Exchanges between the two countries date back to medieval times, when the Kingdom of England and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were linked by trade and diplomacy. A notable 16th-century Polish resident in England was the Protestant convert, John Laski, who influenced the course of the English Reformation and helped in establishing the Church of England. Following the 18th-century dismemberment of the Commonwealth in three successive partitions by its neighbours, the trickle of Polish immigrants to Britain increased in the aftermath of two 19th-century uprisings (1831 and 1863) which forced much of Poland's social and political elite into exile. London became a haven for the burgeoning ideas of Polish socialism as a solution for regaining independence as it sought international support for the forthcoming Polish uprising. A number of Polish exiles fought in the Crimean War on the British side. The late 19th century brought pogroms against Polish Jews in the Russian (Congress Poland) and Austrian portions of partitioned Poland (Galicia), which forced many to flee their partitioned homeland; most emigrated to the United States, but some settled in British cities, especially London, Manchester, Leeds and Kingston upon Hull.