Many of the earliest Arabs who lived, worked and settled in Britain were merchants and traders from Syria, or lascars from Yemen who laboured on the trade ships of the British East India Company and eventually settled in Britain. What records do we have of this history in the West Midlands? What attracted the Yemeni community – which had traditionally settled around port cities - to Birmingham? Who was Alphonse Mingana? What was his relationship with the Cadburys and what gift did they leave to Birmingham? What was Britain’s role in the Arab world during this time?
Join us for an online talk where historian Dr Neelam Hussain explores these questions and much more as she discusses events and movement between the 19th and early 20th centuries with historians and experts. Co-hosted by Rend Nawari.
This is a free online event (via Zoom), open to the public. Please register your interest in attending and a link will be sent to your email before the event.
We are grateful to the Arab British Centre for their generous funding and support for this event as part of our 'People, Places, Traces: A Millennium of Arab-British Encounters' heritage project. This project will also contribute to the Arab British Centre's Arab Britain digital story archive. You can find details of the rest of the project here.
Image: A Yemeni Community Parade