Settlement

Jewish immigration to Britain began in the wake of the Norman conquest (1066 AD), and by the early 1300s there is evidence that there was a Jewish community in London. They were money lenders, because this was the only occupation open to medieval Jewry. These money lenders spread to the principal towns and lent money to nobility, knights and even the church! Small communities were established in Bristol, Lincoln, Norwich, Oxford and York. They were vulnerable, facing mob violence, penal taxation and mass slaughter. The York community was massacred in 1190. A century later, in 1290, all Jews were expelled from England under pain of death or conversion.

Oliver Cromwell revoked this expulsion edict in 1656. The first immigrants were Dutch traders (descendants of those expelled from Spain who had settled in Holland in 1492). The Dutch were followed by German merchants. A prosperous London community of Sephardim and Ashkenazim Jews arose. These rich merchants were followed, to London, by less prosperous Jews from Europe. In the 1750s only London was inhabited by Jews.

Peddling was the main occupation of the less wealthy. This was the archetypal occupation of a mid-eighteenth century Jew in Britain. It was this activity which led to the foundation of provincial communities of Jews. Ports were the first points of settlement and communities in Bristol, Liverpool, Plymouth and Portsmouth sprang up. From these ports men travelled to smaller towns and villages, returning home for the Sabbath. Familiarity bred content and other Jewish communities were formed as a result.

The last time I was at the PRO at Kew I looked up the H02, 03 and 05 indexes and they made fascinating reading, even if I didn't find records relating to two sets of g-g-grandparents who immigrated to the UK (London and Leeds/Manchester) during that period. Of particular interest was that a significant number of mid nineteenth century new immigrants were disembarking from ships at English ports and signing their names IN HEBREW WITH PATRONYMICS! While I was at the PRO, I found two sizable hand-bound books on the shelves close to where the H0 indexes are housed which were name indexes of some of these old records. The name of the person who compiled these indexes is Len Metzner and they were published under the auspices of the Anglo German Genealogy Society. If I remember rightly (because I can't find the slip of paper where I noted all the details down) he indexed the names of all those who came from Poland, Germany and Prussia, and included details such as port of embarkation, names of travelling companions, professions. From my brief glance through the book, it seemed to me that at least one third of names could have been Jewish names - maybe more. The Anglo-German web-site gives details of these volumes, and via Len Metzner it is possible to request e a search of the indexes for 3 pounds per name. According to the site, here are the details of what's been indexed: Volume 2 Ships Lists of Aliens
Alien passengers were required to be listed by Ships Captains on arrival at UK ports, giving trade and place of birth. A Hamburg departure could be a lead to more information on Hamburg Shipping Lists. (35,700 entries). H03 pieces 069-102,1853-1869. Volume 3 Ships Lists (as in Volume 2) and Aliens Certificates. Aliens Certificates were issued to individuals, families and groups and have details of the persons and their signatures (31,450 entries). H03 pieces 046-067, 1847-1852 H02 pieces 213-228,1852 In the PRO HO5 is a surname index 1836-1849 which may lead to a Aliens Certificate in H02. Len's index does not include those entries.

The Anglo German Genealogy Society URL is: http://www.art-science.com/agfhs/len.html