French migration to the United Kingdom
French migration to the United Kingdom is a phenomenon that has occurred at various points in history. The Norman Conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 resulted in the arrival of Normans, while in the 16th and 17th centuries Protestant Huguenots fled religious persecution to East London. Other waves (but less likely to have put down permanent roots) are associated with monasticism, particularly post-conquest Benedictines and Cistercians, aristocracy fleeing the French Revolution, expulsion of religious orders by Third Republic France, and current expats.
Distribution by regional area at the 2011 census | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| French-born residents 137,862 (2011 Census) 189,000 (2020 ONS estimate) French ancestry 3,000,000 (2010 Ancestry.co.uk estimate) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| London, South East England | |
| Languages | |
| English, French | |
| Religion | |
| Mainly Roman Catholicism and Protestantism; Judaism, Irreligious and other minority faiths | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| French people |
| Part of a series of articles on the |
| French people |
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| British people |
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| United Kingdom |
| Eastern European |
| Northern European |
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| Southern European |
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| Western European |
| Central Asian |
| East Asian |
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| South Asian |
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| Southeast Asian |
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| West Asian |
| African and Afro-Caribbean |
| Northern American |
| South American |
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| Oceanian |
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The 2011 UK Census recorded 137,862 French-born people living in the UK. Almost half of these were resident in the capital, London. Many more British people have French ancestry.
French remains the foreign language most learned by Britons. It has traditionally been spoken as a second language by the country's educated classes and its popularity is reinforced by the close geographical proximity between Great Britain and France.