Americans in the United Kingdom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| American Britons |
|---|
 .jpg/33px-Sienna_Miller_(2007).jpg){kind=small}    |
| Notable people in the United Kingdom with American links or ancestry Madonna, Sienna Miller, Gwen Stefani Mika, Alvin Hall   |
| Total population |
|
Est. Over 150,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| London, East Anglia, South East England, North West England |
| Languages |
| English (British English, American English) |
| Religion |
| Christian, Jewish |
Americans in the United Kingdom may include people from the United States who are or have become residents or citizens of the UK as well as students and temporary workers. According to the United States Census, there are over 155,000 people of American origin living in the UK. 74.7% are White, 14.1% are Black (see African American British), 4.3% are Asian, 0.9% are Native American/ Pacific, 7.9% belong to the 'Other' group and 14.5% are Hispanics of any race. The actual number of Americans living in the UK is thought to be more than 224,000.[1]
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[edit] Reasons for migration
The largest single local cluster is the town of Mildenhall in north-west Suffolk – the site of two of the largest US Air Force bases in the world, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. This is because of the legacy of the Cold War and NATO co-operation. Beyond that, London is home to many Americans, mostly young adult workers in the City of London. This population is anecdotally thought to be fairly mobile, coming for a few years or just perhaps a few months before departing again.
Prior to the end of the Cold War the highest proportion of Americans resident in the United Kingdom per head of population was centred on the Scottish seaside town of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, the former site of the Holy Loch US Navy base. At its height in the early 1990s around a quarter of Dunoon's population was American.[2]
Some of the Americans showing in the figures will be older, ex-servicemen who returned after being based in the UK during World War II. Examples of areas with large percentages of American people are: Mildenhall (17.28%), Chelsea - London (6.53%) and Kensington - London (5.81%). In London, the majority of Americans are rich businessmen and their families which ties in with the strong economic amongst other relations between London and Washington D.C.[3]
Another major route is the arts and music: many Americans are attracted to London's arts scene, helped by the fact of speaking the same language and a small demand for American accents. An another reason is simply love, few notable Americans marrying Britons like Madonna with Guy Richie, Gwyneth Paltrow with Chris Martin and Gwen Stefani with Gavin Rossdale.
[edit] Notable American Britons
[edit] Americans with links to the UK
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| John Barrowman | actor, born in Glasgow, reared in Illinois, now works in the UK |
| Bill Bryson | writer, born in the US, lived in the UK for many years |
| Barbara Cassani | former chief-exective of the airline Go, and first leader of London's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics |
| Madonna | singer, songwriter, actress; married to British director Guy Ritchie and has a house in the UK |
| Sandra Dickinson | actress, born in Washington DC |
| Sir John Paul Getty | businessman, born in California and later moved to the UK |
| Terry Gilliam | Film director, animator and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. UK based since the late 1960s, now a British citizen. |
| Bonnie Greer | playwright and critic, born and reared in Chicago, lives in UK |
| Alvin Hall | financial expert |
| Rich Hall | comedian, writer |
| Reginald D. Hunter | comedian |
| Henry James | American novelist, became a British citizen |
| Stanley Kubrick | Film director and producer; lived in the UK from 1962 till his death in 1999. |
| Linda McCartney | American photographer, married Paul McCartney and lived in the UK |
| Patrick McGoohan | actor, born in New York City but reared in Ireland and the UK |
| Sienna Miller | model and actress; born in the US but reared in the UK |
| Gwyneth Paltrow | American actress, divides her time between UK and US |
| Sylvia Plath | Poet, novelist, and short story writer; born in the US, then lived in the UK |
| Suzi Quatro | singer, guitarist, radio personality |
| James Rubin | news presenter & commentator, former aide to Bill Clinton |
| Wallis Simpson (later Duchess of Windsor) |
American wife of HRH The Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII) |
| Sinitta | US born actress and singer living and working in the UK |
| Gwen Stefani | Singer, songwriter; married to a Briton and divide time between the UK and the US |
| Zoë Wanamaker | Born in the US, reared in the UK, now a British citizen |
| Ruby Wax | American comedienne, writer, and television personality, lives and works in the UK |
[edit] Britons with American ancestry
| Name | Occupation | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Damon Buffini | entrepreneur, businessman | (American father) |
| Agatha Christie | novelist | (American father, Frederick Alvah Miller) |
| Winston Churchill | politician, statesman | (American mother, Jennie Churchill) |
| Mark Getty | entrepreneur, businessman | (American father, Sir John Paul Getty) |
| Elizabeth Jagger | model | (American mother, Jerry Hall) |
| Stella McCartney | fashion designer | (American mother, Linda McCartney) |
| Mika | singer, songwriter | (American father, although born in Lebanon, he was reared in London) |
| Louis Theroux | television presenter, writer | (American father, although born in Singapore, he was reared in London) |
[edit] See also
- African American British
- Hispanic American British
- Canadian British
- Demographics of the United States
[edit] References
- ^ Record Numbers of Americans Living Abroad. Shelter Offshore (24 April 2005). Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
- ^ Undiscovered Scotland Undiscovered Scotland - Dunoon. Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
- ^ Born Abroad - USA. BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
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