A community-led digital archive preserving British Bangladeshi oral histories, migration stories and family memories, town by town.
Our Mission
To preserve, document and share the history of British Bangladeshi communities through oral history, family memory, local research and digital archiving, making that history freely accessible to the public, to families, to schools, researchers, community groups and future generations.
This is not just a history website. It is a growing digital archive, documenting
oral histories, migration journeys, family stories, community organisations, faith,
businesses and settlement experiences of British Bangladeshis across every town and
city where they have made their home. The archive is intended to serve families,
schools, researchers, community groups and anyone seeking to understand this history.
Lascar sailors: Sylheti seamen who were among the earliest Bangladeshis to settle in Britain,
arriving in East London ports in the early twentieth century.
Why This Archive Matters Now
Many of the earliest British Bangladeshi settlers are no longer with us. Others are elderly, and their memories remain largely undocumented. The stories of how they came, what they endured, and what they built are at risk of being lost entirely. This project exists to record those stories before they are lost.
The earliest Bangladeshi settlers in Britain were Sylheti sailors (lascars) who
arrived in ports like London and Cardiff from the early twentieth century. Many settled
permanently, bringing their families over in the 1960s and 1970s through chain migration
that linked villages in Sylhet to the boarding houses of Spitalfields, Bradford and
Birmingham.
This archive is community-led and grounded in respect for elders. We document each
town and city individually, so that local histories are not swallowed into a single
national account. The archive is bilingual by design, in English and Bangla, reflecting
the community it exists to serve. Its purpose is educational as much as historical:
ensuring that schools, universities and researchers have access to primary sources
that are too often missing from mainstream records.
Fighting for Rights
The journey of British Bangladeshis has not been without struggle. From the anti-racist
marches of the 1970s (sparked by the murder of Altab Ali in Whitechapel in 1978)
to the fight for political representation, the community has always organised, resisted,
and demanded its rightful place in British society.
Oral history is especially important for documenting this kind of community resistance.
Much of it was never formally recorded. The testimonies of those who marched, organised
and sacrificed in the 1970s and 1980s form a core part of the archive's purpose:
preserving voices that were overlooked or deliberately left out of mainstream accounts.
A mass rally in Trafalgar Square, one of many demonstrations that shaped British Bangladeshi
political consciousness and won hard-fought civil rights.
How to Contribute
We welcome contributions from any member of the British Bangladeshi community or their families. Every photograph, document, oral history recording or written account helps build the archive. If you know a community elder whose story deserves to be recorded, we would especially welcome a nomination for an interview.
Photographs: scanned or photographed images of family, community events, shops, mosques, schools
Oral history interviews: we can help arrange and record interviews with community elders; if you know someone whose story should be preserved, please nominate them
Documents: letters, passports, work permits, tenancy agreements, community newsletters
Family stories: written accounts of your own family's migration story, settlement experience, or community involvement
Written accounts: your own story, or the story of a family member or community elder
Corrections: if anything on this site is inaccurate, please let us know
