Jainti Saggar originally came to Britain to study medicine at University College, St Andrews. He settled in Dundee – becoming, quite possibly, the town’s first South Asian resident – and remained in Scotland for the rest of his life. After completing his medical degree, he went on to gain diplomas in ophthalmic medicine, public health, surgery. He had a keen interest in education as well as in health, serving as chairman of the Public Libraries Committee and as a member of the committee of the local branch of the Nursery Schools Association of Great Britain. His concern for social welfare also led him into the sphere of politics. He joined the Labour Party and was elected town councillor in 1936, becoming the first black or Asian local authority councillor in Scotland – and in a district where there was not a single ‘black vote’. Saggar went on to serve as a Labour councillor for eighteen years, and was instrumental in the adoption of Krishna Menon as parliamentary candidate for Dundee in 1939.

Saggar married Jane Quinn, the daughter of a bailie and a town councillor of Dundee. On his death, the Lord Provost of Dundee, William Hughes, said: ‘He was a man of compassion for everyone in need…he came to Dundee from halfway across the world but no son of Dundee had greater love for its people or worked harder in their interest. Dundee is much poorer by his passing’ (Maan, p. 128). The naming of a Dundee street and local library after Saggar and his brothers (one of whom, Dhani Ram, also worked as a doctor in the town) is further evidence of the great esteem in which he was held.

Harbans Lall Gulati completed his medical training in Lahore, becoming an officer in the Indian Medical Service in 1916. On his arrival in England, he discovered that his medical qualifications were not recognized and so repeated his training at Charing Cross Hospital, doing unskilled work by night in order to pay his fees. He qualified in 1926 and began work as a GP in Battersea shortly afterwards. In his obituary in the British Medical Journal, he is described as a pioneer of the ‘meals-on-wheels’ service, as well as an active member of the St John and Red Cross organizations. He was also associated with the Royal Westminster Opthalmic Hospital.

In 1934 Gullati became a Conservative member of the local council, resigning from the party in 1947 because of their lack of support for the National Health Service. He went on to join the Socialist Medical Association as well as the Labour Party becoming a Labour member of the LCC for South Battersea and later standing (unsuccessfully) for parliamentary candidature. He was an active member of the committee of the Indian YMCA in London, as well as a magistrate and a Freemason.

He was married and had two sons and a daughter.

Dadabhai Naoroji, of Bombay Parsee origin, was the first Indian to be elected to Parliament in Britain. Naoroji travelled to Britain in 1885 as a business partner of Cama and Company. A member of several businesses, he became Professor of Gujarati at University College, London (1856-65). He had also been founder-editor of the journal Rast Goftar in Bombay in 1851. He founded the London Zoroastrian Association in 1861. He was also founding member of the East India Association and London Indian Society, and became vocal in promoting Indian rights in regard to the ICS and trade. Naoroji was an economist and proponent of the 'drain theory', building up a detailed economic critique of British imperialism in India. He also established links with Irish MPs and was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress in 1885 in Bombay.

In 1886, Naoroji campaigned as Liberal Party candidate for the strongly Conservative seat of Holborn. In 1888, referring to Naoroji's defeat, the Conservative Party Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, remarked that an English constituency was not ready to elect a 'Blackman', drawing greater notoriety to Naoroji. In 1892, he contested the seat of Central Finsbury, campaigning on Gladstone's platform of Liberalism, and was successfully elected with a majority of five. He lost his seat in the General Election of 1895. In 1906, Naoroji stood as a candidate at Lambeth North but was again unsuccessful. In 1907, Naoroji left England to retire at Versova in Bombay, where he died in 1917.