Running from Albion: migration to Cuba from the British Isles in the 19th century

Migrants from the British Isles played a hitherto little recognised part in the development of Cuban society and economy in the nineteenth century. Although not a numerically large migration, British and Irish merchants, professionals and, above all, workers had a significance for Cuba out of proportion to the numbers involved. However, there is little evidence of a “British” community existing, and the “British” identity of the migrants was at best ambiguous. The article points towards an understanding of their insertion into, and their significance within Cuban society based not on a straightforward national identity, but rather the complex interaction of this with the other axes along which that society was divided.