Trinidadian and Tobagonian British people are citizens or residents 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...

 whose ethnic origins lie fully or partially in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 nation of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

.

History and settlement

The largest wave of Trinidadian and Tobagonian people to the UK was in the mid 20th century, when Caribbeans and people from former British Colonies were encouraged to move to the UK for work, although there was Trinidadian migration to the UK before and continues after. The UK, USA, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and other Anglophone

English-speaking world

The English-speaking world consists of those countries or regions that use the English language to one degree or another. For more information, please see:Lists:* List of countries by English-speaking population...

 countries in the Western World

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

 prove most popular for Trinidadian emigrants, due to the close language links (English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 being the most common language in all countries, inc. Trinidad and Tobago). The UK and Trinidad and Tobago maintain close links, especially since Trinidad and Tobago was once part of the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 and remains in the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

.

Population

21,283 Trinidad and Tobago-born people were living in the UK at the time of the 2001 Census. The equivalent figure for 2009 has been estimated at 24,000 by the Office for National Statistics

Office 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 :...

.

Music

The MV Empire Windrush

MV Empire Windrush

The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury on 22 June 1948, carrying 493 passengers from Jamaica wishing to start a new life in the United Kingdom. The passengers were the first large group of West Indian immigrants to the UK after the Second World War.Before 1948, the ship, under the name of Monte...

 carried almost 500 passengers from Jamaica, including Lord Kitchener

Lord Kitchener (calypsonian)

Aldwyn Roberts , better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener , was one of the most internationally famous calypsonians. He was the son of a blacksmith, Stephen, and homemaker, Albertha.-Life:...

, a calypso

Calypso music

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...

 singer from Trinidad. By chance, a local newsreel company filmed him singing "London Is The Place For Me" as he disembarked from the ship. In 2002, "London Is The Place For Me: Trinidadian Calypso, 1950-1956" was finally released in Britain. The 1951 Festival of Britain

Festival of Britain

The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...

 brought the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TAPSO) and Roaring Lion

Roaring Lion

Roaring Lion was a calypsonian...

 to public attention. The smart set in Oxford and Cambridge adopted both calypso and steelband for debutante parties. In 1959, Trinidadian Claudia Jones

Claudia Jones

Claudia Cumberbatch Jones was a Trinidadian journalist, who applied her skills to becoming a political activist and black nationalist through Communisum....

 started the Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival

The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...

. They brought Mighty Sparrow

Mighty Sparrow

Mighty Sparrow or Birdie is a calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World," he is one of the most well-known and successful calypsonians...

 and others directly from Trinidad. Edric Connor

Edric Connor

Edric Connor was a pioneering calypso singer, folklorist and actor who was born in Mayaro, Trinidad in 1913...

 had arrived in England from Trinidad in 1944. He starred in a West End musical called "Calypso" in 1948. A white Danish duo, Nina and Frederick, recorded several calypsos from 1958 to 1962, scoring in the charts. Cy Grant

Cy Grant

Cy Grant was a Guyanese actor, singer, writer and poet, who in the 1950s became the first black person to appear regularly on British television...

 (from Guyana) sang a song by Lord Kitchener in the TV drama "A Man From the Sun" in 1956. It told the story of Caribbean migrants. From 1957 to 1960, Cy Grant

Cy Grant

Cy Grant was a Guyanese actor, singer, writer and poet, who in the 1950s became the first black person to appear regularly on British television...

 sang calypsos on the BBC TV news programme Tonight. In 1962, English comedian Bernard Cribbins

Bernard Cribbins

Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...

 had a hit with "Gossip Calypso".

See also

• Black British
  Black British
  Black British is a term used to describe British people of Black African descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and...
  
  
• British Mixed
• British Indo-Caribbean community
  British Indo-Caribbean community
  The British Indo-Caribbean community consists of residents of the United Kingdom who are of Caribbean origin and whose ancestors were indigenous to India...
  
  
• British African-Caribbean community
  British African-Caribbean community
  The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...
  
  
• Demographics of Trinidad and Tobago
  Demographics of Trinidad and Tobago
  This article is about the demographic features of the population of Trinidad and Tobago, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.-Ethnic groups:...
  
  
• Trinidadian and Tobagonian Americans
• Trinidadian and Tobagonian Canadians