Liverpool Communities - Jewish

 

The now the Grade II listed Princes Road Synagogue.

Records uncovered in recent years by Liverpool's Jewish community suggest that the first Jew to settle in the city was Leon Villareal, a Portuguese Jew who came from Demerara in Guyana in 1740. It is thought that several Sephardic merchants, descendants from the Iberian Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late 15th century, traveled from the West Indies to Liverpool in the first half of the 18th century to supervise their trade, but little is known about them. The Liverpool Memorandum Book confirms that in 1752 there was a 'Synagogue Court' off Stanley Street and a little house in Cumberland Street was a Jewish place of worship. By the 1750s, a small number of Jewish peddlers and shopkeepers from Germany had settled near the present Canning Place, then the site of the Old Dock and Custom House in the docklands. Their presence led Methodist preacher John Wesley to note in 1756 the tolerance of the Liverpudlians toward the Jews "who live among them." Then, as the port rose to international prominence, Jews from other parts of Britain, Germany and Holland migrated to Liverpool and became shopkeepers, or became involved in banking and overseas trade. The port's Jewish population, estimated to be around 100 in 1789, had risen past 400 in 1810 and was nearly 1,000 by 1825. The Jewish community built its first synagogue in 1808 on Seel Street and a plaque marks the spot today, but its place in British Jewish history was assured when it became the first synagogue outside of London where, as early as 1819, sermons were delivered in English rather than Hebrew. By about 1860, Liverpool's Jewish community, then numbering around 3,000, was second in size to that in London. On the 3rd of September 1874 the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation relocated to the magnificent Moorish Revival building on Princes Road in Toxteth.

The Hessleberg family 1860s

Between 1830 and 1930 Jews were amongst the millions of people who used Liverpool as a stopping point to emigration to the USA, Canada and Australia, typically staying from one to ten days in lodging houses run by the steamship companies. But not all of them left and the forefathers of many Jewish Liverpool families from Germany and, later, from Lithuania, Poland and Russia travelled to a German port, then across the North Sea to Hull and finally by rail to Liverpool. After arriving in Liverpool, some found that their tickets took them only that far; others decided they liked the city and stayed; which resulted that between 1875 and 1914, Liverpool's Jewish population grew from around 3,000 to an estimated 11,000. Unlike the earlier settlers who were dispersed within two miles of the synagogues on Princes Road and Hope Place, the East European immigrants of the later 19th century created their own quarter close to the Lime Street Station, a mile east of the docklands, centered around Brownlow Hill, Paddington, Crown Street and Islington. They clung to their language and culture, formed their own religious societies known as 'chevroth' and established congregations (which no longer survive). Many started as peddlers but in time opened shops, while others worked as tailors and cabinetmakers. Jewish Liverpool thus developed two distinct strata: 'the top hat' anglicized merchants who worshiped at the Old and New Hebrew Congregations and the poorer immigrant community. The Liverpool community was the first organised Jewish community in the north of England, and until the mid-19th century it was the largest provincial Jewish community.

Grateful for the warm welcome and the access to all levels of society, much more than in most other English cities, Jewish refugees vividly encouraged their children to integrate, first and foremost through school, and participate in the radiance of the city. This generation became very educated, and became doctors, lawyers, solicitors, architects, businessmen, and doing very well, they thrived. This explains the great number of local public figures, politicians (among them a few mayors) and entertainers. Two major families, Lewis and Cohen, contributed to the city's heritage. The Lewis family being best remembered today for the department store founded by entrepreneur David Lewis carrying their name and on which stands the famous statue by Jacob Epstein celebrating the resurgence of Liverpool after World War II. The Cohen family's name was given to the library of the University of Liverpool as these two families financed many local institutions. Charles Mozley became the city's first Jewish mayor in 1863, and there were subsequently four other Jewish Lord Mayors. In entertainment, crooner Frank Abelson, aka 'Frankie Vaughan', is synonymous with Liverpool and the Jewish community, and 'The Beatles' will always owe a lot of their success to manager, Brian Samuel Epstein from a Jewish business family. Singer-songwriter Ian Broudie was born on Penny Lane and grew up around the corner on Menlove Avenue.

 In the 20th century, Liverpool's Jewish community moved to the suburbs of Wavertree, Sefton Park and, eventually, Childwall, Allerton and Woolton. The Orthodox Childwall Hebrew Congregation opened in 1938 and in 1956, the state-supported King David High School was established on the same Childwall campus with the King David Primary School relocating there in 1964. The Princes Road Synagogue in Toxteth still serves as home to the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation and was designed by Scottish brothers William & George Audsley, who found inspiration for its painted and gilded Victorian interior whilst travelling in Europe. The siblings went on to become early pioneers of the first New York skyscrapers. This architectural marvel built in 1874 of red sandstone and unpressed brick impressively combines Gothic and Moorish architecture with its interior considered one of the finest examples of Moorish design in British synagogue architecture, rich in marble and gold. The stepped gable surmounts a rose window flanked by octagonal turrets and has a tunnel vaulted nave, with a magnificent Byzantine style Ark of the Convenant and a columnated almemar with elaborate wood arches, a hand-painted ceiling and magnificent rose windows. While the Ark is in the rear, the pews, which seat 800, face the center and the carved-wood bima was donated by the philanthropist and businessman David Lewis.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/03/liverpool-communities-chilean.html