European immigration to South Wales (late 19th Century)

[Daltonator86]

Hi there
In the latter half of the 20th Century, Glamorganshire was transformed from being just a series of rural valleys to a massive industrial centre, propelled by migrants from neighbouring parts of Wales, as well as England and Ireland. However, I read that the South Wales Coalfield was such an economic pull that you had immigrants from mainland Europe arriving as well. We know all about the Italians who moved to South Wales (who would open up ice cream parlours), but what about immigrants from other parts of Europe. My great-grandfather (who was born in 1898) and his family housed a German lodger, present with them at the time of the 1901 Census, for example.

[jrainbrim]

I think that Britain paid better wages than e.g Germany during the late 1800s to early 1900s I read somewhere that there were many Bakers, waiters and factory workers who were German.

[Gadget]

A brief account with some more detailed refs:

http://www.agor.org.uk/cwm/themes/life/society/migration.asp

Gadget

Add - of particular relevance is this book referenced in Further Reading

Hughes, Colin. Lemon, Lime and Sarsaparilla: the Italian Community in South Wales 1881-1945. (Seren, 1992).

[Gadget]

The full ref listing:

FURTHER READING:

Rees, Teresa. A demographic and socio-economic profile of migrants to and from the South Wales Valleys. (Cardiff, 1976).

Immigration to Wales:

Henriques, U R Q (ed). The Jews of South Wales: historical studies. (University of Wales Press, 1993)

Hughes, Colin. Lemon, Lime and Sarsaparilla: the Italian Community in South Wales 1881-1945. (Seren, 1992).

Masson, Ursula. The development of the Irish and Roman Catholic Communities of Merthyr Tydfil and Dowlais in the nineteenth century. (Dissertation, University of Keele, 1975).

Vuranch, Karen and Barkey, Fred.The Influence of the Welsh Immigrants on the development of the coalfields. (1994).

Migration from Wales:

Bennett, Carol. In search of the Red Dragon: the Welsh in Canada. (Ontario, 1985).

 Chamberlain, M.E. The Welsh In Canada. (Canadian Stiudies in Wales Group, 1986).

Jones, William D. Wales in America: Scranton and the Welsh, 1860-1920. (Cardiff)

Kneller, Pamela. Welsh Immigrant women as Wage Earners in Utica, New York, 1860-1870. (Llafur, Journal of Welsh Labour History, Vol.5, No.4, 1991 p71-79.)