The History of Italian, Spanish and French Settlers in London

They settled mainly in the areas of Soho and Spitalfields, to the east of The City, with numbers estimated at between 20,000 and 50,000 at the peak of the community's existence in the 1680s. With them they brought silk weaving skills, which meant that Spitalfields became a thriving industrial community.

By the mid 18th-century the Huguenot community began to disperse, assimilating itself into general London life. Today, the French Church in Soho Square is the only remaining original Huguenot church of the 23 that once stood. 

However, if you take a walk around Spitalfields, you can still see the names that the Huguenots gave the area's streets: Fournier, Princelet and Nantes Passage for example.

Italian Settlers in London

Italians have been present in London for many centuries, mainly as a result of trading and finance links between London and Italy. 

But it was in the mid to late 19th-century that a very distinct community of Italians could be found in Clerkenwell, just north of the City of London. 

Gradually this community moved into other areas of London, most notably Soho, but there is still a distinctly Italian feel to the area; visit St Peter's, the Italian Catholic church, on Clerkenwell Road (see European Places of Worship) for a flavour of "Little Italy".

Spanish Settlers in London

Spanish people have arrived in London over the centuries, mainly to find religious and political freedom; from the days of the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th and 16th centuries to the civil war in the 1930s, London has been a haven for them. 

The Spanish community grew up mainly in the west of the city around the Portobello Road, Ladbroke Grove and Bayswater.