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JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
Town of Macclesfield, Cheshire
Macclesfield (population 50,000), a town in north-west England
close to the border of Greater Manchester, is situated on the river Bollin, a
tributary of the river Mersey. Bollington (population 8,000) is a village
situated some 4 miles northeast of Macclesfield.
Since 1 April 2009, Macclesfield has been part of Cheshire East, a unitary authority with borough status within the
now purely ceremonial county of Cheshire. From 1974 to 2009, Macclesfield (which
during such period included
the town of Wilmslow) was a local government district and borough in Cheshire.
Prior to 1974, Macclesfield was a municipal borough within the county of Cheshire.
62 Chestergate, which housed the former Macclesfield Synagogue on the second floor
(from the cover of "Macclesfield's Jews and World War Two" - © Basil Jeuda)
Macclesfield Jewish Community
Although there were a few Jewish families living in the Macclesfield area prior
to World War II,(i) there was no organised community. With the outbreak of war, Jewish
evacuees from London and other
built-up areas began to settle in Macclesfield and, to a lesser extent,
in near-by Bollington and Wilmslow, supplemented by Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Belgium,
fleeing Nazi persecution.(ii)
This lead to the establishment of an organised community in Macclesfield, as
well as in Wilmslow (see separately). Within twelve months following the
end of the war, most of the newcomers had returned to London and
elsewhere, although a few remained.
From March to May 2016 the town hosted 'Celebrating Jewish Life, Art and Enterprise in Macclesfield During World War Two’ - an exhibition which commemorated the 75th anniversary of
the opening of the Macclesfield Synagogue at 62 Chestergate, now Charles Roe House, where the exhibition was held.
The late Basil Jeuda was curator of the exhibition and author of the accompanying book,
Macclesfield's Jews in World War Two.
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Congregation Data |
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Name: |
Macclesfield Hebrew Congregation,
at times also known as Macclesfield United Synagogue Membership Group |
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Address: |
First floor, 62 Chestergate (now Charles Roe
House), Macclesfield, SK11 6DY, although services until
March 1941 were held in a cottage in
Elizabeth Street, Macclesfield.(v) |
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Formation and Communal Life: |
The Congregation was formally established following a public meeting on 27 January 1941.(vi)
For a history of the synagogue from its formation and Jewish communal
life in Macclesfield, see A Brief History of the Macclesfield Hebrew Congregation, an extract from a book
"Macclesfield's Jews in World War Two", by Basil Jeuda. |
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Date Closed: |
Following the war most of the evacuees returned home and the last service to be held in the synagogue was in October 1946.(vii)
However, the congregation continued to be active on very reduced basis(viii)
and High Holy Day services continued to be held until 1953 at 133 Chester Road, the home Mr. Harold Franklin.(ix) |
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Ritual: |
Ashkenazi Orthodox |
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Affiliation: |
The Congregation became affiliated to the
United Synagogue
in June 1941 and, in September 1941, it became a United Synagogue Membership Group.(x)
These groups were formed during World War II primarily by evacuees from
London, and Macclesfield was the only such group not in the South of
England or the Home Counties around London.
The congregation was not among those membership groups which applied to affiliate with the United Synagogue after the Membership Group scheme was wound up in 1946,
and accordingly the tiny continuing Macclesfield Hebrew Congregation
would appear to have continued to function as an unaffiliated congregation until its eventual dissolution.(xi) |
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Ministers:
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Rabbi Dr. Rudolf Weis
- from 1941 until 1942(xiv)
Rev. Irving Chazen
- from 1942 until 1946(xv)
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Lay Officers: |
President
Joshua (Jack) Cohen -
1941-1946(xviii)
Vice President
Philip Osband - c.1941(xix)
Treasurer
Harold Franklin - 1941-late 1940s(xxi)
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Hon. Secretaries
Eric Osband - c.1941(xxii)
I. Jackson - c.1945-late 1940s(xxiii)
Mrs. S. Winnet - c.1951(xxiv)
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Registration District (BMDs): |
Cheshire East, since 1 April 2009.(xxv) |
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Cemetery Details |
There is no Jewish cemetery in Macclesfield. For details of the cemeteries of the United Synagogue, see
Cemeteries of the United Synagogue. |
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Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Macclesfield Jewish Community
on JCR-UK
Notable Jewish Connections with Macclesfield
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Nick Blackman, professional footballer, as of 2021 playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv and a Bermuda international, began his career at Macclesfield Town. His mother is Jewish.
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Sidney Frankenburg, communal worker in Manchester and founder and life president of what was reputed to be the first association
of Jewish ex servicemen, known as the Sydney Frankenburg Branch of the British Legion, lived at Upton Priory in Macclesfield,
from the late 1920s until his death in 1935.
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Victor and Hannah Friedland, Minsk born, who later escaped from Nazi Germany, in 1940 relocated their electrical engineering factory to Bollington, Macclesfield,
which produced parts for Spitfires and Lancaster bombers. After the war, the factory became the largest producer in the world of bells and chimes.
The company later diversified into manufacturing toys and Frido footballs and rugby balls.(xxviii)
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Basil Jeuda (1938-2023), Macclesfield resident and local historian, and former leader of Cheshire County Council (1981-82), has published extensively on the history of Macclesfield
and region, particularly its railway networks. He has also published books on the war-time Jewish community of Macclesfield and the Sephardi community of south Manchester.
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Liz Kessler, children's author, lived for a time on the Macclesfield canal.
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Nick Robinson, born in Macclesfield in 1963, is a British journalist and presenter on the BBC's Today programme.
Prior to this he spent ten years as political editor for the BBC. His mother was born in Shanghai, where her German-Jewish parents had fled as refugees from Nazism during the 1930s
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Other Macclesfield Jewish Institutions & Organisations
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Educational & Theological
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Other Institutions & Organisations
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Benei Akiva Youth Group (founded June 1943)(xxx)
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Jewish Literary & Social Club (founded by 1946)(xxxi)
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Jewish Club and Study Group (founded June 1942)(xxxii)
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Macclesfield-Wilmslow Jewish Social Club (founded late 1940s/early 1950s)(xxxiii)
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WIZO Group (founded May 1944)(xxxiv)
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Macclesfield Jewish Population Data
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circa
1943
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between 150 and 200* |
(Macclesfield's Jews in World War Two, p.4) |
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*The Jewish Year Book 1948 gave a Jewish population of 200, which
is clearly inaccurate, as numbers fell considerably following the end of
the War. |
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Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above) |
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List of United Synagogue Congregations (and Membership Groups)
World War II Evacuee Communities
Jewish Congregations in Cheshire
Jewish Communities of England homepage
Page created: 10 November 2006
Data significantly expanded: 29 January 2016
Data further significantly expanded and notes first added: 25 November 2021
Page most recently amended: 12 December 2023
Research by David Shulman, assisted by Steven Jaffe
Formatting by David Shulman
Explanation of Terms |
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