JCR-UK

Nottingham Jewish Community

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

 

 

 

JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
NOTE: We are not the official website for this community.

City of Nottingham

The city of Nottingham, in the English East Midlands, lies on the river Trent. The city has a population of about 270,000, although there are over 600,000 people living in the Greater Nottingham area.  It was a county borough until 1974, when it became a district of the administrative county of  Nottinghamshire. In 1996, the city of Nottingham became a unitary authority.

The Nottingham Jewish Community

The modern Jewish community was founded in the early 1800's, although there had been a Jewish community in medieval times.

Jewish Congregations

The following are the Jewish congregations that exist or existed in Nottingham in modern times:

* An active congregation.

 

Search the All-UK Database


The records in this database associated with Nottingham include:

  • UK Jewish Communal Leaders Database

    • 28 Nottingham records (as of 30 September 2021).

  • 1851 Anglo Jewry Database (updated 2016)

    • Individuals in the 1851 Anglo Jewry Database who were living in Nottingham during the 1810s (2 records); 1820s (11 records), 1830s (47 records), 1840s (45 records), 1850s (69 records), 1860s (27 records), 1870s (12 records), 1880s (11 records), 1890s (3 records), 1900s (1 record) and 1910s (1 record).

 

Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Nottingham Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

on Third Party websites


Notable Jewish Connections with Nottingham

(courtesy Steven Jaffe)

  • Martin Brandon-Bravo (1932-2018) was Conservative MP for Nottingham South from 1983 to 1992. He was President of the UK's Amateur Rowing Association.

  • Sir Julien Cahn, 1st Baronet (1882-1944) was a British businessman, philanthropist and cricket enthusiast. Born in Cardiff, he grew up and lived Nottingham, son of synagogue president Albert Cahn. He owned the chain stores, Jays and Campbells, which he sold to Great Universal Stores (GUS) in 1943. He rescued Newstead Abbey, the twelth century ancestral home of Lord Byron, and donated it to the Nottingham City Council to help preserve Byron's legacy. In 1935 he presented the Waverley Mount Club as a youth and recreational centre for the Jewish community. He lived at Stanford Hall, near Loughborough, some fifteen miles south of Nottingham.

  • Jonathan Charles, former BBC news presenter, was born in Nottingham in 1964.

  • Sir Harry Djanogaly CBE (b.1938), merged his Nottingham Manufacturing Company with other textile interests in 1986 to form Coats Viyella. He has helped found the following Nottingham institutions: Djanogly City Academy; Djanogly Community Leisure Centre; Djanogly Community Orchestra; Djanogly Recital Hall; Djanogly Theatre, and the Djanogly Gallery. He is also a benefactor to both Nottingham universities.

  • Jack Dunnett (1922-2019) was Labour MP for two Nottingham constituencies between 1964 and 1983. He was chairman of Notts County FC from 1967, elected President of the Football League 1981-86 and 1988-89, and was Vice-President of the Football Association for the same period.

  • Col. Louis Gluckstein QC (1897-1979), whose family owned J Lyons and Co, was Conservative MP for East Nottingham from 1931 to 1945.

  • Saul Isaac (1823-1903), MP for Nottingham (1874-80), was the first Jewish MP to be returned for the Conservative Party. In 1870 he opened the Wilford Bridge and Clifton Collieries, providing a local supply of coal which facilitated the industrial growth of Nottingham.

  • James Alfred Jacoby, a Nottingham Lace manufacturer, was Sheriff of Nottingham in 1877 and Liberal MP for Mid Derbyshire from 1885 to his death in 1909.

  • Felix Joseph (1840-1892) arts patron, is described as the greatest benefactor of art work to the city of Nottingham, including a collection of over 1,400 pieces of Wedgwood porcelain held by the Castle Museum (Portrait).

  • Hilda Winifred Lewis (1896–1974) was a British author of historical and children's fiction. Her husband Professor M. Michael Lewis of the University of Nottingham, was a specialist in the education of the deaf.

  • David Pleat (b. Nottingham in 1945), played for Nottingham Forest FC, and four other Football League clubs. He was manager at Luton Town and Tottenham Hotspur, and was for a time consultant to Nottingham Forest. He is a football broadcaster and writer.

  • Jacob Weinberg (1830-1900) born in Hamburg, proprietor of Simon May and Co, one of the largest firms of lace finishers in Nottingham, was for many years president and lay leader of the Nottingham Hebrew congregation. He was responsible for building two mikvaot in Nottingham. For some time towards the end of his life he hosted a private minyan at his home. He was president of both Nottingham and Dundee chambers of commerce.

  • Lord Mayors of Nottingham

    • Lewis Heymann (d.1869), proprietor of Heymann & Alexander, which designed and manufactured lace curtains, helped to make Nottingham the lace capital of the world. Heymann was Lord Mayor in 1857. He abandoned Judaism and became a member of the Unitarian chapel.

    • Edward Goldschmidt, Lord Mayor of Nottingham in 1881 and again in 1889, was also a Jewish convert to Unitarianism.

 

Other Nottingham Jewish Institutions & Organisations

Educational

  • Jewish Day School, from 1877 to 1884, in rented premises at People's Hall, founded by Rev. David Meyer.(xxi)

Welfare Organisations

  • Hebrew Philanthropic Society, founded 1885, for relief of resident poor and strangers; medical assistance.(xxii) This developed into the Jewish Board of Guardians by the early 1920s(xxiii) and later became the Jewish Welfare Board.(xxiv) (xxv)

  • Ladies' Benevolent (or Philanthropic) Society, founded 1886.(xxviii)

  • Orphans Aid Society, later the Norwood Society, founded 1892.(xxix)

  • The Dorcas Society - founded in the 1920s and active until wound up in the late 1950s.(xxx)

  • Nottingham Council for Refugee Children and Nottingham Committee for Refugees, both founded by 1939.(xxxi)

    • A Hostel for Refugee Girls was opened in Forest Road in 1939.(xxxii)

  • Miriam Kaplowitch House (Jewish Rest Home), corner Mansfield Road and Mapperley Hall Drive, opened 1986, although the official ceremony was not until June 1988.(xxxiii)

Social and Literary Associations

  • Jewish Social Club, founded by 1891.(xxxvi)

  • Literary and Debating Society, founded 1904.(xxxvii)

  • Nottingham Social Club Ltd, founded 1923 at Carrington Street, surviving until mis-1950s.(xxxviii)

  • Waverly Mount Community Centre, opened in 1934, requisitioned by the Armed Forces in 1940 and reopened in 1947 until about 1967.(xxxix)

  • Friendship Club, founded in 1962.(xl)

Friendly Societies, Lodges, etc.

  • Zionist Friendly Society, founded by 1908.(xliv)

  • Mount Ephraim Beacon No. 18 of the Order of Ancient Meccabeans, founded by 1908.(xlv)

  • Snapper Lodge No. 96 of the Grand Order of Israel, founded by 1915.(xlvi)

  • Jacob Lasky Lodge No. 27 of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, founded by 1915.(xlvii)

  • Nottingham Lodge No. 1156 of the Order of B'nai B'rith, founded by 1932.(xlviii)

  • Norman Shenker Lodge of the Order of B'nai B'rith, founded in 1961.(xlix)

  • A Women's Lodge, founded in 1963, which merged with the Norman Shenker Lodge in 1980.(l)

Youth and Sports Organisations

  • Young Men's Athletic Club, founded by 1904.(liv)

  • Nottingham Jewish Cricket Club, founded by 1904.(lv)

  • Nottingham Jewish Girls' Club, founded 1914.(lvi)

  • Jewish Boy Scouts, founded by 1925.(lvii)

  • Nottingham Maccabi, founded by 1939.(lx)

  • University Jewish (later and Israel) Society, founded 1949/50.(lxi)
    In recent years, Nottingham has had one of the largest Jewish student populations in the UK outside London – on average about 1,000 Jewish students are on campus each year, and the figure can be as high as 1,600. Separate campus rabbis and chaplains have been provided by the University Jewish Chaplaincy service, AISH, Chabad and Jewish Learning Exchange. See https://www.ujs.org.uk/nottingham.

  • Estorick Hillel House, residental home for Jewish student, opened in 1994, with the offical opening ceremony in March 1995.(lxii)

Zionist and other Israel Organisations

  • Chovevi Zion Association, founded 1892(lxv).

  • Zionist Social Club, founded at Poachy Street by 1900 and re-established at 47 Castlegate in 1908.(lxvi)

  • Nottingham Zionist Organisation or Association, founded 1904.(lxvii)

  • Palestine Association, founded 1908, to assist practical work in Palestine.(lxviii)

  • Ladies' Palestine Association, founded 1909, to assist practical work in Palestine.(lxix)

  • Federation of Zionist Youth (FZY), founded by 1926.(lxx)

  • Jewish National Fund Commission, founded by 1927.(lxxiii)

  • Women's Zionist Society, a branch of Federation of Women Zionists (WIZO), founded by 1939.(lxxiv)

  • Nottingham Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, founded by 1945 and relaunched in 1977 but inactive by 1992.(lxxv)

  • Nottingham Friends of Anti-Tuberculosis League of Israel, founded by 1952.(lxxvi)

  • Nottingham JPA (later JIA), founded by 1954.(lxxvii)

Miscellaneous

  • Anglo-Jewish Association, branch founded 1900.(lxxx)

  • AJEX, founded by 1945.(lxxxi)

  • Sabbath Observance League, founded by 1946.(lxxxii)

  • Trades Advisory Council, founded by 1946.(lxxxiii)

  • Nottingham Branch of the Council of Christians and Jews, formed 1965(lxxxiv) .

  • Nottingham Representative Council, later East Midlands Representative Council, founded by 1994.(lxxxv)

  • The National Holocaust Centre and Museum, Acre Edge Road, Laxton, Newark, about 24 miles northeast of Nottingham, opened 1995. See website - https://www.holocaust.org.uk/

 

Community Records

 

Nottingham Jewish Cemeteries Information

Below are the Jewish cemeteries in Nottingham, used successively by the Nottingham (Orthodox) Hebrew Congregtion:

  • North Sherwood Street Jews Burial Ground, Nottingham, NG1 4EN, in use from 1823 to 1869.
    The cemetery is a Grade II Registered Park and Garden, listed on 21 September 2018 (number 1454260). See Historic England Listing & Description.

  • Hardy Street Jewish Cemetery, opened 1869 and closed 1947, except for reserved plots.

  • Wilford Hill Jewish Cemetery, Loughborough Road, opened 1937 (first burial 1940) and extended in 1982. Currently in use.

(For additional information, see also IAJGS Cemeteries Project - Nottingham)

 

Nottingham Jewish Population Data

Year

Number

Source

1896

500

(The Jewish Year Book 1896/7)

1908

750

(The Jewish Year Book 1909)

1918

650

(The Jewish Year Book 1919)

1946

c.2,500

(The Jewish Year Book 1947)

1962

1,500

(The Jewish Year Book 1963)

1985

c.1,800

(The Jewish Year Book 1986)

1989

1,050

(The Jewish Year Book 1990)

1990

800

(The Jewish Year Book 1997)

2003

627

(The Jewish Year Book 2004)

 

Notes & Sources
( returns to text above)

In these notes, reference to "Eight Hundred Years") is to Nelson Fisher's
Eight Hundred Years - The Story of Nottingham's Jews (1998)
and reference to "JYB" is the Jewish Year Books (1896-2005)

  • (i) to (xx) Reserved.

  • (xxi) Eight Hundred Years pp.57/8.

  • (xxii) JYB 1896/7.

  • (xxiii) First listed in JYB 1924.

  • (xxiv) First listed in JYB 1993.

  • (xxv) Eight Hundred Years p.109.

  • (xxvi) and (xxvii) Reserved.

  • (xxviii) Eight Hundred Years p.76.

  • (xxix) Eight Hundred Years pp.76 and 109.

  • (xxx) Eight Hundred Years p.85.

  • (xxxi) Both first listed in JYB 1940.

  • (xxxii) Eight Hundred Years p.85.

  • (xxxiii) Eight Hundred Years pp.110/11.

  • (xxxiv) and (xxxv) Reserved.

  • (xxxvi) Eight Hundred Years p.76.

  • (xxxvii) Eight Hundred Years p.76.

  • (xxxviii) Eight Hundred Years p.80.

  • (xxxix) Eight Hundred Years pp.15, 103 and 109.

  • (xl) Eight Hundred Years p.109.

  • (xli) to (xliii) Reserved.

  • (xliv) First listed in JYB 1909.

  • (xlv) First listed in JYB 1909.

  • (xlvi) Eight Hundred Years pp.76/7.

  • (xlvii) Eight Hundred Years p.77.

  • (xlviii) First listed in JYB 1933.

  • (xlix) Eight Hundred Years pp.109 and 119.

  • (l) Eight Hundred Years p.119.

  • (li) to (liii) Reserved.

  • (liv) First listed in JYB 1904/5.

  • (lv) Eight Hundred Years p.135.

  • (lvi) Eight Hundred Years p.76.

  • (lvii) First listed in JYB 1926.

  • (lviii) and (lix) Reserved.

  • (lx) First listed in JYB 1940.

  • (lxi) Eight Hundred Years p.110 and first listed in JYB 1952.

  • (lxii) Eight Hundred Years p.113.

  • (lxiii) and (lxiv) Reserved.

  • (lxv) Eight Hundred Years p.59.

  • (lxvi) First listed in JYB 1900/01 and with later address from 1909.

  • (lxvii) Eight Hundred Years p.113.

  • (lxviii) First listed in JYB 1909.

  • (lxix) Eight Hundred Years p.176 and first listed in JYB 1910.

  • (lxix) Eight Hundred Years p.125.

  • (lxxi) and (lxxii) Reserved.

  • (lxxiii) First listed in JYB 1928.

  • (lxxiv) First listed in JYB 1940.

  • (lxxv) First listed in JYB 1945/6 and Eight Hundred Years pp.127/8.

  • (lxxvi) First listed in JYB 1953.

  • (lxxvii) First listed in JYB 1955.

  • (lxxviii) and (lxxix) Reserved.

  • (lxxx) First listed in JYB 1900/01 and Eight Hundred Years p.76.

  • (lxxxi) First listed in JYB 1945/6.

  • (lxxxii) First listed in JYB 1947.

  • (lxxxiii) First listed in JYB 1947.

  • (lxxxiv) Eight Hundred Years p.120.

  • (lxxxv) First listed in JYB 1995.

 

Jewish Congregations in Nottinghamshire

Jewish Communities of England home page


Page created: 21 August 2005
Latest revision or update: 10 May 2023


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