המכון הבינלאומי לגנאלוגיה יהודית ומרכז פאול יעקבי- ירושלים

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1 המכון הבינלאומי לגנאלוגיה יהודית ומרכז פאול יעקבי- ירושלים 200 YEARS OF SCOTTISH JEWRY - A DEMOGRAPHIC AND GENEALOGICAL PROFILE Interim report and preliminary results of 1 st year's research (July June 2012) Michael Tobias, BSc, FFA Nine months were spent extracting data from the Scottish Census databases and Statutory Birth and Marriage records. The end result is the most complete series of datasets of 19 th century Scottish Jewry ever assembled, which in turn will generate detailed analyses of their origins, migration details, age structure, settlement, dispersal patterns, occupations and, of special interest, their family relationships and kinship ties. In addition, the large-scale digitisation of out-of-copyright books, directories, public reports and newspapers provided previously unknown references to the Jews of Scotland, their lives and, in particular, their origins. Newly found material, both online and archival, shed more light on the emergence of both the Glasgow and Edinburgh communities. Altogether, some long-standing, but untested, assumptions have been challenged and corrected. Much more work remains to be done beginning with additional online data-retrieval and archival research (utilising naturalisation papers, for example), analysing the data gathered thus far in greater detail and re-examining it from different perspectives. Finally, the scope of the project has to be expanded both backwards, to before the first Scottish Census in 1841, and forwards, into the 20 th and 21 st centuries.

2 How many Jews lived in Scotland? Census and Birth Data The table below summarises the Census data on Jews extracted, shows (i) the numbers of Jews from ; (ii) their "persistency" or stability as a group, i.e. how many Jews remained in Scotland from one census to the next, (iii) the numbers / percentages of Scots-born Jews within the overall Jewish population; and (iv) the accuracy of the census statements regarding birth in Scotland, indicating that over 90% of those claiming Scottish birth were verified by locating their Birth Certificates. Census i. Jews identified and extracted ii. Persistency (numbers in next Census) Persistency (% found in next Census) 29.7% 28.4% 37.8% 28.8% 42.7% 49.7% iii. Scottish Born (pre-1855) Scottish Born (post-1855) Scottish Born as % 42.4% 33.8% 47.1% 43% 40.1% 36.1% 34.4% iv. Scottish Birth Registrations found % of Scottish Birth Registrations found %* 90.6% 92.4% 92.1% 91.8% * Understandably lower than other census years, since many births in the 1861 Census with estimated year of birth 1855 will actually have been born in 1854, prior to the start of mandatory Registration in Scotland. Note: Very few pre-1855 births appeared in the later censuses, suggesting that the Jews who lived in Scotland in the early part of the 19 th century had largely moved on with their families or died out - to be replaced almost entirely by the new influxes of central/eastern European immigrants. Where did the Jewish Families come from? - Marriage Lists and Ancestral Origins Scottish Birth Certificates indicate the dates and places of parents marriage. For marriages held outside the UK, the place of marriage was recorded and/or legible in 627 records. The specific locations were identifiable in only 543 of these cases, referring to 158 different towns in all. The vast majority of the towns were in the "Pale of Settlement" (the area in the Russian Empire where Jews were permitted, indeed required, to reside). Prior to the 1880s, the vast majority of the towns were in modern Poland and Lithuania. There are a very few references to towns in presentday Belarus and Ukraine before the 1880s and then only a handful in the 1880s, while the numbers increase significantly in the 1890s. Interestingly, some towns "beyond the Pale" were also mentioned, including Saint Petersburg and Moscow, which certain families left after the central government's attempts at expulsions from these cities in In brief, the bulk of Jews in Scotland in the 19 th century hailed from a wide area forming a rough arc, stretching from central and eastern Poland, through western Belarus and the length of Lithuania to the Baltic Sea. The following map plots the towns of marriage identified. 2

3 Did all Jews who married in Scotland have a Religious Marriage Ceremony? A Marriage Authorisation Form was required from the Office of the Chief Rabbi (CRO) in London before an orthodox Jewish religious marriage could take place in a synagogue affiliated to the umbrella "United Synagogue" framework. Between 1880 and 1901 (with some gaps in the records), 419 Authorisation Forms were located for Jewish Marriages in Scotland but in the corresponding periods 558 Scottish Statutory Marriage records were extracted claiming to be the product of a Jewish marriage ceremony, It follows that 139, or 1 in 4 Scottish Jewish religious marriages were conducted without prior authorisation (causing no small disquiet in the Chief Rabbi s Office)! 3

4 Where did the Jews settle in Scotland? - Areas of Settlement An analysis of the geographical distribution of the Jewish populations in each census from 1841 to 1901 is shown in the following Table. County Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll Ayrshire Banffshire Bute Caithness Clackmannanshire Dumbartonshire Dumfriesshire East Lothian Fife Invernessshire Kirkcudbrightshire Lanarkshire (Glasgow) Midlothian (Edinburgh) Moray Nairnshire Orkney Peeblesshire Perthshire Renfrewshire Ross & Cromarty Roxburghshire Royal Navy Selkirkshire Ships In Ports Stirlingshire West Lothian Wigtownshire Total Population Shifts within Glasgow, Scotland's largest Jewish Community by 1851 Jews in Glasgow resided almost exclusively within the city's centre. The table below shows their distribution over the period 1841 to In each census, the district with highest Jewish population concentration is highlighted in red, the second highest in orange and the third in yellow. 4

5 District /4 Calton 0.0% 5 3.2% 6 2.9% % % 4 0.2% % 644/5 Blackfriars % % % % % % % 644/6 St Rollox 8 7.9% % % % 6 0.6% 9 0.5% % 644/7 Blythswood % % % % % % % 644/8 Milton 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% % % % % 644/9 Kelvin 0.0% 1 0.6% % % % % % 644/10 Anderston 0.0% 0.0% % % % % % 644/11 Hutchesontown 3 2.9% 0.0% 0.0% % % % % 644/12 Gorbals % % 2 0.9% % % % % 644/13 Tradeston 2 2.0% % 0.0% % % % % Central Glasgow % % % % % % % Total Scotland Glasgow % 31.6% 44.7% 46.7% 47.7% 60.4% 58.2% 72.4% Note: Within Glasgow, the concentrations of Jews shifted markedly over time. The Gorbals area, the hub of the Jewish community from the 1880's and decades thereafter, was almost empty of Jews in The early population concentration north of the River Clyde started to gravitate to the "South-Side" during the 1870s, at the time when Glasgow became home to more than half of Scotland s Jews. This shift coincided with the building of the grand Garnethill Synagogue in the north-west of town, which did not foresee the waves of poor immigrants about to arrive and head for the lowerrent east and south suburbs. By 1901, some parts of the Gorbals had a Jewish residency of more than 20%. The highest single concentration was located in part of Hutchesontown in Govan Parish, Enumeration District 34, where almost one-third of the over 1000 residents was Jewish. This area encompassed a small stretch of Rutherglen Road, where in 2 particular addresses, numbers 139 and 149, 75% (81 people out of 108) were Jewish. 5

Population Distribution and Density in Glasgow in 1901 The following map shows the distribution of Jews in central Glasgow in 1901.

6 Population Distribution and Density in Glasgow in 1901 The following map shows the distribution of Jews in central Glasgow in (Jews residing in the "off-centre" districts of Camlachie, Dennistoun, Bridgeton or Kinning Park were not plotted, since only marginal groups, some 1-2% of the total Jewish population, lived there). Census 1901 Population 6567 Population Density in Enumeration Districts

7 Occupation Analysis of the Jewish Immigrants This table shows the top three categories of occupation found in each of the censuses. In each census, the most common occupation group is highlighted in red, the second most common in orange and the third most common in yellow. These top occupational groups account for 70% - 80% of the Jewish population, except for the censuses in 1851 and 1861 when the occupations were distributed more widely. CLASS 3 CLASS 5 Occupations COMMERCIAL Merchants and Agents % 4 6.1% % % % % % INDUSTRIAL Watches and Philosophical Instruments 3 7.5% 3 4.6% % % 7 2.1% 9 1.2% % Type, Dies, Medals and Coins % % % - - Houses % % 6 1.8% 7 0.9% % House Decorations % % % % % Tobacco and Pipes % 2 1.3% 3 0.9% % % Dress 1 2.5% % 7 9.6% % % % % Skins 3 7.5% 5 7.7% 3 4.1% 6 3.9% 6 1.8% % % Precious Metals and Jewellery 2 5.0% 6 9.2% 4 5.5% 8 5.2% % % % TOTAL % % % % % % % The range of occupations in the period is more variable, again pointing to the small numbers of Jews, a high turnover and low persistency rate among the population with the result that almost discrete populations were enumerated in the first three censuses. The high percentage of merchants in 1841 reduced significantly by 1851, being replaced by a population made up of more tailors, furriers and jewellers. This trend was reversed by 1861, with a distinct shift towards merchants and watchmakers. By 1871, the numbers of merchants, tailors and especially glaziers continued to grow. From 1881 to 1901, tailoring became the dominant occupation, while trades associated with picture frames grew in 1881 and That element dropped away by 1901 along with general merchants, to be replaced by the increased involvement in the tobacco trade. 7

How did the Jewish Immigrants reach Scotland? - Migration and Transmigration In the 20-year period from 1877 to 1897, over 90,000 people, mostly Jewish, travelled from Hamburg to Leith.

8 How did the Jewish Immigrants reach Scotland? - Migration and Transmigration In the 20-year period from 1877 to 1897, over 90,000 people, mostly Jewish, travelled from Hamburg to Leith. The vast majority of them proceeded to Glasgow for onward migration to the USA, Canada and elsewhere. The following chart shows the number of passengers and ships that arrived in Leith from Hamburg over the period. The huge increase in numbers in the 1880s, reflecting the deteriorating situation of Jews in the Pale of Settlement following the anti-jewish legislation of May 1882, can clearly be seen. However, there was a near shutdown in traffic after 1892 due to a cholera outbreak in Hamburg in August/September of that year, followed by stricter border controls in Germany. Subsequently, large-scale Jewish immigration to Scotland did not arrive via Hamburg. After 1896, new Jewish immigrants to Scotland or again, Jews transiting the country in larger numbers, sailed mainly from the port of Libau in Latvia (closer to the Pale), to Hull, Grimsby and West Hartlepool on the east coast of England. Additionally, numbers of Jews, previously settled in the United Kingdom, travelled back and forth between England and Scotland in search of a livelihood and a place to put down roots. When were the earliest Congregations formally established in Scotland? The generally accepted dates of the formal founding of Jewish congregations in Edinburgh and Glasgow are 1816 and 1823 respectively. The 1816 date for Edinburgh is based on an article in the Edinburgh Evening Express on 29 March The 1823 date for Glasgow is based on a statement in the New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845) that a synagogue was founded there in September

It is instructive, however, to examine the reports relating to religious worship produced by the Scottish Commissioners of Religious Instruction.

9 It is instructive, however, to examine the reports relating to religious worship produced by the Scottish Commissioners of Religious Instruction. Their data was gathered by surveying all Churches and religious denominations in Scotland over the period. The information on the Jewish Community in Edinburgh was provided by its minister, Rev. Moses Joel, and also by a Mr. J. Lyon, who was in the part-employ of the Community. They stated that the congregation was established in 1817 and the building then in use was converted into a synagogue in The information for Glasgow was provided by Woolf Levy on 11 May 1836, who declared that the congregation was established in These are first-hand, not second or third-hand, accounts of information. In the circumstances, therefore, the dates for establishment of the two main congregations in Scotland should perhaps be modified somewhat - from 1816 to 1817 for Edinburgh and from 1823 to 1821 for Glasgow. Where was the first Synagogue in Edinburgh located? The first Jewish house of prayer in Edinburgh was in a lane off Nicolson Street in Thereafter location of the prayer-house is unclear. The first reference to a synagogue as such appears in the 1821 edition of the Edinburgh Almanack, published in December 1820, where the existence of the Synagogue at Richmond Court is recorded. In 1929, Alfred Henry Rushbrook took over 100 photographs in the St. Leonards District on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Improvement Trust, prior to slum clearance operations. Two of the photographs were of old tenements in Richmond Court. The synagogue was housed in the taller building in the photograph below, numbered 5 & 6 Richmond Court: 9

front cover Index of Jews Resident in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island According to the 1861 to 1901 Censuses of Canada approximate

front cover Index of Jews Resident in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island According to the 1861 to 1901 Censuses of Canada approximate Back cover This book provides genealogical information on four categories of individuals: Jews by religion, Jews by ethnic origin, Jews by descent and non-jewish family members. Jews by religion refers