JCR-UK

the former

Brynmawr Hebrew Congregation

and Jewish Community

Brynmawr, Blaneau Gwent, South Wales

 

 

   
 
 
Page created: 25 May 2003
Latest revision or update: 20 July 2017

Town of Brynmawr

Brynmawr (Welsh: Bryn-mawr - "big hill"), with a population of about 6,000, is a town in the Valleys of South Wales, lying approximately 34 miles north of Cardiff and 12 miles east of Merthyr Tydfil.

Until 1974, Brynmawr formed the urban district of Brynmawr in the county of Brecknockshire (aka Breconshire). From 1974 until 1996, it was part of the district of Blaenau Gwent in the new county of Gwent. In 1996, Gwent was abolished as an administrative county, and the district became the county borough of Blaenau Gwent - a unitary authority (within the ceremonial, or preserved, county of Gwent).

Brynmawr Jewish Community

The Jewish community dates back to 1880s and the Jewish congregation continued into the 1960s. The Jewish community was one of very few in South Wales that had its own cemetery.

Congregation Data

In the community there was, at one time, a rival congregation

Name:

Brynmawr Hebrew Congregation

Address:

Bailey Street, Brynmawr (part of the street was actually known locally as Jew Street or Jews' Row). A new synagogue building was opened by Mr. O. E. d'Avigdor Goldsmid on 20 June 1900 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi. It was converted into a private house in the 1960s and is situated next to the Fire Station.

Former Address:

Heathcock House, Brynmawr.

Date Founded:

1889

Current Status:

Closed -1965

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Membership Data:

1897  -  23 seatholders (The Jewish Year Book 1898/99)

1900  -  about 50 seatholders (The Jewish Year Book 1901)

1905  -  about 50 seatholders (The Jewish Year Book 1906)

 

On-line Articles and Other Material
relating to the Branmawr Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

on Third Party Website

  • YouTube video on the Jews of Brynmawr narrated by Oliver Wood, who explores the history of the Jewish community that once lived in Brynmawr and elsewhere in Blaenau Gwent, first published on 1 March 2012.

 

Other Brynmawr Jewish Institutions & Organisations

Educational & Theological

  • Hebrew School, 48 Bailey Street, (founded 1895)

Other Institutions & Organisations

Formed by 1903*

  • Brynmawr & District Burial Board - Chevra Kadisha

  • Brynmawr and Abertillery Zionist Society (source: Jewish Chronicle, 18 September 1903, p. 34).

  • Choverei Zion Society (Source: Jewish Chronicle, 10 May 1901, p. 19)

  • Literary and Social Society (Source: Jewish Chronicle, 23 January 1903, p. 21)

 

Communal or Congregational Records

  • Marriage Records held by The Board of Deputies: Ref: 50/2a/1

 

Brynmawr Jewish Cemetery Information

Brynmawr had its own Jewish cemetery:

  • Brynmawr New Cemetery, Jewish Section, Cemetery Road, Brynmawr, NP3.  Established 1919.

(For additional information, see also IAJGS International Jewish Cemeteries Project - Brynmawr)

 

Brynmawr Jewish Population Data

1896

12 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1896)

1898

18 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1898)

1900

30 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1901)

1905

30 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1906)

1934

135

(The Jewish Year Book 1935)

1938

30 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1939)

1946

49

(The Jewish Year Book 1947)

1965

17

(The Jewish Year Book 1966)


Former Jewish Communities in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent home page


Jewish Congregations in the former county of Brecknockshire

Jewish Congregations in Wales, listed according to current unitary authorities

Jewish Communities & Congregations in Wales home page

 

 

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