| Group: | British Peruvians |
| Popplace: | CallaoLimaTrujilloArequipaMoyobamba |
| Langs: | SpanishEnglish |
| Rels: | ProtestantismRoman CatholicismOthers |
British Peruvians are Peruvians of British descent. The phrase may refer to someone born in Peru 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.
Between 1860 and 1950 it is estimated that around 900 British settled in Peru.[1] [2] The regions from which most of the British immigrants originated were Southampton and London, as well as Birmingham and Liverpool.
In 1872, the European Immigration Society (es|Sociedad de Inmigración Europea) was founded in Peru. Its objective was promoting Old World immigration 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 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.
Inca Kola was invented by an English immigrant. In 1911, in Rímac, one of Lima'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.[3] [4] [5] 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.
Football is the most popular sport in Peru. 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.[6] 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.
Lima 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, rugby, and football, 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. [7] [8] [9] During the War of the Pacific (1879 - 1883), the destruction of various Peruvian towns and cities, including the raid of Lima, 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.
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 impressive alumni such as former presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard (Markham College), and Nicolás Lindley López (Colegio San Andrés).