meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
History Daily

The Bristol Bus Boycott

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2024

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

April 30, 1963: A boycott protesting a bus company’s hiring policies draws national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.


  • Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.


History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free.

0:03.7

Listen with Wonder Plus in the Wonder App.

0:06.0

Or you can get all of History Daily, plus other fantastic history podcasts at

0:10.5

Into History.

0:11.6

com. It's June 21st, 1948 at Tilbury Docks just east of London, England.

0:28.8

Jamaican Sam King stands on the deck of the Empire Windrush, a British passenger liner that's just

0:34.2

mort at his birth.

0:36.0

After three weeks of breathing the fresh air of the Atlantic, the smog, drifting over the water

0:40.5

from London, catches in Sam's throat, but he doesn't mind.

0:44.0

Instead, the 22-year-old is full of anticipation for the new life he's about to begin in Britain.

0:49.2

The Empire Windrush has just completed the last leg of a long voyage.

0:54.8

It left Australia to transport demobilized British soldiers back home after World War II,

1:00.2

but the large ship was nowhere near capacity.

1:03.0

So when it was part way home, the captain of the Empire Windrush

1:06.5

paused in the British colony of Jamaica and placed an advertisement in the newspaper

1:10.7

offering cheap transit across the Atlantic.

1:13.0

Sam decided to take up the offer and he wasn't the only one.

1:17.0

Almost 500 other Jamaicans joined Sam and now most of them thronged the decks of the Empire Windrush eager for a closer look at their new home.

1:27.0

As the crew finished securing the ship in court, Sam joins the other Jamaican migrants as they head down the gangway to the dockside.

1:34.4

They're met with a crowd of reporters.

1:36.5

Sam smiles pleased that his arrival appears to be big news in the country.

1:40.6

Before he bordered the Empire, Winrush, Sam was assured that the British were ready to

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Airship | Noiser | Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Airship | Noiser | Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.