International Association of Jewish
Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project
BARBADOS
Spanish and Portuguese Jews from Brazil, Cayenne, Suriname,
England, Hamburg, and Leghorn came to Barbados one year after
British settlement in 1627. The Jewish community of Bridgetown
formed in 1654 and established a synagogue. Thirty Jewish
families of Eastern European origin escaping The Nazis settled in
Barbados and were joined by Jews from Trinidad.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/comm_north.html and select "Barbados" link [rev September
2005]
http://www.kosherdelight.com/Barbados.htm
[August 2003]
"The Jewish cemetery on Barbados is believed to be the oldest
Jewish graveyard in the Western Hemisphere with citations dating back
to the 1660's. Graves of several famous people are there, including
Samuel Hart, son of the American Moses Hart, and Mosseh Haym Nahamyas
(Moses Nehemiah), who died on Barbados in 1672 and was the first Jew to
live in Virginia (AJA 18)." source: "History of the Jews of the
Caribbean", by Ralph G.Bennett, article located at http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/011/jewcar.html [October 2003]
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
Barbados Jewish Community
PO Box 651, Bridgetown
Phone: 809-427-0703
Fax: 809-436-8807
Caribbean Jewish Congress
PO Box 1331, Bridgetown
Phone: 809-436-8163
Jewish Community Council
P.O. Box 256, Bridgetown,
Tel. 809 432 0840
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/comm_north.html#
and select "Barbados" link: "…the old Jewish cemetery, containing some of the oldest
Jewish graves on the American continent, was restored for use."
[rev September 2005]
http://www.haruth.com/JewsBarbados.html
[October 2000]
THE CEMETERIES
BRIDGETOWN:
- Nidhe Israel Cemetery: Spanish-Sephardic. See: Picture
Collection; American Jewish Archives, 3101 Clifton Ave.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45220-2488, phone (513) 221-1875.
http://www.e.millner.btinternet.co.uk/bevismarks/cemetery01.html
[link no longer available] had excellent photos, a history of the cemetery, burials map and
information, and the story of the restoration.
[September 2005]
The cemetery in Synagogue Lane dates from 1654 to 1929 and
then again from 1932 on. In 1934, a developer partly destroyed
the site. A concerned Gentile, Eustace Maxwell Shilstone,
arranged to have the cemetery put in perpetual trust in the deeds
of the islands. Then, he copied 374 epitaphs that were later
published by the Jewish Historical Society of England. All
tombstones were translated into English.
BOOK: Shilstone, Eustace M. Monumental Inscriptions in
the Burial Ground of the Jewish Synagogues at Bridgetown,
Barbados. xxxiii, 205 p. illus., fold. plan. 22 com. LOC call
# F2041.S55. The book can be ordered from Barbados Jewish
Community, P.O. Box 424 Bridgetown, Barbados ($20 US). Synagogue
and cemetery are both in Synagogue Lane. Source: "Pennycandy
Jansen": PennyCandi@msn.com.
BOOK: Shilstone, Eustace M. Monumental Inscriptions in
the Jewish Synagogue at Bridgetown, Barbados with Historical
Notes from 1630. NY: Macmillan, 1988 (ISBN 0-333-48620-X).
Paperback edition in 1988 covers 1630 to 1925. David Fox would be
happy to make limited index checks. Source: David Fox, fox@erols.com.
All individuals involved in the creation of this project are volunteers.
The right to make one copy for personal use with full citation is hereby granted;
however, no profit is to be made from the use of this website's information.
No reply will be made to inquiries about specific burials. All information that we possess is on the website. We have no other information so please do not write requesting any on either burial sites or individual burials.
Revised Friday, September 16, 2005 23:51:25