the former

Taunton Jewish Community

Taunton, Somerset

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Town of Taunton

Taunton, a market town with a population of some 65,000 situated on the river Tone, is the county town of Somerset in southwest England. It was a municipal borough until 1974, when it merged with neighbouring districts to form the local government district of Taunton Deane, remaining within the county of Somerset and being granted borough status in 1975. In 2019, Taunton Deane merged with the adjoining local government district of West Somerset to form the local government district of Somerset West and Taunton, still within the county of Somerset. In 2023, there was yet another merger, when Somerset West and Taunton merged with the three other local government districts in central and southern Somerset to form the unitary authority of the Somerset Council (only the two northern districts of Somerset remaining outside the new authority).

Taunton Jewish Community

A small Jewish community (see below) developed in Taunton early in World War II, composed largely of evacuees from heavily populated areas, but it appears to have become defunct sometime prior to the end of the War.

By the early or mid 2020s the Somerset Jewish Social and Cultural Group (also see below) was meeting in and around Taunton.

Congregation Data
Name:	Taunton Jewish Community
Formation and Final Status:	The community was founded by at least 1940 and a Jewish Communal Organisation was formed in June 1941 with a view to becoming a United Synagogue Membership Group (which apparently did not transpire). The community ceased to exist prior to the end of World War II⁽ⁱⁱ⁾
Address:	A meeting to establish a communal organisation in 1941, was held in the Scout Hut.⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾
Ritual:	Orthodox - Ashkenazi
Minister:	Rev. L. Dimpson, BA - minister from 1940 until 1941^(iv)
Lay Officers:	The following were the committee members in June 1941:^(v) President: Levay Lawrence; Vice President: W. Selby; Treasurer: M. Michaels
Ladies Guild:	A Ladies Guild was formed in June 1941 with the following officers:^(v) President: Mrs. Michaels; Secretary: Mrs. Leibling

Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.

(ii) The Jewish Chronicle report of 27 June 1941 read as follows:
"TAUNTON - At a recent meeting of Jewish residents in Taunton, held at the Scouts Hall, with Mr. A. Levay Lawrence in the chair, a Jewish Communal Organisation was formed for Taunton with a view to its becoming eventually a Group Congregation under the United Synagogue scheme. A Committee was elected with Messrs. Levay Lawrence as President; W. Selby, Vice President; M. Michaels, Treasurer; and the Rev. L. Dimpson, Secretary. A Ladies' Guild was also formed with Mrs. Michaels, as Chairman and Mrs. Leibling as Secretary." ↵

(iii) The press report in footnote (ii). ↵

(iv) Rev. Dimpson left Taunton in 1941. He is mentioned in the press report in footnote (ii). ↵

(v) The press report in footnote (ii). ↵

Group Data
Name:	Somerset Jewish Social & Cultural Group
Address:	Meets in and around Taunton every six to eight weeks.^(xxii)
Formation:	Formed in the early/mid 2020s.
Status:	Active.
JSCN Link:	Click on Somerset Jewish Social & Cultural Group (a member community), on the Jewish Small Communities Network website.
Ritual:	Non-denominational.
Affiliation:	None.
Registration District (BDM):	Somerset (since 1 January 2008)⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ - Link to Register Office Website.

Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above)

(xxi) Reserved.

(xxii) Jewish Small Communities Network website, accessed July 2025 ↵

Notable Jewish Connections with Taunton

(courtesy Steven Jaffe)

Myer Jacobs (1827-1901) born in Canterbury, was Taunton's first Jewish mayor, serving three terms from 1877 to 1879.
Paul Heim (1932-2020), born Vienna, a child refugee from Nazism, prominent jurist at the Supreme Court of Kenya, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Parliament, and as a Registrar of the Court of Justice of the European Union, spent his retirement in the Taunton area.
Martin Strauss, born in London, who retired to Taunton in 2017, became Taunton's second Jewish mayor when he was elected in May 2025.

Records:
Registration District (BMD):	Somerset (since 1 January 2008)⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ - Link to Register Office Website Previous Registration District: Taunton - from 1 July 1837 to 1 April 1974; Taunton Deane - from 1 April 1974 to 1 April 1996; Taunton - from 1 April 1996 to 1 January 2008. Any registers would now be held by the current register office.
Cemetery:	There is no Jewish cemetery in Taunton.

World War II Evacuee Communities

Jewish Congregations in Somerset

Jewish Communities of England home page

Page created: 18 April 2024
Page most recently amended: 28 October 2026

Research and formatting by David Shulman

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