Hingham Village sign, which depicts parishoners about to set sail for the New World.
Copyright, Craig Tuck.
Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
The fascinating historical connections between Norfolk and North America began in the seventeenth century, when a large number of migrants moved together to the newly created American colonies. From Great Yarmouth, Hethersett, Hingham, King’s Lynn, Norwich, and Swanton Morley (to name a few) some of North America’s notable founders embarked, pursuing economic prosperity and religious freedom. Agricultural crisis saw scores more making the trans-Atlantic journey in the nineteenth century.
Four hundred years later during the Second World War, the flow of people “Across the Pond” reversed as thousands of men and women of the United States Eighth Army Air Force flew missions from bases across Norfolk in support of the allied war effort (among them Jimmy Stewart and Walter Matthau).
The Norfolk’s American Connections project celebrates the long-standing historical links between Norfolk and North America, providing the opportunity to experience and discover more about this unique shared history.
If you know of any links between Norfolk and North America that are not listed on the website, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
Norfolk's American Connections 