JCR-UK

the former

The Merthyr Tydfil Hebrew Congregation

& Jewish Community

Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales

 

 

   
 
 
Page created: 25 May 2003
Latest revision or update: 20 June 2023


Site of Merthyr Tydfil Synagogue, built 1872-7


Town of Merthyr Tydfil

The town of Merthyr Tydfil (also spelled Merthyr Tudful or Merthyr Tydvil), with a population of about 55,000, is located on the river Taff in the centre of the valleys of south Wales, approximately 24 miles north of Cardiff.

Until 1974, Merthyr Tydfil formed the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in the county of Glamorganshire. From 1974 until 1996, it became the district of Merthyr Tydfil in the new county of Mid Glamorgan. In 1996, Mid Glamorgan was abolished as an administrative county, and Merthyr Tydfil again became the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil - a unitary authority (within the ceremonial, or preserved, county of Mid Glamorgan).

Merthyr Tydfil Jewish Community

Merthyr once had a large and prosperous Jewish community dating from at least the 1820's. The descendants of the 19th and 20th century community now are scattered. The last Jew living in Merthyr, George Black, died in Manchester around 1998. The following are details of the only Jewish Congregation known to have existed in the town.

 

Congregation Data

Name:

Merthyr Tydfil Hebrew Congregation

Last Address:

Church Street / Bryntirion Road, Thomastown, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 0EE

Synagogue built 1876/7

Reconstructed and dedicated 1955 - (article in Merthyr Expres)

Slated to be turned into flats in 2009, (article in South Wales Echo), but it became the Merthyr Christian Centre. It was subsequently converted to become the Welsh Jewish Heritage Centre)

The former synagogue is now a Grade II Listed Building (reference number 11426), designated on 16 October 1978 (amended 13 January 1988). View listing on the website of Cadw (Welsh Government’s historic environment service).

Former Address:

Victoria Street, Merthyr Tydfil.
Erected 1853, with accomodation for 60 men and 33 women (Jewish Directory, A. Myer, 1874)

Date Founded:

1848 (Jewish Directory, A. Myer, 1874)

Current Status:

Closed

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Membership Data:

1851 - 30 appropriated seats (Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain)

1852 - 20 seatholders (Board of Deputies Returns)

1860 - 19 seatholders (Board of Deputies Returns)

1870 - 30 seatholders (Board of Deputies Returns)

1874 - 50 seatholders (Board of Deputies Returns), congregation numbered 238 persons (Jewish Directory, A. Myer, 1874)

1880 - 30 seatholders (Board of Deputies Returns)

1890 - 28 seatholders (Board of Deputies Returns)

1900 - 26 seatholders (Board of Deputies Returns), 27 seatholders (The Jewish Year Book 1900/01)

 


MERTHYR TYDFIL JEWISH CEMETERY

 JCR-UK HOSTED DATABASE

Search the
Merthyr Tydfil Jewish Cemetery Database,
including burial records and photographs of the headstones,
as well as a description of the cemetery.

The database covers all burials at the cemetery, up to and including the final burial in March 1999. In total there are 679 identified burials, of which there are 419 identified burial locations and 415 headstone images.

Basic Cemetery Information

Address: Brecon Road, Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil CF48 2PL. Established 1865, extended 1935. The cemetery is maintained by the Board of Deputies. (An earlier database, with 624 searchable record without images, is included in JOWBR.

Articles and other material on JCR-UK:

(For some additional information, also see IAJGS International Jewish Cemeteries Project - Merthyr Tydfil)

 


Search the Database

The records in the database associated with Merthyr Tydfil include:

Burials

Merthyr Tydfil Cemetery, JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Register (624 records, searching under Wales).

1851 Anglo Jewry Database (updated 2016)

Individuals in the 1851 Anglo Jewry Database who were living in Merthyr Tydfil during the 1820s (1 record), 1830s (14 records), 1840s (22 records), 1850s (76 records), 1860s (31 records), 1870s (18 records), 1880s (7 records), 1890s (3 records) and 1900s (2 records).
 

 

On-line Articles and other Material relating to
the Merthyr Tydfil Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

 

Other Merthyr Tydfil Jewish Institutions & Organisations

Formed by 1896*

  • Branch of Chovevi Zion Association.

* As listed in the Jewish Year Books 1896 & 1900.

 

Merthyr Tydfil Jewish Population Data

1851

100

(estimate in Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain)

1934

400

(The Jewish Year Book 1935)

1945

175

(The Jewish Year Book 1947)

 

Jewish Congregations in the former county of Glamorganshire

Jewish Congregations in Wales, listed according to current unitary authorities

Jewish Communities & Congregations in Wales home page

 
 

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