Americans in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Americans in the United Kingdom includes Britons born to American parents or parents with American citizenship, people from the United States
who are or have become residents or citizens of the United Kingdom
as well as Britons
granted American citizenship.
suggest that, in 2009, the equivalent figure stood at 189,000.
The largest single local cluster of Americans in Britain recorded by the 2001 Census was in Mildenhall
in north-west Suffolk
– the site of two of the largest US Air Force bases in the world, RAF Mildenhall
and nearby RAF Lakenheath
. This is because of the legacy of the Cold War
and NATO co-operation. 17.28 per cent of Mildenhall's population were born in the US. In London, the majority of Americans are businesspeople and their families which ties in with the strong economic relations between London and Washington DC. Chelsea
(where 6.53 per cent of residents were born in the US in 2001) and Kensington
(5.81 per cent), have large American populations.
Prior to the end of the Cold War, the highest proportion of Americans resident in the United Kingdom per head of population was centred on the Scottish
seaside town of Dunoon
, Argyll and Bute
, the former site of the Holy Loch
US Navy base. At its height in the early 1990s around a quarter of Dunoon's population was American.
Some Americans in the UK are older, ex-servicemen who returned to Britain after being based in the UK during World War II.
. The Revolution began in the thirteen American colonies and United States in the late 1770s. The British
promised freedom to any slave or rebel who fought the Americans on their behalf. African Americans made up over 20 per cent of the American population at the time, which was the second largest ethnic group in British North America only after the English and as many as 30,000 slaves escaped to British lines. The largest regiment was the Black Pioneers
who followed troops under Sir General Henry Clinton. Working as soldiers, labourers, pilots, cooks, and musicians, they were a major part of the unsuccessful British war effort. African Americans who fought against the British were known as Black Patriots
(modern day African Americans in the U.S.), but rather if they were fighting for the Crown or American Independence both were mostly doing it in return for promises of freedom from enslavement or indentured servitude.
The British-American Commission identified the Black people who had joined the British before the surrender, and issued "certificates of freedom" signed by General Birch or General Musgrave. Those who chose to emigrate were evacuated by ship. The fallout of the Revolution resulted in an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 Black Americans scattering across the Atlantic world, profoundly affecting the development of Nova Scotia
, the Bahamas, Jamaica
, and the African nation of Sierra Leone
as prominent leaders in the emerging freed black communities. To make sure no one attempted to leave who did not have a certificate of freedom, the name of any Black person on board a vessel, whether slave, indentured servant, or free, was recorded, along with the details of enslavement, escape, and military service, in a document called the Book of Negroes
. Between 400 and 1,000 African Americans emigrated to London and were later given the title of Black Loyalist
for their service in the British Armed forces and formed the core of the early Black British community. Musician Jimi Hendrix
, an African American of Native American heritage, lived most of his career in London as part of his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience
.
is a part-time resident in Great Britain and the USA, he is the son of the Beatles singer British-born John Lennon
and Japan
ese-born Yoko Ono
, although Sean was born in New York City
.
is the son of George Harrison
of The Beatles
and Mexican American Olivia Trinidad Arias (who also now lives in the UK).
, Wilnelia Merced
.
Pocahontas
spent some of her life in London, after she married English explorer John Rolfe
. At age 21 Pocahontas died of smallpox, she is buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend
. There are now many British born people descended of this 16th century Native American immigrant (the first of whom was her son Thomas Rolfe
). More recently, notable British people of Native American descent include actress Hayley Atwell, who has dual UK-US citizenship due to her part-Native American father.
is a US-born British actress of Jewish-Ukrainian ancestry, Louis Theroux
is the son of American writer Paul Theroux
, whilst Mika
is half Lebanese half 'American'. British American
s in the UK are Americans of British origin that have migrated back to the United Kingdom; many migrate for family reasons and many Americans can actually claim British citizenship through descent.. Many famous American's who have claimed British citizenship include Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani, Madonna to name but a few.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who are or have become residents or citizens of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as well as Britons
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
granted American citizenship.
Population
The 2001 UK Census recorded 158,434 people born in the United States. Estimates published by the Office for National StatisticsOffice for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
suggest that, in 2009, the equivalent figure stood at 189,000.
The largest single local cluster of Americans in Britain recorded by the 2001 Census was in Mildenhall
Mildenhall, Suffolk
Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is run by Forest Heath District Council and has a population of 9,906 people. The town is near the A11 and is located north-west of county town, Ipswich. The large Royal Air Force base, RAF Mildenhall as well as RAF...
in north-west Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
– the site of two of the largest US Air Force bases in the world, RAF Mildenhall
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force station located at Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as an RAF station, it primarily supports United States Air Force operations and is currently the home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing...
and nearby RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force military airbase near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel...
. This is because of the legacy of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and NATO co-operation. 17.28 per cent of Mildenhall's population were born in the US. In London, the majority of Americans are businesspeople and their families which ties in with the strong economic relations between London and Washington DC. Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
(where 6.53 per cent of residents were born in the US in 2001) and Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
(5.81 per cent), have large American populations.
Prior to the end of the Cold War, the highest proportion of Americans resident in the United Kingdom per head of population was centred on the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
seaside town of Dunoon
Dunoon
Dunoon is a resort town situated on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll, Scotland. It sits on the Firth of Clyde to the south of Holy Loch and to the west of Gourock.-Waterfront:...
, Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...
, the former site of the Holy Loch
Holy Loch
The Holy Loch is a sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.Robertson's Yard at Sandbank, a village on the loch, was a major wooden boat building company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
US Navy base. At its height in the early 1990s around a quarter of Dunoon's population was American.
Some Americans in the UK are older, ex-servicemen who returned to Britain after being based in the UK during World War II.
Ethnicity
African Americans
African American immigration to the UK began as early as the late 18th century after American slaves failed in their attempt to defend the British Crown in the American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. The Revolution began in the thirteen American colonies and United States in the late 1770s. The British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
promised freedom to any slave or rebel who fought the Americans on their behalf. African Americans made up over 20 per cent of the American population at the time, which was the second largest ethnic group in British North America only after the English and as many as 30,000 slaves escaped to British lines. The largest regiment was the Black Pioneers
Black Pioneers
The Black Pioneers were an African American regiment established in May 1776 out of Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment. Famous American slaves such as Thomas Peters were Black Pioneers...
who followed troops under Sir General Henry Clinton. Working as soldiers, labourers, pilots, cooks, and musicians, they were a major part of the unsuccessful British war effort. African Americans who fought against the British were known as Black Patriots
Black Patriot (American Revolution)
A Black Patriot was an African American who remained loyal to the American side during the American Revolutionary War. Black Patriots were the opposite of the much larger group of Black Loyalists who were African Americans who took up the British offer of freedom and took refuge behind the Redcoat...
(modern day African Americans in the U.S.), but rather if they were fighting for the Crown or American Independence both were mostly doing it in return for promises of freedom from enslavement or indentured servitude.
The British-American Commission identified the Black people who had joined the British before the surrender, and issued "certificates of freedom" signed by General Birch or General Musgrave. Those who chose to emigrate were evacuated by ship. The fallout of the Revolution resulted in an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 Black Americans scattering across the Atlantic world, profoundly affecting the development of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, the Bahamas, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and the African nation of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
as prominent leaders in the emerging freed black communities. To make sure no one attempted to leave who did not have a certificate of freedom, the name of any Black person on board a vessel, whether slave, indentured servant, or free, was recorded, along with the details of enslavement, escape, and military service, in a document called the Book of Negroes
Book of Negroes
The Book of Negroes is an important historical document which records names and descriptions of 3,000 African-American slaves who escaped to the British lines during the American Revolution and were evacuated by the British by ship to points in Nova Scotia as freedmen.-Background:African Americans...
. Between 400 and 1,000 African Americans emigrated to London and were later given the title of Black Loyalist
Black Loyalist
A Black Loyalist was an inhabitant of British America of African descent who joined British colonial forces during the American Revolutionary War...
for their service in the British Armed forces and formed the core of the early Black British community. Musician Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, an African American of Native American heritage, lived most of his career in London as part of his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Sean LennonSean Lennon
is an American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist and actor. He is the only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. His godfather is Sir Elton John.-Early life and education:...
is a part-time resident in Great Britain and the USA, he is the son of the Beatles singer British-born John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese-born Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, although Sean was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Hispanic and Latino Americans
English musician Dhani HarrisonDhani Harrison
Dhani Harrison is an English musician and the son of George Harrison of The Beatles and Olivia Harrison. Harrison debuted as a professional musician when completing his father's final album Brainwashed after George Harrison's death in November 2001...
is the son of George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and Mexican American Olivia Trinidad Arias (who also now lives in the UK).
Puerto Ricans
In 2001, 306 Puerto Rican born people alone were residing in the United Kingdom (the 19th most common birthplace amongst Latin American states). Notable British individuals of Puerto Rican origin or descent include former Miss WorldMiss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
, Wilnelia Merced
Wilnelia Merced
Wilnelia, Lady Forsyth-Johnson , more commonly known by her maiden name as Wilnelia Merced, became in 1975 the first and to date only winner of the Miss World title from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico....
.
Native American and Alaskan Natives
The native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
Pocahontas
Pocahontas
Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
spent some of her life in London, after she married English explorer John Rolfe
John Rolfe
John Rolfe was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.In 1961, the Jamestown...
. At age 21 Pocahontas died of smallpox, she is buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
. There are now many British born people descended of this 16th century Native American immigrant (the first of whom was her son Thomas Rolfe
Thomas Rolfe
Thomas Rolfe was the only child of Pocahontas by her English husband, John Rolfe. His maternal grandfather was Wahunsunacock, the chief of Powhatan tribe in Virginia.-Early Life:Thomas Rolfe was born in Virginia...
). More recently, notable British people of Native American descent include actress Hayley Atwell, who has dual UK-US citizenship due to her part-Native American father.
White/European Americans
Zoë WanamakerZoe Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...
is a US-born British actress of Jewish-Ukrainian ancestry, Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux is an English broadcaster best known for his Gonzo style journalism on the television series Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends and When Louis Met.... His career started off in journalism and bears influences of notable writers in his family such as his father, Paul Theroux and...
is the son of American writer Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
, whilst Mika
Mika (singer)
Mika is a British singer-songwriter.After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday EP, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit...
is half Lebanese half 'American'. British American
British American
British Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom . The term is seldom used by people to refer to themselves and is used primarily as a demographic or historical research term...
s in the UK are Americans of British origin that have migrated back to the United Kingdom; many migrate for family reasons and many Americans can actually claim British citizenship through descent.. Many famous American's who have claimed British citizenship include Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani, Madonna to name but a few.