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Page created: 21 August 2005
Latest revision or update: 4 August 2017
Edinburgh Jewish Community
City of Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital and second largest city in Scotland. It
is situated on the east coast of Scotland's central lowlands on the south shore
of the Firth of Forth. Since 1996, the City of Edinburgh, including
surrounding villages, has constituted a self-contained unitary local authority,
with a population of about 450,000, and from 1975 to 1996 it formed a district
of the now defunct Lothian Region. Prior to 1975, Edinburgh was in the
traditional county of Midlothian. Although Leith, the port of Edinburgh, had
historically been a separate burgh, it has been administered as part of
Edinburgh since 1920.
Edinburgh Jewish Community
Edinburgh is where the first professing Jew settled in
Scotland, a David Brown in 1691, and where a small Jewish community grew up. The
first synagogue and cemetery were opened in 1816.
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Jewish Congregations
The following are the Jewish congregations that exist or existed in Edinburgh:
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The following are former or alternative names of the above
congregations:
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On-line Articles
and Other Material
relating to the Edinburgh Jewish Community
on JCR-UK
on third party's website
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Jewish Encyclopaedia article on
Edinburgh by Joseph Jacobs and Isadore Harris, c-1906.
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For photographs and text on the Sciennes
House Place (formerly Braid Place) Cemetery, the first Jewish cemetery
in Scotland, see below.
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Other Edinburgh Jewish Institutions & Organisations
(that had been formed by 1900*)
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Educational & Theological
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Other Institutions & Organisations
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Benevolent Loan Society (founded 1891)
to provide loans to Industrious poor.
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Ladies' "Lying-In" Society (founded by 1875)
to assist poor lying-in women.
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Board of Guardians (re-established 1899)
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Jewish Literary Society (founded 1886)
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Jewish Amateur Orchestral Society (founded
1900)
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* As listed in the Jewish Year
Books 1896 & 1900. |
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Edinburgh Jewish Cemetery Information
The Scottish Jewish Cemeteries website,
created and maintained by Derek Tobias, includes a searchable database in respect of burials
at
all the Edinburgh Jewish cemeteries.
Edinburgh has the following Jewish cemeteries:
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Braid Place (now Sciennes House Place) Old Jews
Burial Ground, off Causewayside, EH9.
In use from 1820 (or possibly 1790) until 1867. Contains
some 29 burials (searchable in JOWBR database, see
above).
See also photographs and
text on the Sciennes
House Place Cemetery
on
Cemetery
Scribes website.
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Newington Cemetery, Jewish Section
(also known as Echobank
Cemetery), Dalkieith Road. EH16. In use from
1867 until about 1918. Some 130 burials
(searchable in JOWBR database, see
above).
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Piershill Cemetery, Jewish Section,
Piersfield Terrace, Portobello, EH8. In use from 1892
(or possibly 1889). The largest of the three cemeteries.
(For additional information, see also
IAJGS Cemetery Project
- Edinburgh) |
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Edinburgh Jewish Population Data
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1691 |
First record of Jewish residents |
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1750 |
First organized Jewish community (no records) |
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1816 |
20 families |
Organization of current Jewish Community
(Hebrew Congregation web site) |
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1835 |
20 families |
(Statistical
Account of Scotland) |
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1844 |
107 |
( |
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1896 |
250 families |
(The Jewish Year Book 1896) |
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1909 |
250 families |
(The Jewish Year Book 1910) |
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1934 |
2,000 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1935) |
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1945 |
1,500 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1945-6) |
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1954 |
1,400 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1955) |
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1961 |
1,700 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1961) |
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1970 |
1,100 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1971) |
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1975 |
980 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1976) |
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1980 |
700 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1981) |
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1985 |
600 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1986) |
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1990 |
500 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1991) |
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2004 |
763 |
(The Jewish Year Book
2005) |
Jewish Communities of Scotland home page |
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