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			JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
 NOTE: We are not the official website for this community.
 
 
City of Cardiff 
Cardiff (in Welsh - Caerdydd), 
a unitary authority, is the largest city and capital of 
Wales, with a population of about 300,000.  From 1974 to 1996, it formed 
the district of Cardiff in the county of South Glamorgan and, prior thereto, 
it was a county borough in the old county of Glamorganshire.  It lies on the 
northern coast of the Bristol Channel 
at the mouth of the river Taff. 
The Cardiff Jewish Community 
The 
date traditionally given for the first Jewish settlement in Cardiff is 1787. 
However, an organized community, with synagogue and Jewish burial grounds, was 
not fully established until approximately 1840 (Rise 
of Provincial Jewry, C. Roth).  
  
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		Jewish Congregations 
		The following are the Jewish congregations that existed in 
		Cardiff: 
	
		  
			* An active congregation. |  
    
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		The following are former or alternative names of the above congregations: 
		  
		  Bute Street Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation 
		  Cardiff New Synagogue - see Cardiff Reform Synagogue
		  Cathedral Road Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation and Cardiff United Synagogue
		  Clare Road Congregation - see Cardiff Beth Hemedresh
		  Cyncoed Gardens Synagogue - see Cardiff United Synagogue
		  East Terrace Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation
		  Edward Place Synagogue - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation
		  "Englisher Shul" - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation 
		  "Furriners Shul" - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation 
		  Marlborough Road Synagogue - see Roath Park Minyan
		  Merches Place Synagogue - see Cardiff Beth Hamedresh
		  Moira Terrace Synagogue - see Cardiff Reform Synagogue
		  Old Hebrew Congregation - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation
		  Penylan Synagogue - see Cardiff United Synagogue
		  
		  Talmud Torah Congregation - see Cardiff Beth Hamedrash
		  
		  Talmud Torah and Holy Law Congregation - see Cardiff Beth Hamedrash
		  Trinity Street Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation
		  Windsor Place Synagogue - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation and Cardiff United Synagogue |    
  
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	Cardiff Jewish Cemeteries Information |  
  
    |  JCR-UK HOSTED DATABASES 
			Search:Cardiff Highfield Road Orthodox Jewish Cemetery Database
 and
 Cardiff Ely Orthodox Jewish Cemetery Database,
 including burial records and photographs of the headstones,
 as 
			well as a description of the cemetery
 |  
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	Basic Cemeteries Information 
		Cardiff has three Jewish burial grounds (two Orthodox and one Reform), as listed below: 
			
			
						Old Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, Highfield Road, Roath Park, 
						Cardiff CF14 3RE. This is the original Orthodox Jewish 
						cemetery, still in use, which was reputedly presented to the Community by the 
						Marquis of Bute in about 1841. First 
						burials 1852.
	
	
      					The above hosted database includes nearly 
						1,800 records, with 1,470 headstone photographs from 1852 to 
						July 
						2020. (JOWBR 
						also includes 1,372 searchable record in respect of 
						this cemetery.)
			
			
						Ely Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, Greenfarm Road, Ely, Cardiff. The 
						New Orthodox Jewish cemetery, in use since 1968.
  					  The above hosted database includes nearly 970 records, with 820 headstone photographs from 1968 to November 
						2019.
			
						Western Cemetery (Ely), Reform Jewish Section, Cowbridge Road 
						West, Ely, Cardiff CF5 5ST. This is the burial ground of the 
						Cardiff Reform Synagogue.
 
	 	 (For additional information, see
		IAJGS International Jewish Cemeteries Project - Cardiff) |      
  
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		Online Articles and Other Material relating to 
		the Cardiff Jewish Community
 
		on JCR-UK 
				
		    	
				There is a short reference to Cardiff, in 
				the section on Swansea, in "The Rise of Provincial Jewry" by Cecil Roth, 1950. Available 
				on JCR-UK as 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:
			
			How 'Greeners' Came to the Valley 
			by Michael Wallach, Jewish Chronicle Colour Magazine, 1975.
				
				List of Cardiff Jewish Community records and papers in 
				Glamorgan Records Office 
				
				
				Images of
				
				Memorial/Dedication Plaques 
				
				in the Ohel (prayer hall) of the Cardiff Highfield Road Orthodox 
				Jewish Cemetery.
				
				Naturalised Citizens of Cardiff.
				
				Gallery of Photographs of 
				the former Cathedral Road Synagogue, Cardiff, 2025.
				
				
				Jewish Heritage Sites in Wales
				
				Bibliography 
					
					
					Cardiff - No. 7 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 105/106.
					
					other Cardiff Bibliography 
		on Third Party Websites 
	  Some Notable Jewish Connections with Cardiff
 (prepared primarily by Steven Jaffe)
 
				
				
				Danny Abse, CBE FRSL (1923-2014), born in Cardiff and educated at St Illtyd's College, Cardiff and a graduate of the University of Wales, 
				was a poet and physician who lived in North West London.  Many of his works were autobiographical and dealt with Welsh and Jewish themes.
				Youngest brother to Leo and Wilfred.
				
				Leo Abse (1917-2008), lawyer, Labour politician and writer, was a member of Cardiff City Council (1953-8) and MP for Pontypool 
				(later re-named Toraen) (1958-83) who was noted for promoting private member's bills. The law firm he established, Leo Abse & Cohen, 
				became the largest practice in Cardiff. Middle brother to Wilfred and Danny.
				
				Wilfred Abse (1915-2005), psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry in USA, was born in Cardiff, oldest brother to Leo and Danny.
				
				Maurice Edelman (1911-1975), born in Cardiff and educated at Cardiff High School, Labour MP for Coventry West and Coventry North West, 
				was an author of fiction and non fiction, and published a biography of David Ben Gurion.
				
				Montefiore (Mont) Follick (1887-1958), born in Cardiff, 
				politician, linguist and author, was Labour MP for Loughborough, Leices. 
				(1945-1955), and a campaigner for spelling reform, polyglot and advocate of decimal currency.
				He endowed the Mont Follick Professorship in Comparative Philology at the University of Manchester.
				
				Colonel Albert Edward Williamson Goldsmid 
				(1846-1904), a British Army officer and the founder of Chovevei Zion, the Jewish Lads' Brigade (in 1895) and the Maccabaeans.
				He was appointed colonel-in-command of the Welsh regimental district at Cardiff in 1894 
				and from thereon played a dominant part in the development of 
				the the Cardiff Jewish community and the building of the 
				Cathedral Road synagogue. of which he laid the foundation stone 
				in 1896.
				
				Joe Jacobson, born in Cardiff in 1986, is a professional footballer who began his career at Cardiff City FC and was a Welsh international at under 21 level. 
				He has also played for Shrewsbury Town, Bristol Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers.
				
				Barnett Janner (1892-1982), from 1970 Baron Janner, born near Kovno 
				(today in Lithuania), was brought up in Barry, Glamorgan and later educated in 
				Cardiff where he established a legal practice. He was Liberal MP for Whitechapel and St Georges (1931-35) and Labour MP for Leicester West (1945-50) 
				and Leicester North West (1950-70). President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews (1955-64). Father of Greville Janner MP.
				
				Greville Janner (1928-2015), from 1997 Baron Janner, a QC, writer and MP, was born in Cardiff, son of Barnett Janner. 
				He succeeded his father as MP for Leicester North West in 1970 and was also President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews (1978-84).
				
				Brian Josephson, born in Cardiff in 1940 and educated at Cardiff High School, theoretical physicist at the University of Cambridge, 
				was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1973 having discovered the "Josephson effect" aged 22.
				
				Sir Michael Moritz, born in Cardiff in 1954, is a San Francisco based billionaire venture capitalist and philanthropist. 
				In 2010 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Cardiff University where his father, Alfred, a refugee from Nazi Germany, 
				had been Vice Principal and Professor of Classics.
				
				Lucy Owen, born in Cardiff in 1971 as Lucy Cohen, is a news reader and broadcaster on Welsh 
				television.
				
				Jon Ronson, born in Cardiff in 1967, is an investigative journalist, author and film make.
				
				Bernice Rubens (1923-2004), novelist and first woman to win the Booker Prize in 1970, was born in Cardiff, educated at Cardiff High School for Girls 
				and at the University off Wales, Cardiff. In 2024 a Purple Plaque was installed at the family home in Roath, Cardiff. Sister of Harold.
				
				Harold Rubens (1918-2010), born in Cardiff, brother of Bernice, was a professional pianist and later teacher at the Royal Academy of Music, London. 
				He was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1950s and early 1960s.
				
				Louis Samuel (d. 1906), Cradiff's first Jewish 
				JP, succeeded by his brother, Isaac Samuel.
				
				The Sherman brothers, Harry and Abe (born in London and Bristol respectively) were brought up in Cardiff. 
				They made a fortune from the Sherman Pools Limited (taken over by Littlewoods in 1961) which was based in Cardiff. 
				Through the Sherman Foundation, the brothers were philanthropists both in Wales and Israel. 
				They were the  funders of the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, and the Sherman Hall at the Penylan synagogue, Cardiff, was named after them.
				
				Rabbi Norman Solomon, 
				born in Cardiff in 1933, is a Rabbi, scholar and interfaith activist. |  
  
  
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		Other Cardiff Jewish Institutions & Organisations 
		
 |  
    | Educational & Theological   
		  	School, adjoining Synagogue, 
			founded by 1866.(xx)Hebrew and Religious Classes.(xxi) 
			Jewish Girls School, 
			founded by 1901.(xxii) 
			Cardiff New Hebrew School, 
			founded by 1910.(xxiii) 
			Education Board, founded by 1938.(xxiv)
			Jewish Kindergarten, founded by 1977.(xxv)  |  
    | 
		Welfare, Religious & Communal Organisations
		 
			
			Chevra Kadisha(xxviii)
			Hand in Hand Benevolent Society,
			founded in 1883 by the Fligelstone family.(xxix) 
			Hebrew Board of Guardians, founded in 1900, but wound up 
			in 1904.(xxx) Re-established as Jewish Board of Guardians, by 1912 and 
			Cardiff Jewish Helpline, 
			by 1992.(xxxi) 
			Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society, founded 
			in 1894 for relief of resident poor.(xxxii) 
			Jewish Relief Fund, 
			founded by 1900.(xxxv) 
			Board of Shechita, founded 
			by at least 1900.(xxxvi) 
			Gmilus Chasodim, 
			founded by 1911, and which became Chevra Bikur Cholim and Gmilus Chasodim Society 
			by 1937.(xxxvii)
			Jewish Bread Society, 
			founded by 1923.(xxxviii)
			Jewish Ladies Guild, 
			founded by 1928.(xxxix)
			Jewish Aid Society - Royal Infirmary, 
			founded by 1936.(xl) 
			Cardiff & District Jewish Ex-Servicemen's Association, 
			founded by 1939.(xli) 
			Jewish Refugee Committee, 
			founded by 1939.(xlii)
			Burial Board, 
			founded by 1945.(xliii)
			South Wales Jewish Home for the Aged, established in 1945,(xliv) 
			became South Wales Jewish Retirement and Nursing Home by 1989.(xlv) 
			Initially at 10 St John's Crescent, Church Road Canton, Cardiff, 
			moving to "Holme Towers", Bridgeman's Road, Penarth, nr Cardiff by 
			1948 and then to "Penylan House", Penylan Road, Cardiff CF23 5YG by 
			1959.(xlvi) 
			Jewish Defence Committee, founded by 1946 under the auspices of 
			the Jewish Board of Deputies, which became the 
			Jewish Defence Council by 1957, and the 
			Representative Council of Jewish Defence by 1963.(xlvii) 
			Central British Fund for Jewish Reliefand Rehabilitation, 
			founded by 1947.(xlix) 
			Ladies Welfare Committee, 
			founded by 1947.(l) 
			Council of Christians and Jews, 
			founded by 1949.(li) 
			Ladies Aid Society, 
			founded by 1951.(lii) 
			Jewish Welfare Association, founded by 1955.(liii) 
			South Wales Jewish Representative Council, 
			founded by 1969.(lvi) 
			Kashrus Commission, 
			founded by 1987.(lvii)  |  
    | Friendly and Loan Societies and Lodges(lx) 
		  	
			Cardiff Jewish Benevolent Loan Society, 
			established by 1927. 
			Order "Achei B'rith" and "Shield of Abraham"
			Jacob Levinson Lodge No. 20,  
			established by 1931. 
			Order "Achei B'rith" and "Shield of Abraham"
			Elsie Fine (Ladies) Lodge No. 86,  
			established by 1931.
			
			Grand Order of Israel and Shield of David
			Isaac Samuel and Ephraim Blaiberg Lodge No. 53,  
			established by 1936. 
			Workers Friendly Society, Division No. 13,  
			established by 1936. 
			Ancient Order of the Maccabeans, Bar Kochba Beacon 22, 
			established by 1936. 
			Jewish Friendly Loan Society, 
			founded by 1938, which became the Jewish Friends' Loan 
			Society by 1949. 
			Carmel Lodge of Freemasons, No. 4774, 
			founded by 1939.  |  
    | Social, Cultural, Youth & Sports 
		  	
			Anglo Jewish Association,  
			founded 1870s.(lxii) 
			Jewish Young Men's Association,  
			founded by 1886.(lxiii) 
			Cardiff Jewish Literaray and Musical Institute,  
			founded by Rev. Landau by 1888, and active to 1890.(lxiv) 
			Jewish Lads Brigade, 
			founded in about 1900.(lxv) 
			Jewish Naturalisation and Political Association, 
			founded in 1905.(lxvi) 
			Jewish Literary Society
			(later Jewish Zionist Literary Society),  
			founded in 1902,(lxix) which became the
			Jewish Literary and Debating Society
			by 1907.(lxx) 
			Jewish Free Library,  
			founded by 1909.(lxxi) 
			Jewish Institute, founded by 1911, 
			which became the Jewish Institute and Social Club by 1936,
			and the Jewish Club and Institute by 1946.(lxxii)
			Jewish Women's Cultural League,  
			founded by 1912.(lxxiii) 
			Jewish Athletics Club,  
			founded by 1914.(lxxvi) 
			Young Hebrew League,  
			founded by 1917.(lxxvii) 
			Rosha Degalim,  
			founded by 1923.(lxxviii) 
			Social and Literary Club,  
			founded by 1924.(lxxix) 
			Chevras Achim,  
			founded by 1926.(lxxx) 
			Boy Scouts and Girl Guides,  
			founded by 1936.(lxxxiii) 
			Tiffereh Bachurim Society, 
			founded by 1938.(lxxxiv) 
			Jewish Students Society, founded by 1938,
			became Jewish Students Union by 1964 and  
			the Union of Jewish Students by 1977.(lxxxv) 
			Junior Jewish Literary and Social Society, founded by 1939.(lxxxvi) 
			Jewish Allied forces Hospitality Centre, founded during World War II.(lxxxvii) 
			Literary and Debating Society, founded by 1945.(lxxxix) 
			Torah Va'Avoda, founded by 1945.(xc) 
			Jewish Youth Society, founded by 1952.(xci) 
			Jewish Graduates Society, founded by 1955.(xcii) 
			Association of Jewish Youth, 
			founded by 1964 (formerly the Youth Centre of the Jewish Welfare Association, 
			founded by 1962).(xciii) 
			Hillel House, founded by 1978(xciv) 
			Interfaith Council of Wales,
			founded by 2011(xcv)  |  
    | 
		Zionist & Other Israel Organisations
		 
		  	
			Chovevei Zion Association, 
			founded 1891.(xcviii) 
			Dorshel Zion Association, 
			founded by 1911.(xcix) 
			South Wales and Monmouthshire Zionist Council
			(later Cardiff and District Joint Zionist Counci, by 1927), 
			founded by 1919.(c) Followed by
			
			Zionist Representative Council, 
			established by 1945, and JPA (later JIA), established by 1952, 
			and the Regional Zionist Council for South Wales, funded 
			by 1945.(ci) 
			Jewish National Fund, founded by 1927.(cii) 
			Daughters of Zion, founded by 1927.(cv) 
			Ziona Youth Group , 
			founded by 1936.(cvi) 
			Zionists Association, 
			founded by 1936, and the
			New Zionists Association, 
			founded by 1939.(cvii) 
			Palestine Sewing Society, 
			founded by 1939, which became the Ladies Sewing Society by 1946.(cviii) 
			Mizrachi Association (later Mizrachi Society), founded by 1945.(cix) 
			Friends of the Hebrew University, founded by 1945.(cxi) 
			United Zionists Revisionist (later United Revisionists Organisation), 
			founded by 1946.(cxii)
			Poale Zion Group, founded by 1949.(cxiii) 
			Habonim Group, founded by 1952.(cxiv) 
			Women's Zionist Association, later 
			WIZO, founded by 1953.(cxv) 
			Cardiff Branch of World Jewish Congress, founded by 1954.(cxviii) 
			Technion Society, founded by 1957.(cxix) 
			Friends of the Anti-Tuberculosis League of Israel,  founded by 1958.(cxx) 
			Israel Information Centre, Wales and West of England, founded by 1997.(cxxi)  |    
 
		
			| 
			Cardiff Jewish Population Data |  
		| 
		Year | 
		Number | Source |  
	
	
	
		| 
		1858 | 
		about 150 | estimate - Into the Vortex, 
		G. Alderman |  
		| 
		1900 | 
		about 1,500 | estimate - Into the Vortex, 
		G. Alderman |  
		| 
		1902 | 
		75 families | The Jewish Year Book 1902/3 |  
		| 
		1907 | 
		250 families | The Jewish Year Book 1907/8 |  
		| 
		1909 | 
		400 families | The Jewish Year Book 1910 |  
		| 
		1913 | 
		250 families | The Jewish Year Book 1914 |  
		| 
		1945 | 
		about 2,300 | The Jewish Year Book 1945/6 |  
		| 
		1946 | 
		2,500 | The Jewish Year Book 1947 |  
		| 
		1965 | 
		5,000 | The Jewish Year Book 1966 |  
		| 
		1967 | 
		3,500 | The Jewish Year Book 1969 |  
		| 
		1973 | 
		2,500 | The Jewish Year Book 1974 |  
		| 
		1979 | 
		1,700 | The Jewish Year Book 1980 |  
		| 
		1989 | 
		1,250 | The Jewish Year Book 1990 |  
		| 
		1990 | 
		1,400 | The Jewish Year Book 1991 |  
		| 
		1992 | 
		1,200 | The Jewish Year Book 1993 |  
		| 
		2001 | 
		941 | Census 2001 for England and Wales |  
		| 
		2011 | 
		802 | Census 2011 for England and Wales |  
		| 
		2001 | 
		770 | Census 2021 for England and Wales |      
					
						| 
						Notes & Sources(↵ 
						returns to text above)
 |  
						|  |  Jewish Congregations, 
			according to the former and historic counties
 Jewish Congregations in Wales, according to current unitary authorities Jewish Communities in Wales home page 
			Page created: 21 August 2005
 Page most recently amended: 7 May 2025
 
			Research and formatting by David Shulman
 
 
 
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