we’d never been here. All of a sudden xxxxxxxx nice and the neighbours was really – smashing neighbours you know they all mixed in. You didn’t have these six foot fences. You had low fence with posts and you could shout up to three doors down and things like that.

11 4 What is ?

Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. There are different types of migration, depending on where people move from and why they move.

People often migrate ‘internally’. This means moving from one part of a country to another.

Listen to Clive’s family history and Lorraine’s story. Both moved to Borehamwood from elsewhere in the UK.

International migration is when people move from one country to another.

Listen to Dzemal and Grace’s stories to find out more about international migration. Dzemal moved from Bosnia, (part of the former Yugoslavia), in Europe and Grace was born in Jamaica and lived in South London before moving to Borehamwood.

There are different words that are often used to describe people who have moved to a new country.

Use a dictionary or research on the internet to find the meaning (definition) for the following words and find out what the differences are: Emigrant

An emigrant is someone who ......

...... Immigrant

An immigrant is someone who ......

...... Refugee

A refugee is someone who ......

...... Asylum seeker

An asylum seeker is someone who ......

......

As you listen to the interviews, think about the different words and try and match the interviewees with the descriptions. 12 5 Why do people ? There are many different reasons why people migrate:

• Economic migration – moving for financial reasons, e.g. to find work • Social migration – moving for social reasons, e.g. for a better quality of life, or to be closer to family or friends • Political migration – moving for political reasons, e.g. to escape war or political persecution • Environmental – moving for environmental reasons, e.g. severe drought.

Listen to the following stories and write down where they moved from, why they moved and whether Florrie, Victor, Dzemal, Jack and Fred’s stories are examples of economic, social, political or environmental migration?

Migrated from Reason for migration Type of migration F lorrie

Victor

Dzemal

Jack

Fred

13 6 Impact of

Migration has had an impact on the language we use, the food we eat and the music we listen to. Language All languages change over time and vary from place to place. Migration has a significant impact on language and we can see evidence of it in the language we use everyday. Where do you think these commonly used words come from?

Music Research and listen to these different styles of music : q Cerdd Dant q Opera q Reggae q Kwaito

Where did they come from originally?

14 Food Have you eaten any of these foods? What did it taste like? Do you know where it originated from?

15 7 Oral History Interviews

Oral history interviews are a great way to capture personal stories about the past. Perhaps you could interview a parent or grandparent.

Who would you like to interview?

What would you ask them?

Write down some questions you would like to ask.

Think about the different types of questions you might want to use.

Closed questions: Useful for getting a short, factual answer. Example: What year did you move to Borehamwood?

Open questions: These are useful for getting more detailed answers. Example: Why did you decide to come to Borehamwood?

Follow-up questions: These help you find out more information. Example: What do you like about living in Borehamwood?

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