I think this is a brilliant incentive piece of allows people who may not be from London see how it has developed throughout the century. Brick Lane especially is a great topic area as now it is a nucleus for cool and cultured so it's very refreshing to realise that this cool hub was once a slum!
In addition, enduring two World Wars changed the overall attitudes and expectations of people. The point I am making is that change is inevitable, and the mixing or races and cultures equally so. Each generation looks back to the "good old days", but when you scratch the surface, you see the same issues and problems recur over time. England will survive, and perhaps become an even greater nation because of immigration, not in spite of it.
One more thing. It's pretty impressive that you can go back 15 generations in your family. I can't go past my great grandparents on either side. I'm an American.
I can't believe some of the comments. What these guides are describing is EXACTLY what is happening today- blaming immigrants for the loss of jobs and a viewing them as a threat to "Englishness", whatever that is. England is a great country, and will survive THROUGH change, not in spite of it.
I think the reason the Great Britain became such a strong force in the world, even before the Industrial Revolution, was because of all the different social and ethnic groups that populated the country over time; the Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings, Normans, French Huguenots, and much later the Irish, Scots (like your family), Jews, and today Chinese, Indians, West Indians, Africans, Pakistanis, and so many others from the former colonies. Mixing is inevitable, and good. More....
