A bit of History about Portuguese Speakers in the UK The first Portuguese community in Britain was actually made up of people of secret Jewish descent (known as New Christians) who escaped persecution in Portugal from the year 1496 onwards. This led to the founding of a small secret Portuguese Jewish community in London. By 1550, there were around a hundred members of the Portuguese Jewish community in London. This centred on the Anes family who provided a physician to Queen Elizabeth. The Portuguese Jewish community of London suffered a setback in 1609 when they were officially expelled. However, there is evidence that at least some of them continued to live in London. The greatest number of Portuguese, however, came to the UK in the 1960s and 1970s during the rule of Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar. Prior to membership of the European Union in 1986, Portugal was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. The pressure on the land and limited opportunities in the manufacturing sector meant that there was often no alternative to looking for work abroad. During this period, many young men also emigrated to avoid military service, as Portugal waged a series of wars in an attempt to keep its African colonies of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Many Portuguese people originated from their former overseas territories in Africa and Macau and former British territories in Guyana and Hong Kong
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 20:31:15 +0000
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