the former

Surbiton & Kingston Congregation

Surbiton, Surrey

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*Congregation Data*
Name:	Surbiton and Kingston Congregation⁽ⁱⁱ⁾
Address:	22 Catherine Road, Surniton, Surrey, opened in 1918.⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ Previously, the congregation met in members' homes, or held services in the Assembly Rooms, Claremont Road, Surbiton.^(iv)
Formation :	Although there had been a small medieval Jewish presence in Kingston, in modern times Jews were present in Kingston and Surbiton from the nineteenth century,^(vii) although a congregation was not formed until the early part of twentieth centuries, certainly by 1917^(viii) and probably some years before, initially holding services in members' homes.
Closure and Successor Congregation:	The congregation became defunct shortly before, or during, World War II.^(ix) Following the war, a new, successor, congregation was to emerge, Kingston, Surbiton & District Affiliated Synagogue.
Ritual:	Ashkenazi Orthodox
Affiliation:	No known affiliation
Ministers: *(To view a short profile of a minister whose name appears in blue - hold the cursor over his name.)*	Rev. J. Babinsky - minister in and about 1917^(xiii) Rev. Solomon Fogelnest - minister from 1918 until no later than 1922.^(xiv) Rev. Samuel Wolfe - minister in about 1922/3.^(xv)
Lay Officers:	All data on lay officers has been extracted from listings in Jewish Year Books.^(xviii)
	President 1918-1936 - M. Wiseman Vice President 1918-1936 - H. Allbook Treasurers 1917-1918 - A. Urban 1918-1920 - H. Alexander 1920-1923 - J. Englander 1923-1929 - C. Lyons^(xix) 1929-1936 - E.I. Freeman	Chairmen 1917-1918 - A. Levin 1918-1929 - no data 1929-1933 - N. Jacobs 1933-1936 - E.I. Freeman Hon Secretaries 1917-1919 - S.H. Valentine 1919-1924 - D.L. Sasieni 1924-1929 - N. Jacobs^(xix) 1929-1933 - Lewis S. Sasieni 1933-1938 - D. Hill
Local Government Districts:	The town and suburb of Surbiton in southwest London is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, a London created on 1 April 1965 within the administrative area of Greater London. Surbiton was previously in the former Municipal Borough of Surbiton (created as an Urban District in 1894, incorporated as a borough in 1936) in the County of Surrey.^(xx)
Registration District (BMD):	Kingston-upon-Thames from 1 April 1965^(xxi) - Link to Register Office website

Online Articles and Other Material
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on JCR-UK

Press Reports, 1918-1921, relating to the congregation.

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.
(ii) This is the name under which the congregation was listed in Jewish Year Books and the name used in the various press reports referring to the congregation. ↵
(iii) The congregation was listed with this address in Jewish Year Books from 1919 until the final listing of the congregation in the 1938 edition. In addition, a Jewish Chronicle report of 13 December 1918 refers to services being held at the congregation's new premises. ↵
(iv) In the Jewish Year Book from 1918 (the first to list the congregation), its address is given as the Assembly Rooms. ↵
(v) and (vi) Reserved.
(vii) "Kingston's Jewish History" on the website of the Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue (KSDS), accessed July 2025. ↵
(viii) The congregation was first listed in the Jewish Year Book 1918. ↵
(ix) The congregation's final listing was in the Jewish Year Book 1938, although it was most probably already inactive, as it had not listed any officers, other than secretary, since 1936. However "Kingston's Jewish History" on the KSDS website states that the congregation "disintegrated during the war years". ↵
(x) to (xii) Reserved.
(xiii) Listed as minister of the congregation in the Jewish Year Book 1918. ↵
(xiv) A Jewish Chronicle report of 1 March 1918 refers to Rev. S. Fogelnest entering on his duties as minister of the congregation. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1919 through 1923. ↵
(xv) Although Rev. S. Wolfe was was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1924 through 1929, Michael Jolles's Encyclopaedia of British Jewish Cantors, Chazanim, etc., 2024 edition, p. 966, places him in Surbiton in 1922, but by 1924 he was already in Westcliff. Accordingly it appears that the later yearbook entries had not been updated. ↵
(xvi) and (xvii) Reserved.
(xviii) Where a person is first listed in a year book as holding a particular office, it has been assumed that his term of office commenced in the year of publication of the relevant year book (which was generally towards the end of the year prior to year appearing in the title of the year book) and that he continued in office until the commencement of office of his successor, unless the office was vacant (e.g. if he is listed in Jewish Year Books 1919 through 1922, it is assumed that he commenced office in 1918 and continued in office until 1922). However, it should be noted that this is only an assumption and accordingly his actual years of office may differ from those shown here. In particular, as the data for this congregation in Jewish Year Books appeared unaltered after 1924, until the 1930 edition, it is probable that the publishers were simply not notified of any changes during that period, rather than no changes having taken. This is consistent with comment in the footnote regarding Rev. Woolfe. ↵
(xix) These dates are particularly suspect, as explained in the previous footnote. ↵
(xx) The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, an Outer London Borough within the Greater London administrative area, was created on 1 April 1965 upon the merger of the former municipal boroughs of Kingston-upon-Thames (a Royal borough), Malden and Coombe and Surbiton. All these areas had then been part of the County of Surrey. ↵
(xxi) The former Registration Districts were Kingston, from 1 July 1837 until 1 April 1934; Surrey North Eastern, from 1 April 1934 until 1 July 1948; and Surrey Northern, from 1 July 1948 until 1 April 1965. All registers would now be held by the current register office. ↵

List of Independent Ashkenazi Congregations in London

Jewish Congregations in the Royal (London) Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Jewish Congregations in Greater London

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Page created: 28 October 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 31 July 2025
Page most recently amended: 1 August 2025

Research and formatting by David Shulman

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