Cardiff Jewish Community

South Glamorgan, Wales

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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).

Jewish Congregations

The following are the Jewish congregations that existed in Cardiff:

Cardiff Beth Hemedresh - established in the 1890's and merged in 1904 into Cardiff Hebrew Congregation. Name reappears the 1930s.
Cardiff Hebrew Congregation (including predecessor congregations) - original orthodox congregation, joined Cardiff United Synagogue in 1942.
Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation - orthodox synagogue, established in 1889, joined Cardiff United Synagogue in 1942.
Cardiff Reform Synagogue* - established in 1948 as the Cardiff New Synagogue, the city's only non-orthodox congregation.
Cardiff United Synagogue* - estabished 1942 on the merger of Cardiff Hebrew Congregation and Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation.
Roath Park Minyan - active during the 1930s and 1940s.

* An active congregation.

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

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

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)

Search the All-UK Database

The records in the database associated with Cardiff include:

Burials:
- Cardiff Old Jewish Cemetery, JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Register (1,371 records, searching under Wales).
UK Jewish Communal Leaders Database: - Cardiff records:
- Jewish Directory for 1874 and Jewish Year Book 1896/7 (records of 20 individuals); and
- JCR-UK Listings (records of 52 individuals - as of the March 2024 update).
1851 Anglo Jewry Database (as of the 2016 update):
- Individuals in the "1851" database who were living in Cardiff during the 1790s (1 record); 1810s (1 record), 1820s (6 records), 1830s (10 records), 1840s (26 records), 1850s (55 records), 1860s (48 records), 1870s (30 records), 1880s (17 records), 1890s (10 records) and 1900s (1 record).

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:
- Into the Vortex: South Wales Jewry Before 1914 by Geoffrey Alderman;
- Paper on Cardiff - by Aubrey Newman;
- Chief Rabbi's Questionnaire of 1845 - Cardiff Congregational Data and Cardiff Educational Data; and
- Jewish Alien Paupers in Cardiff - Digest of Reports from Jewish Boards of Guardians.
How 'Greeners' Came to the Valley by Michael Wallach, Jewish Chronicle Colour Magazine, 1975.
List of Cardiff Jewish Community records and papers in Clamorgan Records Office
Images of Memorial/Dedication Plaques in the Ohel (prayer hall) of the Cardiff Highfield Road Orthodox Jewish Cemetery.
Naturalised Citizens of Cardiff.
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

Some Notable Jewish Connections with Cardiff

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.
Louis Samuel (d. 1906), Cradiff's first Jewish JP, succeeded by his brother, Isaac Samuel.

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)

Community Records

Archives:
- Cardiff Jewish Community records and papers, a PDF file listing the documents and records deposited with the Glamorgan Records Office relating to the Cardiff Jewish Community 1845-1991 (Reference Code GB 0214 DJR - The National Archives)
Register Office (for BMD): Registers currently held by Cardiff Register Office
- Registration Districts until 1996:
  Cardiff - from 1 July 1837 until 1 April 1974;
  South Glamorgan - from 1 April 1974 until at least 1996.
- Any registers would generally be held by current register office.
- Register Office website

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
2003	941	The Jewish Year Book 2004

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) - (xix) Reserved.
(xx) The Jewish Chronicle of 2 November 1866, p.8. It is also listed in the The Jewish Directory for 1874, by Asher Myer. ↵
(xxi) Hebrew and religious classes would have been instituated early in the development of the congreation, although by 1845, children were still being prvately tutored (Chief Rabbi's 1845 Questionnaire on Education). They certainly existed by 1866 (The Jews of South Wales by Ursula R.Q. Henriques, ("Henriques") p.24), although they were not mentioned in Jewish Year Books until the 1903/4 edition. ↵
(xxii) First listed in the The Jewish Year Book 1901/2 but would have existed for some years previous. ↵
(xxiii) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1911 through 1926. ↵
(xxiv) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1939 through 1956. ↵
(xxv) First listed in the The Jewish Year Book 1978. ↵
(xxvi) to (xxvii) Reserved.
(xxviii) Although the Chevra Kadisha was not listed in the Jewish Year Books unti 1924, it probably came into existance at the time of the first burials at the community's cemetery in the early 1850s. ↵
(xxix) Henriques p.34. ↵
(xxx) Henriques p.34 and Into the Vortex: South Wales Jewry Before 1914, paper by Geoffrey Alderman ("Into the Vortex"). ↵
(xxxi) First listed respectively in the Jewish Year Books 1911 and 1991. ↵
(xxxii) Note in the first Jewish Year Books 1896/7 ↵
(xxxiii) to (xxxiv) Reserved.
(xxxv) First listed in the Jewish Year Books 1900/1 ↵
(xxxvi) Into the Vortex refers to the Board being in existence from at least from the turn of the century, although it was not listed in Jewish Year Book until the 1911 edition. ↵
(xxxvii) First listed in the Jewish Year Books 1912 and 1937, respectively. Latest listing in 1959.. ↵
(xxxviii) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1924 through 1928. ↵
(xxxix) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1929. ↵
(xl) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1937. ↵
(xli) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1940. ↵
(xlii) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1940. ↵
(xliii) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1945/6 through 1959. ↵
(xliv) Note in the Jewish Year Book 1947. ↵
(xlv) Subsequent name first listed in the Jewish Year Book 1990. ↵
(xlvi) Addresses first listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1947 (when first listed), 1949 and 1960. ↵
(xlvii) Listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1947, 1958 and 1964. ↵
(xliii) Reserved.
(xlix) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1948. ↵
(l) First in the Jewish Year Book 1948. ↵
(li) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1950. ↵
(lii) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1952. ↵
(liii) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1956. ↵
(liv) and (lv) Reserved.
(lvi) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1970. ↵
(lvii) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1988. ↵
(lviii) and (lix) Reserved.
(lx) In the case of each of these institutions, the year given their establishment is the year prior to their first listing in Jewish Year Books. ↵
(lxi) Reserved.
(lxii) Henriques p.36. ↵
(lxiii) Henriques p.34 and listed in Jewish Year Book 1900/1 ↵
(lxiv) Jewish Chronicle report of 27 January 1888 and Henriques p.35. ↵
(lxv) Henriques p.34. ↵
(lxvi) Into the Vortex and first listed in Jewish Year Book 1905/6. ↵
(lxvii) and (lxviii) Reserved.
(lxix) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1903/4, with addition of word "Zionist first appearing in the 1905/6 edition, but unlisted the following year ↵
(lxx) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1907/8 through 1910. ↵
(lxxi) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1910. ↵
(lxxii) First listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1911, 1937 and 1947 and listed until 1951. From about 1936, the club was situated at 28 High Street. ↵
(lxxiii) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1913 through 1925. ↵
(lxxiv) and (lxxv) Reserved.
(lxxvi) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1915. ↵
(lxxvii) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1918 through 1924. ↵
(lxxviii) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1924. ↵
(lxxix) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1925. ↵
(lxxx) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1927. ↵
(lxxxi) and (lxxxii) Reserved.
(lxxxiii) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1937. ↵
(lxxxiv) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1939. ↵
(lxxxv) First listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1939, 1965 and 1978. ↵
(lxxxvi) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1940. ↵
(lxxxvii) Listed in Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵
(lxxxviii) Reserved.
(lxxxix) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵
(xc) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵
(xci) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1953. ↵
(xcii) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1956 through 1976. ↵
(xciii) First listed, respectively in Jewish Year Books 1965 and 1963. ↵
(xciv) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1979. ↵
(xcv) First listed in Jewish Year Book 2012. ↵
(xcvi) and (xcvii) Reserved.
(xcviii) Henriques p.36. ↵
(xcix) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1912 through 1936. ↵
(c) First listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1920 and 1928. ↵
(ci) First listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1945/6, 1953 and 1945/6. ↵
(cii) First listed in Jewish Year Book 1928. ↵
(ciii) and (civ) Reserved.
(cv) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1928 through 1945/6. ↵
(cvi) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1937. ↵
(cvii) First listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1937 and 1940. ↵
(cviii) First listed, respectively, in Jewish Year Books 1937 and 1947. ↵
(cix) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵
(cx) Reserved.
(cxi) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵
(cxii) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1947. ↵
(cxiii) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1950. ↵
(cxiv) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1953. ↵
(cxv) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1954. ↵
(cxvi) and (cxvii) Reserved.
(cxviii) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1955. ↵
(cxix) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1958. ↵
(cxx) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1959. ↵
(cxxi) First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1998. ↵

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: 18 September 2024

Research and formatting by David Shulman

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