Several readers suggested the topic to this article, which gives a brief history of immigration to England. It also explains basic English naturalization laws and points out some record types that might be helpful for researchers.

Protestant Immigrants
In 1567, Phillip I of Spain sent the Duke of Alva to the Low Countries to spearhead an assault on Protestants living within Spanish domains. This was a particularly violent effort to stamp out what was regarded as subversive heresy. One observer, the Duchess of Parma, noted that 100,000 people had fled and that half the houses in Ghent lay empty (Strangers to England by Colin Nicolson, London, 1974). The first foreign Protestant church in England was established in Southampton in the same year.

The assault and its resulting refugees signaled the beginning of an influx of Protestants to England. That influx grew with the death of Henry II of France, which brought a period of persecution; in fact, the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve took place a short time later in 1572.

Those who fled to England left everything behind, but they brought their technical knowledge and skills—assets that would transform weaving and other industries. However, these refugees arrived during a time of economic hardship, and there was a great deal of resentment toward them among the general population.

A century later, at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, French Protestants got a warmer welcome. Throughout the country, churches collected donations for the refugees; these contributions were substantial enough that a committee had to be created to administer the funds. Most Huguenots who came during this time went to London, but they also went where there were already established settlements of foreign Protestants: Canterbury, Norwich, and Southampton, among others.

Other Immigrant Groups
The next major inflow of refugees was the Palatines, who arrived in 1709 from the lower Rhine region. They were driven out by religious persecution during the War of the Spanish Succession. Some 14,000 arrived in England in the space of a few months, most of them intending to go on to America. There were so many that the government had to create a tent city on Blackheath, southeast of London to accommodate them (Foreigners and Englishmen by Daniel Statt, Newark, 1985). About 3,000 refugees went to Ireland.

Royalist supporters fleeing the American Revolution sought refuge in England after 1789. But the government was wary of them for two reasons: (1) They worried that Revolutionary agents might come in on the pretext that they were Royalists, and (2) they did not welcome the strong views of French Royalists (Strangers to England by Colin Nicolson, London, 1974). The inflow of refugees became enough of a worry that the government passed an Aliens Act in 1793, restricting entry and putting the regulation of aliens under the Home Office.

Immigration resumed again in the early 1800s. Once Napoleon was defeated in 1815, immigrants were not viewed as potential problems. Three acts, in 1816, 1826, and 1836, progressively eased restrictions on aliens, which meant more people were allowed in. And then there was a wave of immigration at the time of the unrest in Greece and Italy in the 1820s, and again after revolution broke out in many parts of Europe in 1848.

As wars came and went or as unrest on the Continent ebbed and flowed, controls (and vigilance regarding their application) increased and subsided. It follows that record keeping was similarly affected.

English Naturalization
For a very long time—up until 1844—obtaining full English citizenship required an act of Parliament. This was beyond the means of most. Naturalization also required the swearing of the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and taking the sacrament according to the rites of the established church (up until the 19th century). Jews (allowed into England in 1657) and Catholics who wanted some of the privileges of citizenship chose denization. In 1844, naturalization was added to the responsibilities of the Home Office.

Denization was less expensive, but granted an alien most of the privileges of citizenship. A denizen could buy and devise (grant by will) land, but he could not inherit land and nor could any of his children born before the date of denization. A denizen could not hold office or receive a grant of land from the Crown (Ancestral Trails by Mark Herber, GPC, 1999).

However, a large number of aliens never bothered with formal naturalization of any kind, but simply married into citizenship for their children. If an alien married an English woman and the two had children who were born in Britain, then these children were citizens.

Locating Records
To begin a search for an immigrant, start with the publications of the Huguenot Society (which has published and index to denizatons between 1509 and 1800) and the Public Record Office (PRO), Denization and Naturalization Lists, 1801 to 1873 (from class C66, Patent Rolls). Both are in the collection of the Family History Library—check the Family History Library Catalog under England - Naturalization and Citizenship (or under Great Britain).

The government destroyed many early certificates of arrival, but aliens arriving at British ports 1810-11 are among Foreign Office records (FO83/21-22), and there is an index to destroyed certificates 1826 to 1849 in HO5/25-32.

There are some classes of records at the PRO that deal only with immigrants fleeing the French revolution. These are the Bouillon Papers (HO69), Privy Council Unbound Papers (PC1), Foreign Office Miscellanea (FO95), and War Office in Letters (WO1). There are also records of the French Refugees Relief Comitttee (T93).

As another source, remember that the Alien Act of 1792 gave the Crown the power to banish aliens from the kingdom, and required the registration of aliens. Consequently, any foreigner arriving in England had to register with a Justice of the Peace. Householders who took in aliens were required to inform the parish constable, who in turn reported the presence of aliens to the Clerk of the Peace for the county. Therefore, the names of aliens may be found within the records of Quarter Sessions.

In a search for an immigrant, do not forget that the best source may be usual genealogical records like census returns, the registers of foreign Protestant congregations, and wills. They will be particularly important when the immigrant did not bother to formalize his position.

The records I have listed to this point are only a few of the record classes related to immigrant records. A quick way to grasp what is available is to consult the PRO Finding Aid #50, Immigrants, which can be downloaded from the PRO Web site.

In conclusion, a quick comment on more recent arrivals: There are some incoming passenger lists that begin in 1878, but these do not include those arriving from Europe. At the PRO there are also some indexes to early 20th-century immigrants (HO 45).

One other note: No mention has been made of Irish immigrants to England and Scotland. No lists exist because these immigrants were moving from one county of the United Kingdom to another, and therefore were not aliens.

Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) has been researching her British ancestry for thirty years. She founded Interlink Bookshop and Genealogical Services in 1988, and she currently lectures in Canada and the United States and is vice president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Suggestions for future British genealogy articles can be sent to Sherry Irvine at: sherryirvine55@myfamily.com. Sherry will not be able to send personal replies, but she will feature some questions in upcoming issues of the Ancestry Daily News. She also regrets that she is unable to assist with personal research. Sherry is the author of Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans and Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans, today's product special!