From Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain
Papers for a conference at University College, London, convened by the Jewish Historical Society of Great Britain
prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975.  Reproduced here with his kind consent

(It is Professor Newman's intention to update this paper)

A PORTRAIT OF BIRMINGHAM JEWRY IN 1851
Birmingham Jewish Local History Study Group

At the suggestion of Mr. Bill Williams of Manchester Polytechnic, this paper has been based on the National Census of 1851.  This has been crossed checked by the references available including the Minutes of the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation, the Birmingham Hebrew Philanthropic Society, marriage records, will, patents, the rate books, election rolls, Aris's Gazette, the Jewish Chronicle, various subscription lists and the researches of Mr. Harry Levine¹.

As far as can be estimated, the Jewish population of the town was 752. Of these 89 appear to have been lodgers, the majority single men from abroad. The permanent population divided into 169 households in which 304 were male and 359 female. There were in addition about 20 heads of households of possible Jewish origin, and at least 20 families known from other records to be living in Birmingham at this time have not been found in the Census. They were mostly well-to-do, so presumably their businesses were closed on Census Sunday and they lived elsewhere. Most of the adult males carne from Eastern Europe although 25 were local and 29 from London. 39 of their womenfolk were born in Birmingham and 45 in London, only a comparatively small number being foreigners. The children were, of course, mostly born in Birmingham, only a handful elsewhere, the largest group being 15 from Poland. A few of the well-established families were beginning to infiltrate the more, fashionable residential areas, but the vast majority were packed in the streets and courts between Holloway Road and the Bull Ring "with its fairs, fights and drunkenness",² the description later given by Moritz Stern, a serious young clerk, who arrived from Germany in 1853 and whose descendants still live in the city. "The whole town reeked of oil and smoke and sweat and drunkenness" corroborated another contemporary.³ But it had other attractions. "A stranger might commence a sort of business with the goods produced in the place, even with a small capital, whether as a shopkeeper or a hawker. Dissenters, Quakers, heretics of all sorts were welcomed, and undisturbed as far as religious observances were concerned. No trade unions, no guilds, no companies existed and every man was free to come and go to found or follow or leave a trade. The system of apprenticeship was only partially known, and Birmingham became emphatically the town of free trade."⁴

The life of the Community appears to have been closely centred on the Synagogue in Severn Street, a neat building erected in 1817 and enlarged in 1823, and in 1851 it was repainted and generally furbished up in time for Shevuoth.⁵ The Synagogue Council of 1851 was energetic and out for change. Finances were being overhauled and the duties and salaries of Synagogue officers closely examined.⁶ Each member of the Community was to receive a copy of the laws, and a register of births, marriages and deaths was to be kept.⁷ No doubt, the most important event of the year was the genesis of the new Synagogue soon to be built close by on Singers' Hill. At an October meeting, "a new and more commodious Synagogue was deemed necessary and a managing committee set up to elicit donations and procure a suitable site for the new edifice".⁸ A list of subscribers at the entrance, carved on marble, remains, and has proved a valuable source of reference.

The position of President was by no means entirely enviable. Quarrels were rife and had on occasion to be referred to the Chief Rabbi or Sir Moses Montefiore. The President of 1851 begged to be relieved of the irksome task of solving disputes, and the Treasurer volunteered to take over the task.⁹ Insults were freely hurled between Synagogue officers; a Mr. J. C. Cohen grumbled about his seat all the year through, nor was he mollified by being given the Presidential chair on the Day of Atonement.¹⁰ The Reader, Rev. Lewis Chapman, was a constant aggravation to the Council, which alternated between urging him "to make himself agreeable and useful", and telling him to go.¹¹ He was lax in his duties, sang when he should chant,¹² and was once "violent" at a smart wedding.¹³ They had raised his salary from £70 to £100 but he was for ever itching to augment his income. First he ran a clothier's shop on the side,¹⁴ then he coached private pupils during school hours.¹⁵ Each time the council came down heavily, threatening instant dismissal. In 1851 he was boarding and tutoring two lads in his home, one from Gloucestershire and the other from Now York.¹⁶

The Synagogue was organised somewhat as an exclusive club. Privileged or "free" membership formed the first category of the wealthier. They paid an entrance fee, were voted in select committee and could be blackballed. Above all they must have lived a certain time in Birmingham. This elite had the franchise and all rights. The second category, the seatholders, rented seats but had no privileges. Finally, the strangers had no seats and on the sale of Mitzvoth and Mishebeyrochs, but the ancient cry of "one penny to open the door of the Ark" was to be heard no more. As elsewhere, it was being considered undignified and reminiscent of the auction room,¹⁷ and by 1851 the assessment system was in full swing. Each member was now taxed according to his means and a collector was engaged to extract the money. Everybody complained from time to time, even the wealthiest, the only exception being the public-spirited Isaac Blanckensee, who asked to have his assessment raised!¹⁸ Those who fell into arrears were punished by being relegated to a back scat, and had in the past even been excluded from buying Kosher meat. Anyone who bought it on their behalf was fined 10/-.  The free membership privileges eventually let to trouble and by 1851 discontent was seething. Two years later a letter was sent to the Chief Rabbi complaining of the "supremacy of money" ..... "Poor Jews worshipped almost on sufferance".²⁰  A rival Synagogue was set up in Wrottesley Street, the troublesome Rev. Chapman departing with the dissidents. The rift was healed in 1856 with the building of Singer's Hill and he returned with the rest.

It is difficult to assess the degree of observance among the Community of 1851. A Census of church attendance on Census Sunday, 30th March, was held in that year,²¹ and in the case of Jews the figures returned were those for the previous Sabbath; they were: Friday night 82, Sabbath morning 185, Sabbath afternoon 40. It is probable in any case that the congregants had been urged to make a good showing. On this occasion the secretary of the Synagogue noted, "The Jewish population here being mostly engaged in travelling, the attendance except on holidays is limited".²²  This statement does not seem to correspond with the census which show less than 20% travellers. Meanwhile the Society for the Propagation of Christianity among the Jews pursued its thankless task. A meeting at the Town Hall in May revealed plenty of funds but a dearth of missionaries.²³

The Birmingham Hebrew National School had opened with great éclat in 1840. "The attention of all England is directed" on the experiment.²⁴ Fees were 1/- a week for boys and 6d. for girls. The Headmaster received £180 and his assistant £80, and a Hebrew Educational Society raised funds to apprentice children on leaving.²⁵  In 1851 it was entering a period of decline. The number of pupils dropped from 56 boys and 36 girls in 1845 to 42
boys and 20 girls in 1853. The two teachers were of inferior calibre, the headmaster under notice. He was proving difficult to replace and the Council, at their wit's end, opted for a Christian English master. Rev. Chapman, to be responsible for Hebrew.²⁶  However, Rev. Pereira Mendes attended for interview just in time, and was appointed, later becoming Minister to the Congregation. The teaching was on the so-called "simultaneous system", i.e. the Headmaster taught the Upper class, the other master the second class, while both jointly supervised the third class; although the rules allowed for a third master one was not apparently appointed. The pupil-teacher apprenticeship system was not yet introduced into the school, nor had this or any Jewish school so far received any Government aid, its running expenses now being undertaken by the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation. Sadly, the feature which gave the school its uniqueness in Anglo-Jewry was disappearing. This uniqueness, stressed in newspaper reports and referred to by the Chief Rabbi, was the education of rich and poor in one school. The richer boys had even organised a "Benevolent Book and Clothing Society" to help their poorer class-mates and their presence had probably accounted for the inclusion of the classics and modern foreign languages in the syllabus. By 1851 the more affluent parents were removing their children. Some already attended the King Edward School. The Birmingham Hebrew National School was becoming more like the general so-called national schools, giving elementary education to the poorer classes but unlike them officially discriminating heavily against the girls. While the boys were taught six days weekly, the girls were permitted to be educated merely on two afternoons each week. A pathetic footnote to the school records in 1851 is provided by a pupil Alexander Michael who stole a Bible, sold it, and was publicly expelled.²⁷ The Census shows him and his two little brothers to have been boarded with strangers, while the Philanthropic Society notes a man Michael confined to Warwick gaol.²⁸ A 'snob' Academy to teach young ladies and gentlemen Hebrew and English was mooted by Mr. and Mrs. Harris of Newhall Street, but it is not in the Census, so presumably never got off the ground.²⁹

As for Jewish adult education, records are scarce. Rev. Mendes, following the trend for self-education, proposed opening the school at night for the study of Hebrew and other languages.³⁰ A few families subscribed to such religious publications as Benisch's Family Bible and a new edition of Maimonides. Only one Jew was on the subscription list for the Birmingham Library - unexpectedly the same J. C. Cohen who was so agitated about his seat. (He was, incidentally, a generous supporter of the General Hospital and other non-Jewish charities.³¹) Six Jews wore among the founder members of the Midland Institute, which aimed to promote practical science, literature and the arts. Among them was David Barnett who had recently patented an arithmetical computer.³² Although Russian-born, he played an important part in the political and social life of the town, and was an unusually enterprising individual.

The congregation must have missed the learned Dr. Raphell, one of the innovators of the English sermon, lately departed to more appreciative audiences in New York. There were occasional visiting lecturers, including the romantic Dr. Schiller-Szinnessey, hero of the Hungarian freedom fighters of 1848. The Council, however, stipulated that he should not be paid more than £5.³³ The Music Festivals at the Town Hall where Mendelssohn had conducted "Elijah" were the pride of Birmingham; like other schools, the Hebrew school was given a two-day holiday to attend.³⁴ Charitable "Benefits" at the Theatre and concerts at the Town Hall enlivened the provincial scene, and were supported by Jews and non-Jews alike. Jenny Lind's appearance at the Town Hall in aid of the Hebrew school in 1847 had been attended by the Mayor and brought in £900.³⁵ The Philanthropic Ball was the highlight of the social year and there were occasional dinners held in the Hebrew school-room. "Beneath the brilliancy of the chandeliers .... every delicacy was provided." Sometimes these were for gentlemen only, but when "the beaming countenances of handsome ladies"³⁶ adorned the scene they must have ameliorated the immense list of toasts.

On the more serious side of these charities, the Council, the Philanthropic Society, and the Hebrew Board of Guardians spent immense energy distinguishing between the deserving and the undeserving poor. The "Schnorrers" passing through were legion; hand-outs were often augmented if the recipient undertook to go elsewhere, preferably to America. Boots, blankets and coals were distributed with depressing regularity. Every winter was hard. There is as yet no sign of the more constructive sewing-machine. The first of the familiar ladies' efforts resulted from an appeal "Charity begins at home".³⁷ Well-bred young ladies undertook the arduous task of collecting weekly sixpences for the poor; no doubt a welcome contrast to the visits of the outlandish rabbis pressing the needs of their brethren in the Holy Land. On one occasion at least the Council showed generosity and a truly liberal outlook. In 1844, Eliza Madenberg, aged 13, fell into serious trouble and left home. Her father, a wealthy cabinet maker from Warsaw, a Councillor and a fanatically religious man, refused to allow her a penny piece if she did not return. The Council, however, deeming she had been "cruelly used and exposed to unnatural conduct" granted her £5. Her father resigned from the Council. In the 1851 census she is back again with her parents as Eliza Jones. No husband is in evidence and Mr. Madenberg returned to the Counci1.³⁸

1851 saw the Community hard-working and law-abiding. A few prominent Jews were robbed, one was charged as a receiver, there were one or two bankruptcies and a dissolution of partnership. The members were anxious to be seen in a good light by their fellow citizens, and a few years previously had opened the doors of the Synagogue one Easter Sunday afternoon. 400 gentiles had attended and "came away astonished by what they saw".³⁹ An accusation by the Church of England Lay Association that "the Jews revile and deride Christianity", brought forth spirited protest.⁴⁰  David Barnett as always was foremost; when the Town Council held a meeting in 1844 on the Civil Disabilities of the Jews, he had been the Community's spokesman.⁴¹ He was an original member of the Town Council when Birmingham was granted a Royal Charter in 1838, although he refused to take the oath as a Christian. He was also Chairman of the Guardians of the Poor, and it is interesting to note that at this early date there were two other Jews, S. Hyman and A. Nerwich on his committee.⁴² On his retirement from office he made an eloquent farewell speech, pleading that his record in municipal service be used to urge the admission of Jews to Parliament. He was accorded a splendid dinner at which 100 businessmen of the town were present.⁴³  He had been President of the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation in 1841, afterwards permanently on the Council, and he was a founder of the Hebrew National School. Described in the census as merchant and factor, he shared a large house on Bennett's Hill with his partner on the jewellery side, Samuel Neustadt, his wife and Mrs. Neustadt being sisters. They had formed a close friendship with the famous Burne-Jones, next door. Lady Burne-Jones tells how the young Edward enjoyed the company of the children "on the other side of the wall" joining with them in their Purim dressing up and sharing seaside holidays in Blackpool.⁴⁴ A few doors away lived Mr. Eskell, a young dentist from Scotland, all of them making Bennett's Hill a lively quarter. 1851 marked the height of David Barnett's social career. In January, he was Chairman of the Tradesmen's Ball in aid of the Lying-In Hospital, at which the nobility, gentry and the Mayor were present. A well-known Quadrille Band was engaged and the Irish Dragoons played between the dances. Tickets were snapped up at 6/6, 5/- for ladies and spectators at 1/- a ticket crammed the galleries. It was a tremendous success.  Needless to say, Barnett had his jealous detractors. He was accused by the Wrottesley Street faction, in their letter to, the Chief Rabbi, of dictatorial airs. His career was to be cut short, however, as he was killed, rather mysteriously, in a railway accident three years later.

Harper's Hill off Newhall Street must have been another pleasant enclave with Myer Blanckensee, a well-to-do tailor, living next door to the merchant Jacob Cohen, surrounded by their swarming children, nursemaids and servants. Cohen worked for the great firm of Moore, Phillips and Co., of which Jacob Phillips, the principal, was grandson of Isaiah Phillips, the first "rabbi" of Birmingham. At the time of the census, he was about to leave Hong Kong, where he had built up a business with branches in Manila and Tientsin. His partner, Benjamin Phineas Moore, lived in some style in Great Charles Street, importing all the more exotic luxuries that his designation "China Merchant" would imply. In return they exported Guns and other local manufactures, being indeed pioneers of trade between Birmingham and the Far Fast. The China Mail praised him on his departure as "one of the most useful men in the Colony. If it ever acquired the management of its own affairs it would feel the want of Jacob Phillips more than the Colonial Office."⁴⁵ 1851 saw him return to half a century of public service. As Chairman of the Birmingham Libraries, he went to London with Samuel Timings to buy the first books. He worked for the Children's -and Queen's Hospital, and was offered the Mayoralty but refused. He occupied every office in the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation, and was founder of Singer's Hill Synagogue. It was by his good offices that the Wrottesley Street defectors returned to the fold. He lived to be almost 100 years old, adored by his nephews and nieces, and died, as the Birmingham Post proclaimed, "A Hebrew Patriarch" .⁴⁶

At a dinner given in December 1850 for the Philanthropic Society, "53 gentlemen, all of the Jewish persuasion" each subscribed between £5 and 2/6.⁴⁷ These would surely represent a range of householders from the wealthy to the comfortably-off. The electoral roll of 1851 shows 44 Jews had the vote, i.e. that their premises were over £10 rateable value.⁴⁸ In the rate books 11 Jews owned their houses and other property,⁴⁹ Mr. J. C. Cohen, once again prominent in this category. Needless to say, he does not figure among the few outstanding personalities, mostly belonging to, or married into the old-established families, who shared the offices of the Community. When his name was proposed as President of the Philanthropic Society in 1843 "great confusion and uproar ensued" and the meeting was dissolved. The Blanckensees were always strong on the Council and Isaac Blanckensee was President in the early part of 1851. The vast Aaron family, the veteran Samuel Sachs, mostly pawnbrokers, were always prominent. Abraham Nerwich, Abraham Danziger and Simon King Marks, all merchants in a substantial position, played their part in the running of affairs. The remainder mainly followed the traditional callings. Tailoring was the most popular, followed by the clothiers, among them Samuel Hyam, whose huge advertisements were always topical and often in verse. Normally he concentrated on the cheaper novelty lines - "the Hyamonian Reversible Overcoat,
Vest and Trousers". In May there was something more exclusive in one of the few references to the Great Exhibition of 1851. "Fine West of England Cloths made expressly for the Exhibition; dress coats from the exhibition cloths cost from three to three and a half guineas'".  M. Moses of London, his rival, anxiously tried to persuade Birmingham excursionists at least to look into his emporium in Oxford Street, a treat they could enjoy free.⁵⁰

The recent immigrants made slippers, boots, caps and cigars. Several were glaziers and there were hawkers of all kinds. A hint of the sweated labour soon to become notorious existed in the multi-occupied premises of the poorest courts, but generally these were small businessmen, the tailors in particular often helped by wife and family. Among the craftsmen was a lithographer and an engraver. Jewellers, watchmakers and allied trades did well, and the two cabinet makers were wealthy. One enterprising craftsman made an ewer "after a process invented by himself" and presented it to the Synagogue. It was admired as "a tasteful specimen of the science and skill of one of our members".⁵¹ The Jewish housewife could, if she wished, have dealt almost entirely with her co-religionists. She had a furrier (Creamer's who remained in Birmingham until a few years ago), dressmakers, a stay maker, a dealer in embroidery and a gasfitter. For her household shopping there was a provision dealer, a wine merchant, a fishmonger and a confectioner. How she fared at Passover is not known. Tucked away among the minutes is an advertisement from London for Matzos, sweet cakes and prelatoes. The butchers were always non-Jewish and a constant source of friction.⁵² Surprisingly two of these troublemakers contributed to the Philanthropic Society.⁵³ Climbing into the professional classes were the teachers of languages and music, a travelling optician, and three surgeon dentists. Two of these gentlemen advertised miraculous and painless methods of replacing lost teeth, Mr. Eskell by self-adhesion, Mr. Emanual by atmospheric pressure. Mr. Eskell also warned against the dangers to health of base metal masquerading as gold. To be on the safe side, wearers should overcome natural modesty and send doubtful dentures to the Assay office.⁵⁴

The portraits of the leaders of the Community are indistinguishable from those of other mid-Victorian worthies. They must have viewed with mixed feelings the shabby and uncouth arrivals from the ghettoes of Eastern Europe, crowded into the noisome alleys of Old Inkleys, Peck Lane and other streets long since obliterated by New Street Station. But their children would soon be at least outwardly assimilated, facing with equal apprehension the next and far larger wave of immigrants. These in their turn would soon become closely involved with the communal institutions and social activities, already firmly rooted in previous generations of Jewish life, and the precursors of those existing to-day.

By 1870 the 800 Jews of 1851 had more than doubled and by 1900 the numbers had doubled again to give a community of about 4000. In the past seventy years the rate of increase has slowed down and the present Jewish population is about 6000.⁵⁵ It is a striking tribute to the vision and enterprise of the community of the early days that so much of their groundwork in synagogal life, charitable institutions and cultural activities has proved so effective a foundation throughout the years.

Between 1858 and 1907 the town of Birmingham flourished and the Jewish population shared in its economic prosperity. A study of all the grants of probate⁵⁶ of the Jews who died between those dates reveals a steady growth of wealth and considerable personal concern to see that the community supported its own needy. Jews also played their part in the life of the civic community generally. There took place a gradual shift of emphasis from a tiny minority religious grouping, only interested in its own survival, to a more extrovert anglicised self-confident community happy to be part of the larger society surrounding it. This process has further continued in the twentieth century combined with a great deal of internal change in the religious structure of the community, and greatly influenced by the tragedy of the Nazi era, followed by the Zionist achievement of the State of Israel. The result is that Birmingham Jewry to-day is in many ways directly comparable to its predecessor of 1851 and is still basically organised in the same way. However, it also exhibits the peculiar tensions of our own time and in some ways these have been uneasily grafted upon the older institutions and ways of life. The same phenomenon is probably paralleled many times elsewhere in Anglo-Jewry.

References
 

BIRMINGHAM CENSUS 1851   

Electoral Rolls 1851

44 Jews were on the rolls, i.e. living in property or owning property of more than
£10 p.a. rateable value

Rate Books 1851

11 Jews lived in their own houses or owned property.  The Rate books mention the
Trustees of the Jews' Synagogue
 

© Aubrey Newman

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