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Page created: 7 November 2005
Latest revision or update: 7 May 2017
City of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton, with a population of about 240,000, lying to
the northeast of Birmingham, became a metropolitan borough in 1974 within the newly
created
metropolitan county of West Midlands. In 1986, Wolverhampton became a unitary authority, when
West Midlands
lost its administrative status, becoming purely a ceremonial
and geographical county. Until 1974, Wolverhampton was a
county borough and part of the county of Staffordshire (and included most of the
former borough of Bilston from 1966). Wolverhampton
achieved Millennium City Status on 31st January 2001.
Wolverhampton Jewish Community
An Introduction by Martin Rispin
The history of Judaism
in Wolverhampton is not particularly well documented and some of the frequently
stated ‘facts’ have been found to be, at best, based on tradition rather than
documented evidence. The following is, unfortunately, the best (currently)
available record:
The first Synagogue in
Wolverhampton was a licensed room in a house in the now demolished St. James’
Square, this is recorded in contemporary (1850/51) Trade Directories which also
note that the Rabbi was Isaac Barnett (indeed the Synagogue was in his house).
There was also a Jews’ Boys’ and Girls’ School, also in St. James’ Square,
presumably also in Rabbi Barnett’s house, with the School Master a Reverend
Manasseh Cohen.
Trade Directories also
record that the community was already saving for a dedicated Synagogue and had
amassed £300. This finally materialised in 1858 on the corner of Long
Street/Fryer Street but there are no existent plans of this Synagogue although
there are newspaper reports of its opening by the Chief Rabbi Dr. Adler. In
1902 it suffered a major fire and in 1903 the entire building was largely
reconstructed in the
Ashkenazian
style by
Wolverhampton architect Frederick Beck (these plans still exist). The
Synagogue’s heyday was in the 1930s but after the Second World War the
congregation gradually dwindled before transferring to
Singers Hill Synagogue in
Birmingham in 1999 when a quorum (minyan) could no longer be obtained.
The old Synagogue is now a Church but is still recognisable as the former
Synagogue.
(See below for Wolverhampton Jewish Cemetery Information
by Martin Rispin.)
Research by the All Saints and Blakenhall New Deal for Communities Heritage
Project (2005-2011) has (re-)stimulated interest in the history of Judaism in
Wolverhampton with considerable research being carried out at the old Burial
Ground.
Congregation Data |
Name: |
Wolverhampton Synagogue |
Last Address: |
Fryer Street (corner
Long Street), Wolverhampton (from 1858, rebuilt folloowing a fire in
1903) |
Former Address: |
St. James Square, Wolverhampton (until 1858) |
Date Formed: |
The Jewish community had existed since the 1830's, although the Fryer Street Synagogue was not built until 1858 |
Current Status: |
Synagogue closed - 1999 |
Ritual: |
Ashkenazi Orthodox |
Congregation Numbers: |
1856 - 25 seatholders (Board
of Deputies Return)
1860 - 28 seatholders (Board of Deputies Return)
1870 - 26 seatholders (Board of Deputies Return)
1880 - 30 seatholders (Board of Deputies Return)
1890 - 38 seatholders (Board of Deputies Return)
1896 - 43 seatholders (The Jewish Year Book 1996/97)
1900 - 43 seatholders (Board of Deputies Return)
1934 - 47 members (The Jewish Year Book 1935)
1965 - 75 members (The Jewish Year Book 1966) |
On-line Articles
and Other Material relating to the Wolverhampton Jewish Community
on JCR-UK
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Wolverhampton Jewish Cemetery Information
by Martin Rispin
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There
are two Jewish cemetery in Wolverhampton:
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Wolverhampton Old Jews Burial Ground, Thompson
Avenue, Blakenhall, WV2 (no longer in use) by
Associated with both
Synagogues was a Jews’ Burial Ground in the Blakenhall area of Wolverhampton.
The land for this was provided by the Duke of Sutherland in 1851, this fact is
recorded on two dedication plaques and the site is shown on an 1845 map as
‘Slang at Blakemore’ i.e. a long and thin strip of land NB the Slang extended
further back than the current Burial Ground. The Burial Ground has high walls
and an Ohel; these were added in 1884 and the entire site, with circa 140
headstones and also possibly a number of unmarked burials, is now statutorily
grade II listed but not generally open to visitors. The first recorded burial
at the site is that of Benjamin Cohen who died on 25 June 1851 in
his eighth year (his headstone is partly eroded) and it is said that his death
was the reason why the site was originally provided by the Duke. Benjamin
Cohen’s Death Certificate records that he was the son of Jacob Cohen, a Pawn
Broker of Bilston Street, and that he died of dropsy hydrothorax with his death
reported a week later by (Rabbi) Isaac Barnett who was also present at the
death. The Ohel has both a
prayer hall, with four fine marble prayer plaques donated by the Hart family in
1906 and manufactured by local monumental mason’s Hopcraft, as well as Bet
Tahara side room with the remnants of a pump and a coal fired water heater. The
Ohel currently requires restoration. By the mid twentieth century the Burial
Ground was almost full and the Ohel was beginning to deteriorate plus access to
the secluded site was never easy for visitors.
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Merridale Cemetery,
Jewish Section, Jeffcock Road
In 1965 Dr. Leslie
Seaton, a well respected Wolverhampton physician, died and left provision for a
new Jewish Section at Merridate Cemetery in Jeffcock Road complete with a modern
Ohel. Dr. Seaton was the first burial on this site. The ‘new’ burial ground
contains more than 60 burials, and has spaces for many more, although the 1960s
Ohel was demolished in the 1980s as it had developed major structural problems
and was never replaced, hence the large open space at the centre of the Jewish
Section.
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JCR-UK wished to express its
thanks and appreciation to Mr. Rispin and the
All Saints & Blakenhall Community Development (New Deal for Communities)
Heritage Project
for the above Introduction and
Cemetery Information and providing the results of their research in connection with this community
(For additional information, see
IAJGS Cemeteries Project - Wolverhampton)
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Wolverhampton Jewish Population Data
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1850 |
50 to 100 |
(Provincial
Jewry in Victorian Britain) |
1896 |
35 families |
(The Jewish Year Book 1896/7) |
1934 |
150 |
(The Jewish Year Book
1935) |
1946 |
135 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1947) |
1955 |
230 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1956) |
1990 |
85 |
(Jewish Year Book 1991) |
2004 |
15 |
(The Jewish Year Book
2005) |
Jewish Congregations in
West Midlands
Jewish
Communities of England Home Page
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