Chapter Two: Part Three

Various factors appear to have determined the part of town where Jews settled. Foremost, probably, in the early years of settlement, at least, was the economic factor. In the first stages of settlement Jews seem to have lived near the docks and traded mostly with visiting seamen and the local poor. [Perhaps Jews adopted for use amongst themselves the low cant term for a penny, bosh, on account of their contacts with the poor. See E. Partridge, A Dictionary of the Underworld (1961), s.v. POSH. See also H. J. Zimmels, 'Pesakim Uteshuvot Mibet Dino shel R. Shelomo b. Zvi', Sefer Hayovel Tiferet Yisrael (1967) (afterwards quoted as H. J. Zimmels, 'Pesakim Mibet Dino'), p. 225, n. 6.] As they became better established and more prosperous they gradually moved away from the old part of town towards the newer and better-class trading areas. When, with the passage of time and increasing prosperity, it was no longer customary to live over the shop, they tended to leave their businesses in the commercial centre and moved out to the more fashionable suburbs. [Cf. the movement of London Jews from the East End to Hackney, on to Stamford Hill, then on to Golders Green, and out to Edgware, Bushey and beyond.]

This pattern of movement is well illustrated by the Jewish community of Plymouth. Of the 24 addresses which have been noted of Plymouth Jews from 1750 until 1795, ten were in Southside Street and one on Southside Quay. [There were perhaps a hundred Jewish families in Plymouth during this period.] The Plymouth Town Rental Books of the eighteenth century list those who utilized the Plymouth Conduit System. Again it may be observed that Jews who were prominent in the affairs of the Plymouth Congregation and amongst its generous benefactors lived near the dock area, as Table 11 indicates.

Table 11: Plymouth Jews utilizing the Conduit System, 1751-1800

Name of street in Year in which

which premises use of the

Name of User were located conduit began

Joseph Jacob Sherrenbeck Southside Street 1751

Solomon Abrahams St. Andrews Street 1755

Jacob Myer Sherrenbeck Southside Street 1759

Heart AbrahamTrevail Street 1762

Lyon Homberg New Quay 1767

Abraham Symons Southside Street 1767

Mr Mordecai Southside Street 1773

Solomon Abraham St. Andrews Street 1776

Abraham Alexander Old Town Street 1776

Mr Nathan Old Town Street 1777

Mr Hart Southside Street 1777

Mr Mayer Southside Street 1777

(Source: Plymouth Town Rental Books at the Plymouth Library.)

From 1798 until 1814, Jewish settlement increased substantially. During this period at least 29 Jews lived and traded in and near the docks, 11 were in the market area, whilst there were 32 in the centre of the town. Once again, the entries in the Plymouth Town Rental Books for 1801 indicate a concentration of Jews in Southside Street and nearby, as Table 12 illustrates.

Table 12: Jews utilizing the Plymouth Conduit System in 1801

Name Address Annual Rental

ä Abraham AaronSouthside Street 8s.

Sander Alexander Southside Street 8s.

David Cohen High Street 8s.

Benjamin HartSouthside Quay 16s.

Henry Hart Southside Street 8s.

Samuel Hart High Street 8s.

Solomon IsaacSouthside Street 12s.

Jacob Jacobs Southside Street 8s.

Sarah Jacobs Southside Street 8s.

Joseph JosephSouthside Quay 8s.

Nathan JosephGreat George Street12s.

Rosey Joseph Bilbury Street 16s.

Sarah Moss Southside Street 8s.

(Source: Plymouth Town Rental Books at Plymouth Library.)

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a westerly movement towards Plymouth Dock, four Jewish traders opened businesses in Stonehouse and 27 settled in Plymouth Dock, [They established their own minyan about 1815.] then thriving under the stimulus of prize-money, high wages, and pilferage from the Dockyard estimated at half a million pounds worth a year. [H. F. Whitfeld, Plymouth and Devonport in times of War and Peace (Plymouth, 1900), p. 261, refers to 'the Hebrews who infested the lanes near the yard'.]

Another factor influencing place of residence of Jews in towns, apart from proximity to employment or place of business, was the need to be within walking distance of the synagogue. Observant Jews refrain from riding on Sabbath and Festivals. Until the breakdown of Sabbath observance in the mid-nineteenth century the great majority of Jews lived in close proximity to the synagogue. A further factor which led to Jews inhabiting one section of the town, was that when they first came to a town they tended to live with relatives, [According to Lipman, 'Aliens List', the brothers Abraham lived at the same address (nos. 51 and 52), as did the brothers Jacobs (nos. 12 and 13), and Levy (nos. 4 and 16).] and later, naturally enough, took premises in the near vicinity. [To this day most Jewish communities live within fairly easily delineated areas, much as other immigrants of the same ethnic origins tend to settle in certain localities.]

As members of the community became more settled the proportion of Jews living and trading in the more fashionable streets rose. Thus White's Directory of Devonshire, 1850, lists 33 Jews in Plymouth, and of these the business of 28 is mentioned. Apparently, the Jews have moved away from the quayside and dock areas into the more fashionable shopping streets. The few without trade or profession tended to live in the expensive residential districts. Stonehouse had not yet become a virtual extension of Plymouth and White records only three Jews there. Devonport's Jewish population dwindled after the Napoleonic Wars, in 1814 Rowe listed 23 Jews in business there, whilst White in 1850 noted only eight.

This pattern was maintained until the end of the nineteenth century, except that during this period Stonehouse became a busy commercial centre and more Jews moved there. Thus in Eyre's Plymouth Directory, 1896, 44 businesses owned by Jews are listed, 26 of them are in Plymouth itself, 10 in Devonport, and 8 in Stonehouse, and most of them are in the busy trading areas. Most of the heads of Jewish households in the Three Towns have been listed by this directory as there were only 46 members in the Congregation in 1896.

Immigrants, whether Jewish, Asian, Chinese or Greek-Cypriot, tend to use their homes as shops. There are sound psychological as well as economic reasons for this. The family stays together, double rent is avoided, and all members of the family can help in the long hours the shop is open. [N. Kokosalakis, Ethnic Identity and Religion (Washington, 1982) (afterwards quoted as Kokosalakis, Ethnic Identity), p. 148.]

After the first World War, with growing prosperity, it became unfashionable for people to live above their shops and there was a general movement in Plymouth, as elsewhere, to the suburbs. The Jews of Plymouth followed the general trend. Most of them disregarded the Jewish law which forbade them to ride on the Sabbath, and so they no longer needed to live within walking distance of the synagogue in the centre of the town. By 1970, all but a few of the 90 or so Jewish families in Plymouth resided in the fashionable Mannamead or Hartley areas.