From the Archives: What happened when aliens landed in city

Nov 24 2010 By Justine Halifax

FOR this week’s museum piece we have delved into the world of aliens – but we are not talking about intergalatic visitors from outer space here.

Following the outbreak of World War One, the Aliens Act of 1914 was brought in requiring that all foreign visitors must register with their local police station as aliens.

Up until the outbreak of WWI Britain had been an open country for anybody to come to and live in.

But following the act, their identity had to be entered in an Alien Register and there was one for the West Midlands, which is now held in the Birmingham Police Museum.

David Cross, keeper of the museum, said it is known that both Jewish and Italian communities set up businesses and companies in the 1800s in the region and their children would, having been born in Britain, been of instant British nationality.

But for any British women who decided to marry an Italian, who was a first generation in Britain, would on her marriage day lose her British nationality and become an Italian.

The act, which also required aliens to swear an oath of allegiance, stated: “The wife of a British subject shall be deemed to be a British subject, and the wife of an alien shall be deemed to be an alien.”

In the West Midlands’ Aliens Register, which covers 1914-1918, it’s common to see British-born women registering as non-nationals because of their marriage to a non-British person.

Mr Cross explained what the act meant. He said: “Whether you were living here permanently, here just for a few days, or even visiting from London, you would have had to register with the local police.”

One of the most famous entries in the region’s register is of French-born actress, Sarah Bernhardt, who was born on October 23, 1844 and was described as “the most famous actress the world has ever known”.