British Peruvians are Peruvians of British descent. The phrase may refer to someone born in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

of British descent. Among European Peruvians, the British were the fifth largest group of immigrants to settle in the country after the Spanish, Germans, Italians, the Swiss or/and the French.

History

Between 1860 and 1950 it is estimated that around 900 British settled in

. The regions from which most of the British immigrants originated were

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and London, as well as

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. In 1872, the European Immigration Society () was founded in Peru. Its objective was promoting

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

by covering the costs of their journeys and financially supporting them during their first settler years in Peru. They mostly interacted with fellow British immigrants, and were usually relatively skilled at a trade. Many of them intermarried and at the beginning they were united, but as time passed many of them broke the circle. The British corporations owned many Chile saltpeter mines in the

Tacna Tacna, officially known as San Pedro de Tacna, is a city in southern Peru and the regional capital of the Tacna Region. A very commercially active city, it is located only north of the border with Arica y Parinacota Region from Chile, inland f ...

region of Peru during World War I when the territory was ruled by Chile. Many British Peruvians left the nation in 1960s and 1970s to flee from excessive poverty. Others fled in response to the left-wing dictatorship of Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado and most of these moved to United States, United Kingdom and Spain, while most of the rest to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The second wave of British Peruvians left during the first Alan García regime that led Peru to extreme poverty, hyperinflation and terrorism.

Cultural legacy

Cuisine

Inca Kola was invented by an English immigrant. In 1911, in Rímac, one of

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

's oldest and most traditional neighborhoods, an immigrant English family began a small bottling company under their family name, Lindley. In 1928, the company was formally chartered in Peru as Corporación José R. Lindley S.A., whereupon Joseph R. Lindley became its first General Manager. Inca Kola is one of two soft drinks in the world that, in its country of origin, far outsells Coca-Cola , which arrived on the Peruvian market in 1936; the other drink is the Scottish Irn-Bru. Inca Kola remains the soft drink with the highest number of sales in the Peruvian market, a product of the current advertising campaign that highlights national symbols and values. It is common among Peruvians to relate the drink with the wide variety of Peruvian cuisine, reaching the level of an indispensable ingredient in many gastronomic menus.

Sport

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

is the most popular sport in

. Football/soccer in Peru was introduced by British immigrants, Peruvians returning from Great Britain, and by English sailors in the later half of the 19th century during their frequent stops at the port of Callao, which at that point was considered one of the most important ports of the Pacific Ocean. According to the work entitled ''La Difusión del Fútbol en Lima'', during the last decade of the 19th century, records show that sailors were known to practice sports such as football/soccer and played against teams made up of Englishmen, Peruvians, or a mix between Englishmen and Peruvians.

is home to an important sporting institution, it was founded in 1845 by English immigrants as ''Salon de Comercio'', renamed in 1859 as the ''Lima Cricket Club'', and was based around the sports of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, rugby, and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, the club underwent many other name changes such as in 1865 to ''Lima Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club'' and in 1906 to '' Lima Cricket and Football Club''. During the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

(1879 - 1883), the destruction of various Peruvian towns and cities, including the raid of

, brought the spread of sport in Peru to a momentary stop. The oldest football records are found for a ''Callao vs. Lima'' match on August 7, 1892, and an ''Englishmen vs. Peruvian'' match on June 24, 1894.

Education

British immigrants had introduced a lot of schools in Peru, where they promote a mixture of British and Peruvian education. The education includes a lot of lessons being taught in English. They also include British sports not as popular in Peru such as Rugby, Cricket, Croquet and more. These schools also have produced alumni such as former presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard ( Markham College), and Nicolás Lindley López ( Colegio San Andrés).

Notable people

* Guillermo Billinghurst, 31st President of Peru * Nicolás Lindley López, 56th President of Peru * Alberto Elmore Fernández de Córdoba, former Prime Minister of Peru * Guillermo Larco Cox, former Prime Minister of Peru * Jaime Thorne León, former Minister of Defense of Peru * José Williams, former Peruvian general * Ricardo Letts Colmenares, Peruvian politician * Cayetana Aljovín, Peruvian politician * Henry Pease, Peruvian politician * Juan Guillermo More, Peruvian navy officer * Isaac Lindley, Peruvian businessman * Manuel Delgado Parker, Peruvian entrepreneur * Enrique Zileri Gibson, Peruvian publisher *

Carlos Fitzcarrald Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald López (6 July 18629 July 1897) was a Peruvian Rubber boom#Rubber barons, rubber baron. He was born in San Luis, Ancash, in a province that was later Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald Province, named after him. In the early ...

, Peruvian rubber baron * Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Cardinal Priest and Archbishop of Lima * Juan Landázuri Ricketts, Cardinal Priest and Archbishop of Lima * Rafael Larco Hoyle, Peruvian archaeologist * Ruth Shady, Peruvian archaeologist * Luis Miró Quesada Garland, Peruvian architect and professor * Alfredo Bryce, Peruvian writer * Jaime Bayly, Peruvian writer, journalist and television personality * Doris Gibson, Peruvian magazine writer and publisher * Jason Day, Peruvian actor * Diego Bertie, Peruvian actor * Johanna San Miguel, Peruvian actress * Prissila Howard, Peruvian model and TV hostess * Mónica Santa María, Peruvian model and TV hostess * Madeleine Hartog-Bel, Peruvian model and 1967 Miss World winner * Leslie Shaw, Peruvian singer * Ramón Mifflin, former Peruvian football player * Diego Penny, Peruvian footballer * George Forsyth, Peruvian footballer * Pablo Gutiérrez Weselby – Peruvian politician and former mayor of Chorrillos.

British Peruvian institutions and associations

*Cámara de Comercio Peruano-Británica * Newton College * Colegio San Andrés * Markham College * San Silvestre School *Colegio Anglo Americano Prescott *Colegio Peruano-Británico *Hiram Bingham School * Asociación Cultural Peruano-Británica * Clínica Anglo Americana *Teatro Británico de Lima *Asociación de descendientes Británicos en Perú *Asociación Escocia-Perú *Asociación Británico-Peruano *Anglo-Peruvian Society * Phoenix Club

References

{{Portal bar, United Kingdom, Peru Ethnic groups in Peru

European diaspora in Peru