Sheffield Jewish Community

• The Rise of Provincial Jewry - Sheffield by Cecil Roth, 1950. (Part of the Susser Archive.)

• Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain - papers for a conference at University College, London, convened by the Jewish Historical Society of England, prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975:

  • Paper on Sheffield, including a paper by Kenneth Lunn;

  • Chief Rabbi's Questionnaire of 1845 - Sheffield Congregational & Charitable Data and Sheffield Educational Data; and

  • Jewish Alien Paupers in Sheffield - Digest of Reports from Jewish Boards of Guardians.

• Photographs from Ecclesfield Jewish Cemetery, Sheffield.

• Bibliography:

  • A complete set of bound volumes of the Sheffield Jewish Journal, which ran from February 1945 to 1980, were presented to Sheffield City Libraries.

  • Sheffield - No. 3 in the "Small is Beautiful" series by Rabbi David Katanka, initially published by the Jewish Tribune, and subsequently included in the selection of Rabbi Katanka's writing, entitled Kol Dodi (2015), pp 97/98.

  • other Sheffield Bibliography

• Jewish Listed Heritage Sites in South Yorkshire.

on Third Part websites

• The Sheffield City Archives and Local Studies Library - a local authority archive that holds records and reports concerning the city’s historic Jewish population dating from the mid-nineteenth century onwards.

• Blog by Patrick Comerford on the sites of synagogues and former synagogues in Sheffield, dated 19 August 2022, from his Synagogues of England series, nos 17-21 in series (full list):

Notable Jewish Connections with Sheffield

• Entertainment and the Arts

  • Emily Maitlis (b.1970), television journalist and presenter, was brought up and educated in Sheffield. Daughter of Prof. Peter Maitlis (see below).

  • Tanya Moiseiwitsch CBE (1914-2003), one of the leading theatre designers of the twentieth century, designed the stage for the Crucible theatre in Sheffield. The Tanya Moiseowitsch Playhouse, which opened in 1971 as part of the same complex as the Crucible, is named after her.

  • Jack Rosenthal, CBE (1931-2004), playwright, studied English literature at Sheffield University.

• Industry

  • Ruben Viner OBE (1907-1996), proprietor of Viners Ltd (founded by his father in 1901 as siversmiths) grew the Sheffield-based business into one of the largest manufacturers of stainless steel cutlery in the UK. In 1972 he was awarded the OBE for services to exports.

• Politics

  • Oliver Coppard, born in Sheffield in 1981, a Labour politician, was elected the Mayor of South Yorkshire, which includes the local authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield, in May 2022.

  • Evan Leslie Harris (b.1965 in Sheffield) is a former Liberal Democrat MP (1997-2011). He is a patron of Humanists UK.

  • Baroness King of Bow, Oona King (b. 1967 in Sheffield) is a Labour politician and former MP.

  • Alderman Isidore Lewis, LLD, JP (b.1904 in Scarborough) was Lord Mayor of Sheffield in 1963. (Photograph)

  • Lord Morris of Kenwood (1893-1954), Harry Morris, was MP for Sheffield constituencies and a former president of the United Sheffield Hebrew Congregation. He was raised to a hereditary peerage in 1950. The full title is Baron Morris of Kenwood in the City of Sheffield.

  • Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, formerly Sarah Oppenheim (later known as Sally Oppenheim) (1928-2025), Conservative MP for Gloucester (1970-1987) and Minister of State for Consumer Affairs in Margaret Thatcher's first government in 1979, was raised and educated in Sheffield.

  • Sir Cyril Irvine Patnick, OBE (1929 – 2012), a businessman, was a former Conservative MP for Sheffield Hallam (1987-1997) and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. He was the vice-president of Sheffield Hebrew Congregation, life president of Sheffield Jewish Representative Council, and a former national vice-chairman of the British Maccabi sports and youth organisation.

  • Sir Dove-Myer Robinson (1901-1989), born in Sheffield, was mayor of Auckland, New Zealand from 1959 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1980, the longest tenure of any holder of such office.

• Science

  • Sir Hans Krebs (1900-1981) Nobel laureate and scientist lived in Sheffield for 19 years where he was director of the MRC Unit for Cell Metabolism Research. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1953. His scientific career in Germany was halted by the Nazi rise to power on account of his Jewish ancestry.

  • Sir Harold Kroto (1939-2016), a graduate of Sheffield University, won the Nobel Prize in chemistry jointly with others in 1996. He was a critic of religion. His father had been forced to flee Nazi Germany because he was Jewish.

  • Professor Peter Maitlis (b.1933) was a professor of chemistry at the University of Sheffield for 30 years until his appointment as an emeritus professor in 2002. Father of Emily Maitlis (see above).

  • Juda Hirsch Qastel (1899-1987) the son of Galician immigrants to Britain, was a leading biochemist. He was educated at Sheffield Central Secondary school. Amongst many academic honours, he was awarded an Honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, of which he had also been a governor since 1950.