The local history society for the Leyton & Leytonstone area of east London

Back to events page Back to events page

Migration really is the history of all of us. It is also a window through which all the key changes and developments in British history can be understood. Martin Spafford will share fascinating cutting-edge research that is causing a rethink of the story of the people of Britain, and show how migration has shaped and been shaped by all the key defining moments in our national and local history. Migration really is the history of all of us.

A long standing Leyton history teacher, Martin will:

● reveal seldom told migration stories

● share cutting-edge research that is causing a rethink of the story of the people of Britain

● introduce brand new free-to-access resources from a lottery-funded project that interviewed Leyton people about their experiences of migration and how this locality has changed over the last half century.

There will be a chance to see the Changing Communities touring exhibition about migration to Leyton.

Martin has co-written the official textbooks for new OCR GCSE courses on our immigration history. He was also history advisor to the Ladders Heritage Lottery funded ‘Changing Communities’ project creating an archive of diverse oral histories from Leyton that will join the Vestry House Museum archive.  He is a Fellow of the Schools History project and an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association.