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Hampshire has always been a popular destination for immigrants, with the ports at Portsmouth and Southampton receiving immigrants from all over Europe and being the starting point for voyages to the New World. Southampton Docks rapidly expanded since their creation in 1850, and saw increasing traffic with South Africa, Australia and the Americas.〔G. F. Wilson, ''Southampton Through the Ages: Mini History''〕 ==Poles In Portsmouth== In 1834 a group of Polish immigrants came through the Portsmouth docks. The Poles who arrived in Portsmouth had previously been staying in Prussia seeking refuge from war when they were ordered back to Poland, but many Polish soldiers refused, and a lot of them were consequently killed. Prussia then received them back, but as labourers on public works along with criminals. They were then offered the choice of return to Poland or passage to America; the Poles chose America. Three ships left Prussia, one, the Elizabeth, stopping at Le Havre, another, the Union, stopping at Harwich, and the third, the Marianne, docking at Portsmouth due to prolonged bad weather. When the winds abated the Poles passively resisted their Prussian Captain’s insistence of transportation to America as they preferred to remain in Europe, closer to Poland. They were then offered entry into French foreign legion to fight in Algiers, but were unwilling to join. The people of Portsmouth and Portsea welcomed them immediately. Without encouragement from the authorities, the people of Portsmouth assisted and supported these exiles, army officers particularly treating the Polish refugees with kindness and propriety. One article states "Not the rich and great alone have contributed, but perhaps many a hard- earned shilling has been dropped into the subscription boxes by the artisan or labourer". Many in the town subscribed to support the Poles financially as well, including the body of liberal politicians in Portsmouth. Efforts were at once made to collect funds for the support of the poor foreigners. Schools in Portsmouth made collections and held charity events to raise money for them. The non-commissioned officers of the 12th regiment contributed £7 and the 77th Depot gave £12, while a concert at the Green Row Rooms brought in £60. "The civil and moral character of the country was sustained by the reaction to the Poles’ arrival from the locals." A memorial was built, but only half completed before funds ran out and it remained unfinished until 2004. The Polish Memorial Fund succeeded in raising funds to complete the New Memorial, and produced a pamphlet to commemorate the occasion. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Immigration into Hampshire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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