Sephardic Jews of England
The first Sephardic community in England – the first Jewish community – was established in 1657. From the late 18th Century there were ‘inter-marriages’ with Ashkenazim. Generally, the marriage was in the bridegroom’s synagogue.
The Spanish & Portuguese Jewish community in London fractured in the 1840s with the development of Reform Judaism and the desire of some (mostly richer) Sephardim to identify as British Jews and to follow a less rigorous interpretation of Judaism. The Spanish and Portuguese Jews Congregation is today called the S&P Sephardi Community. Some Ashkenazim, Moroccan and eastern Sephardim joined the community over the years. In the post-War period people of other Jewish origins, notably Iraq and Egypt, have joined the congregation.
In the late 19th and early 20th Century, eastern Sephardim from the Ottoman Empire and megorashim from Morocco and Gibraltar settled in England, principally involved in the textile trade, settled in London and Manchester where they established their own congregations.
London Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation
Manchester Sephardic Jewish Community
Useful sources on the Manchester community include:
The Sephardim of Manchester: Pedigrees and Pioneers by Lydia Collins and M. L. Bierbrier
Manchester Sephardic Synagogues
Moor Lane Manchester Congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews (שערי תפילה Gates of Prayer) was established in 1873. Their former synagogue is now the Manchester Jewish Museum. Moor Lane synagogue’s website contains the following on early members:
These were merchants from the Levant and Mediterranean: Daniel Piccioto (Aleppo), Samuel Hadida (Gibraltar); Moses Messulam (Constantinople); Isaac Pariente (Tetuan); Abraham Btesh (Killiz, Syria). Others soon followed and from the 1850s the community started to take shape and names like Besso and Levi from Corfu; the Aleppans, Sharim, Sciama, Setton, Laniado, and Dwek; Cazes, Azulay and Pariente from Morocco; Pinto from London, start to appear in the records. Manchester was such an important connection for these merchants that when a trader had a son born in Aleppo, the words “may he live in Manchester” was added to the traditional blessing for the newborn.
The Special Collections of the University of Southampton holds a folder: MS 116/43 Papers relating to the Manchester Congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews and to the Manchester Jewish Hospital: laws and regulations of the Manchester congregation, revised and amended, 1910; history of the congregation, 1873-1923; cutting from the JEWISH CHRONICLE relating to the laying of the foundation stone of the Manchester Jewish Hospital, 3 Jul 1903
Withington Congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews (“Queens Road”) (שערי רחמים Gates of Mercy) was established at Mauldeth Road in 1904. They moved to Queens Road, now called Queenston Road, in 1927.
Historical Record of the Withington Congregation of Spanish and Portuguese
Jews 1904-1929 by Joseph Pereira-Mendoza
Manchester Sephardic Cemeteries
Urmston Jewish Cemetery of the (North) Manchester Spanish & Portuguese Jews Congregation opened in 1878. It was shared from 1891 with the Manchester New Synagogue, with a separate Whitefield Synagogue Section from 1959.
There are Sephardic community burials in the Jewish section of Manchester’s Southern Cemetery from 1934.
Census of England and Wales
A national census has been conducted every ten years from 1841, excluding 1941. Along with other data, the Census can be useful for confirming a 19th Century ancestor’s places of birth. Remember that some words such as ‘Turkey’ may be used more broadly than today. Also, a nationality does not always equate with a place of birth. For example, someone born in Rhodes, formerly part of Turkey and now part of Greece, post-1911 might be described as Italian.
Naturalisation Records
Naturalisation records can tell us when someone arrived in Britain, from where, their place of birth, family members and often other information. Sometimes immigrants from Turkey are described as “Spanish Jews”. Below is an incomplete list of “Spanish Jewish” immigrants. Some of the names jump out of the page: Shemtob Gaguine was author of the Keter Shem Tob, an encyclopaedic work on Sephardic religious custom; a Vidal Sassoon family; de Botton; and so on. Some of the family surnames link to Italy. Families from Egypt and elsewhere will likely recognise many of the names,
| Year | Applicant |
| 1878 | David Salem |
| 1878 | Salem, David, |
| 1914 | Gaguine, Shemtob |
| 1922 | Haim, Max Solomon |
| 1922 | Max Solomon Haim |
| 1924 | Strugo, Benjamin |
| 1924 | Jacques Salem |
| 1924 | Cohen, Isaac |
| 1924 | Salem, Jacques |
| 1924 | ANTICONI, Moise |
| 1924 | Benjamin Strugo |
| 1924 | Isaac Cohen |
| 1924 | Moise Anticoni |
| 1925 | Barkey, Isaac Jack |
| 1925 | Isaac Jack Barkey |
| 1926 | Joseph Souhami |
| 1926 | Zara, Albert |
| 1926 | Albert Zara |
| 1927 | Arditti, Efraim (or Alfred Arditti) |
| 1927 | Sassoon, Joseph Isaac |
| 1927 | Albagli, Dario (or David Albagli) |
| 1927 | Vidal Coenca (or known as Vital Coenca) |
| 1927 | Alfandary, Moise Abraham, |
| 1927 | Arditi, Rabeno (or Robert Arditti) |
| 1927 | Mercado, Michon (or Maurice Mercado) |
| 1927 | Joseph Isaac Sassoon |
| 1927 | Coenca, Vidal (or Vital Coenca) |
| 1927 | Moise Abraham Alfandary |
| 1927 | Dario Albagli (or known as David Albagli) |
| 1927 | Khedouri Menashi Shasha |
| 1927 | Maurice Coenca |
| 1927 | Rabeno Arditi (or known as Robert Arditti) |
| 1927 | Shasha, Khedouri Menashi, |
| 1927 | Coenca, Maurice, |
| 1927 | Shasha, Joseph Moses, |
| 1927 | Michon Mercado (or known as Maurice Mercado) |
| 1927 | Joseph Moses Shasha |
| 1927 | Efraim Arditti (or known as Alfred Arditti) |
| 1927 | Mizrahi, Mordechai Elah (or Marco Mizrahi) |
| 1927 | Isaac Fresco |
| 1927 | Fresco, Isaac |
| 1927 | Mordechai Elah Mizrahi (or known as Marco Mizrahi) |
| 1928 | Churba, Isaac |
| 1928 | Isaac Churba |
| 1928 | Hassid, Raphael Leon |
| 1928 | Basri, Henry Meyer (or Henry Basri) |
| 1928 | Cohen, Nissim Abraham, |
| 1928 | Nissim Abraham Cohen |
| 1928 | Mizrahi, Jacob (or Jack Mizrahi) |
| 1928 | Jacob Mizrahi (or known as Jack Mizrahi) |
| 1928 | Raphael Leon Hassid |
| 1928 | Henry Meyer Basri (or known as Henry Basri) |
| 1929 | Selemia Elnecave |
| 1929 | Pontremoli, Giacomo (or Jacques) Moreno, |
| 1929 | Covo, Sylvain Elie |
| 1929 | Elnecave, Vitali |
| 1929 | Hassid, Haim Leon |
| 1929 | Afoumado Elie Raphael |
| 1929 | Sylvain Elie Covo |
| 1929 | Salem, Dario Menahem, |
| 1929 | Giacomo Moreno Pontremoli (or known as Jacques) |
| 1929 | Afoumado Elie Raphael |
| 1929 | Arditi, Maurice Moise (or Maurice Arditti) |
| 1929 | Levy, Nissim |
| 1929 | Elnecave, Selemia |
| 1929 | Dario Menahem Salem |
| 1929 | Nissim Levy |
| 1929 | Haim Leon Hassid |
| 1929 | Vitali Elnecave |
| 1929 | Maurice Moise Arditi (or known as Maurice Arditti) |
| 1930 | Benardout, Joseph Cohen, |
| 1930 | Poyastro, Khaim Hiamie (or Hyman Poyastro) |
| 1930 | Penso, David Robert |
| 1930 | Michel Gracial |
| 1930 | Judah, Joshua Elias (or Walter Ellis) |
| 1930 | Frederick Khadoorie Sassoon Benjamin |
| 1930 | Joseph Cohen Benardout |
| 1930 | Beraha, Abraham, |
| 1930 | Souhami, Joseph, |
| 1930 | Gracial, Michel, |
| 1930 | David Robert Penso |
| 1930 | Sidney Raymond Ellis |
| 1930 | Abraham Beraha |
| 1930 | Ellis, Sidney Raymond |
| 1930 | Khaim Hiamie Poyastro (or known as Hyman Poyastro) |
| 1930 | Sasson, Jose Vidal (or Jose Vidal Sassoon) |
| 1930 | Joshua Elias Judah (or known as Walter Ellis) |
| 1930 | Jose Vidal Sasson (or known as Jose Vidal Sassoon) |
| 1931 | Cohen, Mordecai (known as John Mordecai Cohen) |
| 1931 | Bernardout, Aaron Cohen, |
| 1931 | Anticoni, Joseph, |
| 1931 | Joseph Eskenazi |
| 1931 | Mordecai Cohen (known as John Mordecai Cohen) |
| 1931 | Eskenazi, Joseph, |
| 1931 | Behar, Jack, |
| 1931 | Emanuel Zadoc |
| 1931 | Nissim Vidal Sasson (known as Nissim Vidal Sassoon) |
| 1931 | Albert Azouz |
| 1931 | Raphael Treves |
| 1931 | Joe de Botton |
| 1931 | Neviesky, Samuel (known as Samuel Nevies) |
| 1931 | Sasson, Nissim Vidal (known as Nissim Vidal Sassoon) |
| 1931 | de Botton, Joe |
| 1931 | Azouz, Albert |
| 1931 | Samuel Neviesky (known as Samuel Nevies) |
| 1931 | Zadoc, Emanuel |
| 1931 | Treves, Raphael |
| 1931 | Aaron Cohen Bernardout |
| 1931 | Anticoni, Joseph |
| 1931 | Jack Behar |
| 1934 | Benjamin Moses Bonavida |
Harfield’s Commercial Directory of the Jews of the United Kingdom, 1894
Alien Registrations
Documents about ‘aliens’, meaning foreigners, are in the Home Office files in the National Archives. The Aliens Entry Books, 1794-1921 (HO5) is an unindexed and largely unexamined source. They mostly record correspondence about the entry of foreigners into the country, including date and place of arrival. Often professions and other information is included. Copies have been scanned by ancestry.com. HO 2 contains certificates of arrival and HO 3 has certificates of return. See GenGuide.
Heading in the other direction, the National Archives (FO 611) has Registers of British Passport Applicants from 1851-1856, 1858-1862, and 1874-1903. These are also indexed on Find My Past.
Sephardic Jews of Yorkshire
The eastern Sephardic community, from Turkey and elsewhere, settled in the city of Leeds. The Leeds Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue functioned at 21 Leopold Street between the 1920s and 1940s. Most of the membership are believed to have been eastern Sephardim, especially from Salonika, but followed the western Sephardic rite.
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