Migration Timeline: Follow the trail of ancestors who came to Britain from overseas or who emigrated - voluntarily or otherwise.

Using the Timeline: Click on an event for more information, including related archives and records. A document icon appears below an event if further information is available on another timeline. These are colour coded by theme: Family Secrets , Military and Working Life

Aliens Act 1793 Abolition of Slavery 1844 Naturalisation Act 1844 Irish Potato Famine 1845-1849 Start of Direct British Rule in India 1858 Abolition of Transportation 1868 Naturalisation Act 1870 Assassination of Alexander II of Russia 1881 Alien Reg. Act and British Nationality Act 1914 Anti-Semitic laws passed in Nazi Germany 1935 Polish Free Forces arrive in Britain 1939-1945 Wartime Child Emigration 1940-1944 British Nationality Act 1948 Arrival of Empire Windrush 1948 Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962