Humanities and Social Sciences

History Program

British Migration History Project

Dr Jim Hammerton is currently directing a project into the history of British Migration within the Commonwealth between 1968 and 2005. It focuses on people who emigrated to Australia, New Zealand and Canada and other Commonwealth countries in the late 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. It also considers those who returned to Britain, and those who have moved between these countries, or to and from other countries like South Africa and the United States. It examines the effects of globalisation upon the decisions of this generation of migrants, and traces how their experiences have been shaped by the increased opportunities for international travel and mobility since the 1960s. A major outcome of the project will be the publication of a book about the communities and networks of British people who live outside of the United Kingdom, or the ‘Modern British Diaspora’. Written testimonies and interviews with migrants from this era will form the basis of the study.

Dr Hammerton is the co-author of Ten Pound Poms: Australia's Invisible Migrants (Manchester University Press, 2006) which examines the experiences of British migrants to Australia in the late 1940s and 1950s.