West London Synagogue of British Jews

Upper Berkeley Street, London W.1.

Updated 1 November 2006

Congregation Data

Name:	West London Synagogue of British Jews
Address:	34 Upper Berkeley Street, London W1 (consecrated 22 September 1870) Synagogue offices at 33 Seymour Place, London W1H 5AU
Former Addresses:	Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, London W1 (1849 to 1870) Burton Street, St. Pancras, London WC1 (1841 to 1849)
Local Authority:	London Borough of the City of Westminster - (Congregations in the locality)
Current Status:	Active
Date Founded:	15 April 1840 - Resolution to establish congregation 1841 - Establishment of congregation 27 January 1842 - First Synagogue consecrated (Burton Street)
Ritual:	Reform - the first reform synagogue in the United Kingdom
Affiliation:	A constituent, and the premier synagogue, of the Movement for Reform Judaism (formerly the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain).
Marriage Certification:	Group: West London Synagogue; Registration District: Westminster
Website:	http://www.wls.org.uk
Membership Data:	1965 - approx. 2,500 families (Jewish Year Book 1966) 2006 - approx. 3,500 members

Records

Burials & Cremations - The ALL UK searchable database for London includes:
- 901 records of Balls Pond Road, 1842 - 1937;
- 1,616 records of Edgwarebury Cemetery 1976-2006.
- 10,820 records of Hoop Lane Cemeteries, 1897 - 2006, including officiated WLS Cremations.
West London Synagogue Birth Register 1 (1842-1905)
- A searchable database available only to members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB), accessible through JGSGB Members' Corner.
Marriages - The ALL UK searchable database for London includes:
- 4,606 records covering 1842 – April 1981
(Please note - to comply with UK Data Protection, records 1930 - 1959 contain limited data and thereafter minimum data)
Synagogue Records:

Other Information

Congregation History
Albert Löwy
Speech by the then Chief Rabbi the Very Rev Dr J H Hertz at West London Synagogue on 27th May 1934
Photographs
Personal Encounters & Newspaper Articles
Jewish Property and Heritage & Places of Local Interest
Bibliography:
- The Building of a Synagogue. Diamond, A. S. 1970 (published by the congregation)
- The Synagogues of London. Lindsay, P., 1993 (Valentine Mitchell, London) pp. 73-76
- Other sources in the City of Westminster
- Other London sources
Cemetery Information:
- Hoop Lane Cemetery
- IAJGS Cemetery Project - Cemeteries of the Movement for Reform Judaism