Newsletter - Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain 

www.jgsgb.org.uk 

Newsletter 

ISSUE: 56 July 2011 

JGSGB 

2011 London Conference 

JGSGB 

18th Annual London One-Day 

Conference and Genealogical Fair 

Sunday 30 October 2011 

33 Seymour Place, London W1H 5AU 

Speakers 

Sam Aaron 

Carol Reeves 

Todd Knowles 

Sam Aaron 

“The changing face of Genealogical 

Research in Lithuania” 

Richard Goodwin 

“The London Gazette 1665-2011” 

Todd Knowles 

“The Knowles Collection and other 

ways to find your ancestors through 

Family Search” 

Carol Reeves 

“A new resource for family 

historians – Jewish Patients in 

Colney Hatch Asylum and the 

National Hospital” 

Philip Walker 

“My Jewish East End journey - from 

the East London Christian Mission to 

the Hebrews to the Jewish East End 

Celebration Society”. 

Conference Newsletter & booking form. 

Contact: Shirley Collier 

JGSGB, PO Box 2188, Ilford, Essex IGI 

9RE, UK 

Or

Newsletter July 2011 

JGSGB Officers of the Society 2011 

President Dr Anthony Joseph 

Vice Presidents 

David Jacobs, Martyn Woolf 

Council Members 

Chairman, Mark Nicholls, 

 

Vice Chairman, Joel Levy 

 

Secretary, Norman King 

 

Treasurer, Philip Roth 

 

JGSGB Library, Lydia Collins 

 

Regional Groups & SIG‟s, Michael Hoffman 

Programming Chairman, Raymond Montanjees 

Membership Secretary, Mark Nicholls 

 

Shemot, Bernard Valman 

 

Portfolio Holders Without A Seat On Council 

Website Co-ordinator, Louise Messik 

 

Database &Transcriptions, Louise Messik 

JGSGB Discussion Group, Louise Messik 

JCR-UK Discuss, Richard Jaeger 

Genealogical Enquiries, Rosemary Hoffman 

Family Finder, Rosemary Hoffman 


Education & Mentoring, Jeanette Rosenberg 

Publications 

Cemeteries Liaison, Raymond Montanjees 

Cemeteries Photography, Gina Marks 

General Enquiries 

Transcriptions Coordinator, Martyn Woolf 

July 2011 


From the Chairman’s Desk. 

Once again it has been a busy three months for me as Chairman 

of JGSGB. I have attended several JGSGB events, including Regional 

meetings, talks and conferences. 

Virtually all of the events have been successful but occasionally 

we have meetings that are not well attended by Members, which is 

Mark Nicholls a very great pity. I am writing this piece the day after the talk that 

was given by Melody Amsel-Arieli to JGSGB at Seymour Place. 

Melody lives in Israel and had come to the UK for three days and had been asked by 

JGSGB to spare her valuable time to come and speak to Members about her very 

fascinating research into the Jews of Strapkow. The Programme Committee had as 

usual made every effort to make the evening a success but virtually no JGSGB Members 

turned up for the talk. In all there were four current Members at the talk, two 

from the Committee, myself and Jeanette Rosenberg, who is helping Melody with a 

new publication about Jewish lives in England. The lack of JGSGB Members turning 

up is obviously highly embarrassing to the Committee and myself but also does nothing 

for JGSGB‟s reputation. It is also extremely demoralising for the Programme 

Committee who put in so much time and effort to provide interesting speakers and to 

organise the setting up of the events. Although not many members will have had a 

personal connection to Strapkow, the story that Melody told was extremely useful for 

anyone researching their family in Eastern Europe, especially in relation to the Holocaust. 

So please do make the effort to come to JGSGB events if you can physically 

make it. If you want to know more about Melody and her publications you can find her 

at http://amselbird.tripod.com/, including a link to Melody‟s blog. Enough of my moan. 

There have been some exciting new Regional developments, firstly with the new 

South East Essex Group‟s first meeting in May, which I could not get to unfortunately. 

This was a very successful meeting and two more meetings are already planned, so 

congratulation Anne Marcus for organising the group. In the south of England we 

have been trying to get a South Coast Group restarted and we arranged a meeting in 

Hove on what turned out to be a very very wet Sunday 12 June. The venue was Ralli 

Hall, and about 10 people attended. There is a strong possibility that a new group will 

form there and hopefully more people will attend once it is running on a regular basis. 

The month of May saw two of JGSGB‟s annual events happen. Firstly, the Northern 

Conference on 8 May, to which I was very pleased to be invited to by Lorna Kay and 

the Manchester Regional Committee. It was a very well run and interesting event, 

with a very large turnout. The topics were varied and the speakers were all interesting, 

covering things such as newspapers, food, blogging, masonic records and local 

research. The success of the conference augers well for the future of JGSGB in 

Northern England and I wish them all luck in the future. 

Continued on page 4 

3


From the Chairman’s Desk. Continued. from page 3 

The second annual event was the JGSGB AGM in London. As well as the usual business 

of presenting the Annual Report and Accounts, this was an opportunity to present 

the JGSGB Strategy 2011 to 2015 to the membership and to get feedback about 

specific aspects of the strategy document. The two main issues discussed were the 

possibility of running a Jewish Family History fair and bidding for and running an International 

Jewish Genealogy Conference. The audience asked many useful questions 

about the proposed events and also pointed out the hard work and time that 

would be involved in running the events. The experience of running the 2001 International 

Conference was relayed to members by George Anticoni. Our next steps are to 

find out whether the Membership as a whole has an appetite for taking on either or 

both events. There was the presentation of the Roll of Honour awards for 2011, 

which went to Lydia Collins, Raymond Montanjees, Don Glazer (who retired from the 

Treasurer role at the end of the AGM), Shirley Collier, Jeanette Rosenberg and Todd 

Knowles. Todd flew in especially from Salt Lake City to be present at the AGM, for 

which I thank him. 

Following on from my comments at the AGM about our volunteers, I would like to 

give a very public thankyou to Louise Messik, who does all things IT for JGSGB, for 

keeping the IT going and for adding so many new records to the various JGSGB databases, 

also including transcribing the United Synagogue Marriage Authorisations 

all by herself. If I think I am busy, I don‟t know what that makes Louise. Many of the 

records that Louise puts on the databases come from other JGSGB Members. People 

like Gina Marks, who has personally transcribed thousands of records and taken 

hundreds of picture of gravestones to add to existing records. Without the efforts of 

Louise, Gina and many other individuals there would be very little information available 

for Members to make use of, or indeed a website to access them through. As we 

are all volunteers involved in running JGSGB, I hope that Members will be patient 

with us when things don‟t go right or if you feel we could do things differently. We all 

have other things to do and can only spend so much time supporting JGSGB. New 

helpers are always welcome in JGSGB. 

And finally but not least, another plug for JGSGB-Discuss. There are just over one 

third of JGSGB Members signed up to JGSGB-Discuss at the moment, which means 

that nearly two-thirds of Members are missing out on a lot of interesting information 

being posted there. Also the people who post messages about their research are not 

getting all the feedback they could from fellow Members who might be able to help 

them. So can I ask you all, who are able to do so, to sign up to JGSGB-Discuss for 

regular news but more importantly so you can give the benefit of your knowledge to 

others. 

Mark Nicholls 

Chairman 

4

July 2011 

In this Issue 

Announcements & Events page 6 

Members Meetings page 15, 

16 and 32. 

Regional Groups page 29 

SIG’s page 26 

Tutorial page 24 

Library Acquisitions page 36 

New Members page 35 

Photographs by: Gina Marks, Stan 

Rose, Michael Hoffman. 

General Enquiries 

JGSGB 

33 Seymour Place 

London W1H 5AU 


e-mail: 

Registered Charity No. 1022738 

Full details of the Society may be 

found on the website: 

 

Newsletter Data 

This Newsletter reference: 

ISSN 1467-5471 JGSGB © 2003 

Copy Date for the next Newsletter 

1st September 2011 

For Advertising Rates please 

apply to the Editor 

The Society and the Editor disclaim any 

responsibility for any financial or any 

contractual arrangements made by or 

between members as a result of reading 

this publication. 

All correspondence should be addressed 

to 

The Editor, 

JGSGB, 

33, Seymour Place, 

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHERS & 

TRANSLATORS 

The 11th edition of JGSGB's 

Register of Professional Researchers & 

Translators 

is now available on request. 

Send a self-addressed Envelope with 2 x 2nd class 

stamps marked “REGISTER" to 

Education, 

JGSGB, 33 Seymour Place, London W1H 5AU 

or e-mail: 

SECURITY 

If you are organising or attending 

a meeting always make sure that 

you familiarise yourself with the 

security arrangements in case of 

a breach in security or fire in the 

building. 

5


Announcements and Events 

July 2011 

31st IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy 

Washington, D.C., offers the finest world-class resources and 

repositories to genealogists and family historians. We warmly 

encourage you to join the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater 

Washington for the 31st IAJGS International Conference on 

Jewish Genealogy to be held in the U.S. capital city August 14 

to 19, 2011. 

www.DC2011.com 

WELSH JEWISH ANCESTRY - SPECIAL MEETING - 

SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER 2011 

We are pleased to say that we have had an excellent response to our planned special 

meeting for Welsh Jewish Ancestry. This meeting is now confirmed to take place 

on Sunday 18th September at 33 Seymour Place between 2.30 and 6pm. 

We hope that as this is being planned well in advance, all those members who have 

an interest in joining us will be able to do so. 

We will also be pleased to welcome to this meeting any new members who joined 

the Society at WDYTYAL or any other members who have Welsh Jewish ancestry or 

an interest in it. Would all those attending please bring along their family trees, photographs, 

documents, any gravestone photographs and any memorabilia. 

We look forward to seeing you there. 

Please could you advise Gina Marks at if you will be attending. 

Joel Levy and Gina Marks 

Midland Area Regional Group 

We are a new venture and so far have held only one meeting on Sunday 13 th March 

2011. 

We intend to hold our next meeting on Sunday 18 th September and a mid-week afternoon 

meeting later in the year. All meetings at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, 

1 Roseland Way, Birmingham, B15 1HD. 

Any JGSGB member is welcome, the Midland title was only chosen because Central 

England or Mercia might have been misunderstood and none will be turned away. 

If you are interested in joining us, or just wish to be kept informed, please contact : 

David Harrison on 

6

July 2011 

Announcements and Events cont. 

Changes at the London Metropolitan Archives 


Dear JGSGB Members 

I recently attended a Family History Users Forum at the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) 

to hear about developments there following their budget review. 

The LMA is subject to a 16% cut in funding, which will have had a major impact on staffing at 

the LMA and on access to records. To minimise the impact the LMA has looked to reduce 

spending on equipment and books first of all. There will be redundancies at the LMA but they 

are looking to ensure that when they are open there will still be the same number of staff on 

duty each day. 

To maintain the duty staffing levels there will be changes to the opening hours of the LMA from 

mid-November 2011. Firstly, Saturday opening will change from twice a month to once a 

month; secondly, the LMA will be closed on Fridays; and thirdly, they will open for longer on 

Wednesdays, closing at 7.30 pm. in line with Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Guildhall Library, 

which is part of the same service will remain open on Saturdays as before. The new opening 

hours will be reviewed after 12 months to see what impact they have had. 

The LMA will continue to provide a remote access service for those that cannot get to the Archive 

building. The LMA on-line catalogue is available and on-line ordering of documents is 

possible. Though there are a number of Jewish records which cannot be ordered on-line, such 

as the Board of Deputies records, which have restricted access. 

As many of you will be aware, the LMA is digitising many of its records, which means that it is 

possible to access data without having to visit or order copies of documents. The records also 

include historic photographs and drawings of London streets, many of which can be found at 

http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/collage/app?service=page/Search 

There are thousands of other images not yet digitised, which you can go and see at the LMA. 

The LMA continues to work with Ancestry on digitising many of the records, including London 

Wills extracts (400,000 wills), Land Tax records, Early Poor Law records (not indexed but 

browsable images) and by the end of 2012 Electoral Registers will be indexed up to 1965. The 

Electoral registers collection at the LMA is apparently more complete that the British Library's 

collection for London. City of London Freedoms will be on Ancestry, as well as more School 

records. 

The LMA is an enormously valuable resource for genealogical and historical research and 

needs to be kept open to the public, which means you the JGSGB member with London ancestors. 

The way to ensure that the LMA is available is for people to use it as often as possible. 

So may I finish by suggesting that you have a look at the LMA's catalogue and see if there 

are any records you might want to see to help you with your research. The LMA catalogue is 

at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/OPAC_LMA/login.html 

Regards 

Mark Nicholls 

Chairman JGSGB 

7



July 2011 

31st IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Washington, 

DC. 

We're honoured to announce that Sara Bloomfield, the Director of the Holocaust Memorial 

Museum (USHMM), will be our Keynote Address speaker at the 31st International 

Conference on Jewish Genealogy, August 14-19. Her Keynote Address is on 

Sunday evening at 7 pm at the Conference opening. Her talk is titled “Honouring the 

Victims: it takes A Village” and will be followed about 8.0pm by a lavish Welcome 

reception. 

Some background about M's Bloomfield's accomplishments: she's led the United 

States Holocaust Memorial museum for more than a decade. She's a member of the 

International Auschwitz Council, and recently was awarded the Officers Cross of the 

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. Most recently she has played a leading role 

in USHMM's helping to make available the largest closed Holocaust archive in the 

world, the International Tracing Service Archive in Bad Arolsen, Germany, which 

holds over 30 million pages of records on 17 million victims of Nazism. 

Please remember about this year's Conference: we are expecting about 1200 dedicated 

genealogists, researchers and archivists from 17 or more countries. We have 

planned an unusually diverse programme suitable for genealogist of all levels, which 

includes about 160 sessions, PC/Mac computer workshops, and many other features. 

For further information about the IAJGS International Conference, contact us at: 

www.DC2011.com 

DC2011 Conference Chairs 

Marlene Katz Bishow, Vic Cohen, Sue Isman 

Cemetery Visits 

I have at long last organised a visit to the Reform Synagogue Section at the Hoop 

Lane Cemetery at 2.00pn on Sunday 21 August 2011. It will centre around David 

Jacobs and Jon Epstein's publication "Rabbis & Teachers Buried at Hoop Lane". 

Hopefully, members with a "rabbinical interest" will come along as well as JGSGB 

general researchers. 

I will offer the choice of the following three dates July 24th, Aug 7th and Aug 28th 

2011, if anyone is interested in coming along to Streatham, Alderney Road and Lauriston 

Rd - and the choice of one other. I will try to find out the dates and opening 

times for the United Synagogue "closed cemeteries" around the time of the main 

Yomtovs. 

Raymond Montanjees 

8

July 2011 



Oakland's Community Theatre 

“How the West End was Won” Sunday 24 July 2011 

The show, presented by the Oakland's Community Theatre, resident at Northwood 

and Pinner Liberal Synagogue, has a large cast of professionals and amateurs, 

some of whom are descended from the West Enders themselves! 

Jewish life in London's East End has been well documented, but there was a rich 

Jewish life going on in the West End too and by rich were not talking wealthy! Celebrating 

the lives of Jews in London's West End between the wars, this community 

show takes you on a tour of Soho and Fitzrovia. It invites you to meet the Jews who 

lived there and worked in its pubs and restaurants, its tailors workshops, markets, 

shops and theatres - and relaxed in its public baths! The germ of the original idea 

came from long-term Northwood resident Sally Fiber, daughter of the charismatic 

Charles and Annie Allchild, genial hosts of the Fitzroy Tavern which gave Fitzrovia, 

the Bohemian area North of Oxford Street its name. 

The audience gets to visit iconic West End haunts such as Berwick Street Market, 

The Yiddish Theatre (performing Shakespeare‟s Shylock!), Manette Street Synagogue, 

The Misses (Lily and Marion) Montague‟s West Central Girls Club, Marshall 

Street Baths, the Egyptian galleries at the British Museum and of course the Fitzroy 

Tavern itself, with its famous denizens Dylan Thomas, Jacob Epstein and Augustus 

John. 

LISTINGS INFORMATION: “How the West End Was Won” At The Jewish Museum 

for one performance only on Sunday 24 July 2011, 

Contact: Judi Herman 07958472256 

Stan Rose 

GRO Digitisation and Indexing Project. 

Roger Lewry of the FFHS wrote the following in a message to Mark Nicholls the 

Society‟s Chairman: 

"At a recent the meeting the GRO confirmed that the Digitisation and Indexing project 

is still on hold until the implications of the Government's Comprehensive Spending 

Review are known. The GRO is still very keen to progress this project but the current 

economic climate is casting a shadow over it. 

We were again told that the IPS (Identity & Passport Service) is wanting to make 

changes to the legislation affecting registration but it is difficult to find time to amend 

primary legislation for things not considered top a priority. The point was made that 

users would like to be consulted at an early stage of drafting proposed alterations, 

and not simply given advance notice of decisions already made." 

Mark Nicholls 

9



Murray Freedman z"l 

Murray Freedman was a husband, father, grandfather, dentist, demographer, historian 

and poet. After retiring from his dentist‟s practice in Harehills Murray started his 

great work as the recorder of Leeds Jewry. 

He was concerned that the then quoted population figure of 16,000 Jews in Leeds 

was out of date and set out to find more up to date figures. He had contacts in all the 

communal organisations and methodically he monitored synagogue affiliations and 

communal vital statistics. This would have been enough for most people but Murray 

kept in touch with other regional Jewish demographers and he also set out to map 

the past. 

Starting with the 1841 National Census, Murray methodically worked through the 

Census updated every ten years looking for Jewish names. He listed the names, produced 

booklets, then computer files that meant researchers could find out their family 

histories. 

The Census was a mammoth task, but Murray also indexed the burial records of the 

synagogues. So when someone was looking for their forebears, given a name and a 

rough date, Murray could locate information in minutes. He helped countless people 

both Jewish and non-Jewish trace their Leeds ancestors. 

Murray could answer most questions about Leeds Jewry, he wrote prolifically producing 

pamphlets on different aspects of the Community ranging from the demographic 

to the social. He listed the Jewish shops on the Chapeltown Road, now but a 

memory and the characters who made Leeds Jewry. 

Murray qualified as a dentist, did his national service as an officer in the Far East, 

which he greatly enjoyed then returned to work in London. After to marriage to Norma 

who came from Stamford Hill, he returned to Leeds where he opened his practice. 

In retirement he saw that Leeds University had an MA in Jewish Studies, he realised 

here was a course for him and he was one of the early graduates. He was an avid 

shul goer, originally a „Vilna man‟ he was a key player in the new congregation that 

was the Etz Chaim. He served on the Synagogue Council and was a warden. 

Murray also had creative talents he wrote poetry and published his poems and was 

always looking for new challenges. His passing leaves a huge gap in Leeds, for 

someone has to take up the mantle of communal demographer, historian and researcher 

a role which Murray so successfully undertook for many years. 

Nigel Grizzard 

10

July 2011 

MEMBERS LETTERS & E-MAILS to the JGSGB Editor 

This is the place where members may express their views and comments on matters concerning 

the Societies activities. All letters are welcome and your input is confidently awaited! 

Dear Michael, 

Calling all residents and former residents of Leeds! 


As you may know there is a series of events over the next year or two to celebrate the 150th 

Anniversary of Leeds Jewry. There will also be a Leeds Jewish Heritage Book which is due to 

published next year. There will be articles on various aspects of Jewish Life in Leeds but the 

publishers are also looking for stories from and about local people. In particular they would 

like to know about any Leeds women who were in the Forces in WW2 and local soldiers who 

entered the camps at the end of the war. 

The Youth group will be making films based on Leeds stories, so again, if you have anything 

of relevance please get in touch. 

Please contact Judith Williams JSwilliams67362@aol.com in the first instance who will pass 

your details on to the people involved with producing the book. 

Kind regards 

Judith Williams 

Krystyna Skarbek & Florian Sokolov - looking for information 

Dear Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, 

I am a researching the life of the courageous Polish / British WWII agent, Krsytyna Skarbek, 

aka Christine Granville, 1908-1952, for a new biography to be published by Macmillan in the 

UK. Skarbek had an aristocratic Polish RC father, and a Polish Jewish mother - Stefania Goldfeder. 

Although she was not a practising Jew, her Jewish ancestry was important to her and 

significant to her life story. I have recently been trying to find out more about the friends she 

may have had in Palestine, and also her friendship with Florian Sokolov and his family both 

pre and post-war. 

I have just been in touch with Martin Sugarman who very kindly pointed me in your direction, 

suggesting it might be possible to invite your members to contact me if they know of the 

Sokolov family, or anyone who might hold some of the family's papers in which Skarbek might 

be mentioned. I understand that you have a well respected magazine that does sometimes 

field enquiries of this kind? 

I would be very grateful if this was something that you might consider, as I think Skarbek's 

Jewish links have not been particularly well considered in the past. Anything that could help 

me redress the balance would be wonderful. 

With thanks in advance and all best wishes, 

Clare Mulley 

www.claremulley.com 

11


Dear Listers, 

Snippets from JGSGB-Discuss. 

Visit to Hampstead Synagogue 

Recently my sister and I were looking at the outside of the Hampstead Synagogue in 

Dennington Park Road, West Hampstead (off West End Lane), when purely by 

chance their Administrator, Mr Ivor Nadel, came along the road and invited us to see 

the inside of the Synagogue. For those of you who have not seen it, this shul is 

amazingly beautiful and well worth a visit. It was opened in 1892 and I am attaching a 

link to its website http://hampsteadshul.org.uk/ 

I wrote to thank Mr. Nadel for his kindness and he has said that any of our members 

who would like to see the Synagogue should contact him on 020 7435 1518 or by 

email admin@hampsteadshul.org.uk 

Regards 

Gina Marks, 

Harrow 

Dear Members, 

New Video Uploads 

Seven new videos are to be found within the Membership Pages of our website. You 

will of course have to log into the site with your membership details to access them. 

These films were made at the New Members' Meeting on 13th March 2011 and 

include:- 

An introduction by our Chairman Mark Nicholls (1 film) 

Dr Joel Levy's talk on how he researched his extensive family tree (4 films) 

Miriam Silverman UK Content Manager for Ancestry (2 films) 

Again I must reiterate that these films are each large files of approximately 14.5MB 

and can take a while to download to your computer. As the file is downloading you 

will see what appears to be an unchanging page but given time (and it can take as 

long as 7 minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection) that page will 

turn black and if you hover your mouse towards the bottom you will see the start triangle 

to play the video. If you double click on the video the film will play in full screen 

size - however the clarity of the picture is not as good. 

We are all mindful of our members who live overseas and outside of London and do 

hope that the inclusion of videos in our website has been of interest to those who 

have not been able to get to the meetings. 

Louise Messik - Website Manager 

 

12

July 2011 


Snippets from JGSGB-Discuss 

British Library Newspapers On-line 

Dear JGSGB Members 

The Federation of Family History Societies has put round a message providing an 

update on the British Library Newspaper Digitisation project, see below 

Once again I have to thank Chris Paton http://scottishancestry.blogspot.com for alerting 

me to an interesting news item. This time it relates to the digitisation project at the 

British Library's Colindale Newspaper Library. 

Launching in Autumn 2011, the British Newspaper Archive will make millions of pages 

of historical newspapers available online for the first time unlocking a treasure 

trove of material for historians, researchers, genealogists, students and anyone interested 

in when, where and how our ancestors lived and key periods of historical interest. 

You can read more about this at www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk There is a 

link to some examples of the sort of information that will be available. You can also 

register to be kept informed of when the newspapers go online. 

Roger Lewry 

FFHS Archives Liaison 

archives.liaison@ffhs.org.uk 

The information in the press notice doesn't confirm whether any Jewish newspapers 

will be included in the first release on on-line papers. However, there will be local 

papers from most cities, towns and London Boroughs available. The search facilities 

will allow searching on birth, marriage and death announcements, obituaries and 

several other categories. This is something that will help us all greatly in our family 

history research. 

Mark Nicholls 


MORRIS and LEVY Families 

I am researching the family of David Jacob MORRIS, who was born in Smorgon in 

what is now Belarus in Aug 1875 and came to England in 1890, having changed his 

name to Morris. We cannot find out his original surname. I am trying to discover 

whether he had a link with the LEVY family. A Solomon LEVY was a witness at his 

marriage to Katie FREEDMAN (probably originally FRYDMAN) in London at the 

Great Synagogue in 1899. When David eventually applied for naturalisation in 1923 

one of his referees was a Solomon LEVY, though I don't know whether this was the 

same Solomon. The latter was, according to the naturalisation papers, 'a Rabbi attached 

to the Jewish Synagogue, Egerton Road, Stamford Hill.' I would be very interested 

to hear from anyone who has been researching LEVY or is perhaps a member 

of the Rabbi's family. 

Peter Hinton 

peter@hinton3.freeserve.co.uk 

13


Website Resources 

Polish Military Archives London 

July 2011 

Several members at a recent East European SIG talk were interested in Polish Military 

archives in London. These are at the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum 

 

20 Princes Gate 

London SW7 1PT 

020 7589 9249 

Transfer of Polish National and Military Archives held by Britain 18 June 2009 The 

War Office in London had held certain archival property and had handed FO 

371/66178 - 

Disposal of Polish military records after WWII, The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum 

in London holds the records. 

 

Saul Issroff 

The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance 

The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance is a useful website for Holocaust 

Research in Vienna, the databases can be searched in German or English. Access 

the website at http://www.doew.at/ausstellung/shoahopferdb_en.html Click on the 

Victims Database, click on “Shoah” then do a search. 

Michael Hoffman 

The All-Hungarian Database 

Hungary. The All-Hungarian Database recently had an addition of approximately 

150,000 records, which now brings the total number of vital records (births, marriages 

and deaths) to more than a half million, and the total database, which also includes 

census and other types of records, to more than 1.1 million records. The database 

is located at http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Hungary. It includes a list of 

the component databases. The Hungarian SIG recently signed an agreement with 

FamilySearch to index more vital records. The results of this project will be placed on 

both FamilySearch and JewishGen. 

Nu? What's New? Volume 12, Number 21 May 22, 2011 

Brit Milah Records from Aleppo, Syria online 

Sarina Roffe, Board member of JewishGen, has worked for 7 years translating and 

analysing Brit Milah (circumcision) records from Aleppo covering the years 1868- 

1945. The resulting database which contains 7549 britot and 7554 individuals includes 

father and grandfather names when available. It can be searched directly 

online at http://www.sephardicgen.com/databases/AleppoBritotSrchFrm.html 

Jeff Malka, SephardicGen.com 

14

July 2011 

Members Visit to the Bishopsgate Institute Thursday 24 March 2011 


On Thursday 24 th March members of the JGSGB visited the Bishopsgate Institute in 

the City of London. Because of the numbers interested in this visit, there were two 

sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The final head count on the 

two tours was 27. 

Our guide was the highly knowledgeable and entertaining Stefan Dickers, Archivist 

and Head of Library Special Collections. Of course, knowing of our special interest, 

Stefan had laid out for us to see the many collections of particular interest to our 

members, relating to the Jewish presence in the area. 

The history of the Institute itself is fascinating. It was first opened on New Year‟s Day 

in 1895 and was „erected for the benefit of the public to promote lectures, exhibitions, 

etc.‟ with funds from charitable endowments. The library holds over 110,000 items, 

books and archive collections, in particular of the East End, and also the „free 

thought, early labour, humanist and co-operative movements‟. In 1897 Charles Goss, 

a man with a chequered history, became the librarian of the Bishopsgate Institute 

and remained in that position until 1941. He treated the collections as his own private 

possessions and ruled with a rod of iron. He died in 1946. He was truly a character of 

his time. 

For those of you who are lucky enough to be in the vicinity at any time just pop in and 

if Stefan is around he will be only too pleased to take the time to relate the many 

many fascinating stories that went into the making of the history of the building 

known as the Bishopsgate Institute, and introduce you to some of its valuable collections. 

Shirley Collier 

Stefan Dickers 

15


July 2011 

JGSGB Northern Conference Sunday 8 May 2011 

The Manchester Regional Group of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain hosted 

the Society‟s 9th Northern Annual Conference at the Greater Manchester Police Training College 

on Sunday 8th May 2011. Almost 90 delegates attended, mainly from Manchester but 

also from further afield such as Leeds, Liverpool, London, Huddersfield, Birmingham, Lake 

District etc. This was a significant but pleasing increase on previous years and far exceeded 

our estimates. There were a number of new people attending for the first time. We also welcomed 

friends from London including Mark Nicholls, the national chairman of JGSGB and 

Michael Hoffman, the regional group co-ordinator and editor of the JGSGB newsletter. 

The morning program started with a presentation on "Using UK newspapers as a resource" by 

Jeanette Rosenberg who is the Society‟s Education Officer and co-ordinator of the German 

Special Interest Group (SIG). This was an excellent overview of the topic by an expert genealogist 

who demonstrated examples of how her own searches in some historic papers had revealed 

information about her family 

Our second speaker comes from a well-known Manchester family involved in the delicatessen 

trade. Clarissa Hyman has great experience in writing food books and columns, so the audience 

was anticipating a treat when she spoke on "Food on a plate. Our family history and 

food". It was fascinating to hear her description of family recipes handed down from grandmother 

to daughter. No metric measurements, just "a pinch" of this and "a biesel" that. 

Many family researchers have wondered about relatives who were masons and the supposed 

difficulties in accessing such records. These myths were dispelled by an absorbing talk from 

Ivan Goldberg, the curator of the Manchester Masonic Museum. Ivan emphasised there were 

no purely Jewish lodges although the names were very biblical but there are lodges which are 

predominantly Jewish. He described the formation of lodges, the merging of two lodges and 

showed some commemorative certificates from their archives. Members of the audience pointed 

out well-known names from the Manchester Jewish community in the documents. 

During lunch, a slide show depicting some historic American, German and Manchester newspapers 

was shown followed by photographs of Red Bank, the earliest Jewish area, kindly provided 

by Manchester Jewish Museum. Around the conference hall were panels from The Jewish 

Telegraph celebrating their recent 60th anniversary. Delegates were also provided with 

promotional material by The Jewish Chronicle and Who Do You Think You Are? magazine. 

Following lunch the national chairman, Mark Nicholls, formally welcomed everyone and said a 

few words about the JGSGB and the services it provides for members. After Mark, we welcomed 

our visiting overseas speaker, Schelly Talalay Dardashti from New Mexico, USA. It 

was a privilege to hear Schelly deliver her talk on "Social media as a resource" which is a topic 

on which she is an international authority. While some were scared of blogs, Facebook and 

Twitter before the talk, afterwards we had a greater understanding of these media. 

The final presentation was by Errol Gross on behalf of the Manchester group who have been 

digitising records from a Manchester synagogue. As this is still a work in progress, only a few 

examples from the database were shown. However, after further work and some fine tuning, 

the information will eventually be placed on the JGSGB website. 

At the end of the day, thanks were expressed to all the speakers and to Lorna Kay and her 

committee for organising another superb conference. Many commented very favourably on the 

event and we are already planning for next year. If you wish to be informed about future meetings, 

please contact Lorna 

Errol Gross 

16

July 2011 

Obituaries 


Alec Shapiro 

The sad death of Alec Shapiro on 5 February 2011 was announced in the last Newsletter 

and a fuller obituary is produced here. 

Alec was a founding member of JGSGB and was actively involved in the Society for 

all of his time as a member. Alec was an advocate for JGSGB, suggesting to whoever 

was interested that they should join JGSGB. He also attended as many meetings 

as was possible to and was helpful in his suggestions to other researchers. Alec‟s 

background was primarily German and he was a regular attendee at the German 

SIG meetings almost to the end of his life. The support that he gave to JGSGB was 

even more than just moral; it included being prepared to take on board some of the 

financial risk associated with the 2001 International Conference held in London. Alec 

acted as a guarantor for the conference to help ensure the conference could go 

ahead at all. Alec was always cheerful and full of life, having an extremely extrovert 

character that made him very interesting to be with. 

Jacqueline Gill 

Jacqueline Gill, passed away on Friday 18 March after suffering from Motor Neuron 

disease for 18 months. 

The following was written by Petra Laidlaw about Jacqueline at the time 

"I was one of many people who worked with her on various JGSGB projects, and it 

was she and I together who first dreamed up the idea that evolved into the 1851 Anglo-Jewry 

Database. She then provided a large amount of good-quality data for the 

Database, not just on her own family but on the Database population as a whole. I 

was always impressed by her quiet energy, reliability and dedication, her modest 

style and sweet manner; and, maintaining a degree of contact with her through her 

ghastly illness, I found her extraordinarily dignified in the face of her fate.” 

Jacqueline Gill was one of those people who worked quietly in the background of 

JGSGB, not only contributing to Shemot and the Newsletter on a regular basis but 

being the proof reader for both publications for many years. 

Mark Nicholls 


17


JGSGB Members “Tour of the Freemasons Hall, Museum and Library” 

Thursday 22 May 2011 

A party of 25 visited Freemasons Hall on 26 th May 2011, organized by Elaine Jacobs, 

following an earlier talk at the 2010 AGM by Susan Snell, archivist and records manager 

at the Freemasons Library. Her talk was reported on page 6, issue 52, July 

2010 in the Newsletter and should be consulted for the detail given, much of which 

was repeated during our visit. 

Susan‟s talk was illustrated using a large table covered with photocopies and original 

records showing the Jewish connections from the 1700s. Freemasons are a secular, 

non-political organization open to men who must believe in a Supreme Being. A set 

of holy books for Jews, Christians and now Moslem‟s, are kept in each lodge for 

members to use during the ceremonies. When men of other faiths join, their books 

will also be kept. Originally for men only, women have a number of lodges but each 

sex meets separately. 

We were divided into two groups and either kept with Susan or visited the Library 

and Museum. These are now open to the public on application, as much of the former 

secrecy has now been lifted. 

Next, we were given a tour of parts of the building, which has not been altered in any 

way since completion in the early 1920s. It is the largest Art Deco building left in London 

that has not been modernised. The colours, stained glass, bronze-work, etc. are 

amazing. The tour finished in the Temple which normally holds 1750 people. It was 

so ahead of its time, having central heating and air conditioning and is lit with concealed 

lighting. Illustrations cover Jewish, Christian and Freemason symbols with the 

roof decorated by over one million mosaic tiles. 

Finally, both groups combined for a talk by Susan on the data available for family 

history. Whilst there is a lot held, some is still confidential, some too fragile and can 

only be handled by staff, whilst only the data to the early 1800s is indexed. The snag, 

as I saw it, was that the key to the data for the 20 th century required the Lodge name 

and the member‟s number. Helpful also are dates of birth and death, occupations 

etc. An initial search fee of £30 per name is payable where no lodge name or number 

is known, reduced to £15 per name for members of the United Grand Lodge of England. 

If a lodge name or number is known, this enquiry service is free of charge. 

The charge seems reasonable bearing in mind the work required in the absence of 

indexing. Susan is very keen to receive any help anyone can offer with their indexing 

project. http://www.freemasonry.london.museum/family-history/ 

The visit was thoroughly enjoyed, for which we must thank our hosts and guides, Susan 

Snell, Louise Pichel, Michael Rhodes and Trevor Lowman. 

Stephen Jacobs 

18

July 2011 


Registered Charity No. 1022738 33 Seymour Place, London W1H 5AU 

Website: www.jgsgb.org.uk 

Enquiries: 

Programme 

The programme is subject to late changes-see website for the latest details. 

Updated each January, April, July and October and during each period as further 

events are announced. 

The library is situated at 33 Seymour Place, London W1H 4AU and all London 

meetings are held at this address unless advised to the contrary within the 

Mon 

11th 

7.30- 

10pm 

South East 

Essex 

Group 

programme itself 

Anne 

Marcus 

July 2011 

Talmud Torah 

Westcliff on 


“Small Tutorial” 

See page 31 for details. 

Wed 

13th 

10.30- 

3pm 

Library 

Session 

Contact 

Library 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

Open 10.30-3pm for 

general research. All 

visitors welcome. Members 

of the society are 

on hand to help you use 

the library 

Sun 

17th 

2-6 pm EE SIG & 

Members 

Meeting 

Raymond 

Montanjees 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Guest Speaker; 

Richard Goldstein, 

Director, International 

Programmes, London 

Jewish Cultural Centre 

“The Jewish Experience 

in Poland” 

See page 23 

Thu 

21st 

7.30- 

9.30pm 

Education 

Evening 

Jeanette 

Rosenberg 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

Jewish Genealogy 

around the Commonwealth 

Sun 

31st 

3-6 pm Library 

Session 

Contact 

Library 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

Open 3-6pm for general 

research. All visitors 

welcome. Members of 

the society are on hand 

to help you use the library 

19


August 2011 

Wed 

10th 

10.30– 

3 pm 

Library 

Session 

Contact 

Library 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

Open 10.30-3pm for general 

research. All visitors welcome. 

Members of the society 

are on hand to help you 

use the library 

Sun 

14th 

3-6pm 

Anglo 

Jewish SIG 

Doreen 

Berger 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Council 

Room 

Guest Speaker: 

Stephen Jacobs will speak 

“How I found my Jacobs 

Clan” 

Sun 

21st 

2 pm Cemetery 

Visit 

Raymond 

Montanjees 

Hoop Lane, 

London 

NW11 

Hoop Lane Cemetery, 

Reform Synagogue Section 

South East Essex Group 

This meeting will be a “Genealogical Workshop” 

Members are welcome to bring their research to share with others 

and seek help and advice. 

7.30 – 10.00pm Thursday 8 September 2011. 

At the Talmud Torah, Finchley Road Synagogue, Westcliff on Sea, 

Essex. 

To book your place for the meeting: 

Contact Anne Marcus at 

RSVP Gina Marks for all events at 33 Seymour Place 

20

July 2011 

September 2011 


Sun 

4th 

2-5pm 

German 

SIG 

Jeanette 

Rosenberg 

Edgware 

“Recent Developments 

in German Jewish 

Genealogy” 

Sun 

4th 

2-6pm 

B‟nai „Brith 

“European 

Days of 

Jewish 

Heritage” 

Raymond 

Montanjees 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

“Heritage Day 

Workshop” 

Joint event with the 

Jewish Historical Society 

of England 

Mon 

5th 

7.45- 

10pm 

East Of 

London 

Regional 

Group 

Raymond 

Montanjees 

Ilford 

Synagogue, 

Beehive Lane 

Ilford 

Jeanette Rosenberg will 

demonstrate with a “Power 

Point” presentation 

“Exploring the new 

JGSGB Website” 

Tue 

6th 

7.30- 

10pm 

Chilterns 

Regional 

Group 

Stan Rose 

Osorio Hall 

NPLS 

Danielle will conduct a 

tutorial on using the 

“Newspaper Library” 

website, followed by an 

associated workshop. 

Thu 

8th 

7.30- 

10pm 

South East 

Essex 

Group 

Anne 

Marcus 

Talmud Torah 

Westcliff on 

Sea 

“Resources sharing 

evening” 

See page 20 for details 

Thu 

8th 

7.30- 

9.30pm 

Education 

Evening 

Jeanette 

Rosenberg 

33 Seymour 

Place 

“Holocaust Research” 

Library 

Sun 

11th 

4-6pm 

“Genealogi 

cal 

Workshop” 

David Roth 

The Sternberg 

Centre, 

80 East End 

Road, 

London N3 

Family History Research in 

conjunction with The Jewish 

Museum. A session for 

Beginners and experienced 

researchers. Members: £2 

Museum Friends, & Students: 

£4 Others: £5 

Wed 

14th 

10.30- 

3pm 

Library 

Session 

Contact 

Library 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

Open 10.30-3pm for general 

research. All visitors 

welcome. Members of 

the society are on hand 

to help you use the li- 

September continued on page 22 

21


September 2011 Continued 

Sun 

18th 

2.30- 

6 pm 

Welsh 

BOF. 

Gina Marks 

& 

Joel Levy 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

“Welsh Jewish 

Ancestry” 

Sun 

18th 

3-5 

pm 

Midlands 

Regional 

Group 

David 

Harrison 

Birmingham 

Progressive 

Synagogue 

“Genealogical 

Workshop” 

All who attend are encouraged 

to share research 

problems and 

advice in a friendly manner 

to aid one and other 

in reaching the objectives 

of their research. 

See page 6 

October 2011 

Wed 

12th 

10.30– 

3pm 

Library 

Session 

Contact 

Library 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

Open 10.30-3pm for 

general research. All 

visitors welcome. Members 

of the society are 

on hand to help you use 

the library 

Sun 

30th 

10-5pm 

All Day 

Annual 

Conference 

Shirley 

Collier, 

See Front 

page of this 

Newsletter. 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Programme Speakers: 

Sam Aaron, Richard 

Goodwin, Carol Reeves, 

Todd Knowles, Philip 

Walker. 

Sun 

30th 

3-6 pm Library 

Session 

Contact 

Library 

33 Seymour 

Place 

Library 

Open 3-6pm for general 

research. All visitors welcome. 

Members of the 

society are on hand to 

help you use the library 


22

July 2011 


EE SIG and Members Meeting 

2.00pm-6.00pm Sunday 17th July 2011, 

Council Room, 

33, Seymour Place, 

London W1H 5AU 

“The Jewish Experience in Poland” 

Guest Speaker: Richard Goldstein 


Richard Goldstein is the Director of the LJCC's Holocaust and Anti-Racism 

Education Department and the Tours Department. Previously 

he was Director of UJIA Israel Experience and the Director 

of the Lessons from Auschwitz project at the Holocaust Educational 

Trust. He originally worked as Director of European Programmes 

for the Israel Experience department. 

RSVP 


23


Writing and Publishing Your Family History 

Introduction - Most of us research in Isolation, but eventually pretty much everyone 

decides to share their research. This tutorial is all about ideas for some of the things 

you need to think about in writing up your research. The Resource List at the end of 

the tutorial contains just some of my personal favourite resources, or things that I 

consider are the most useful. Please note, many of these resources are chargeable! 

Jeanette Rosenberg, JGSGB Education & Mentoring 

Planning - The 3 R‟s: Recall, Reflect and Reminisce, then write! 

You could use old family stories. Research – the 4 th R – what do other people remember 

about the same event or situation. Consider interviewing your family and 

others to get additional information. It will help bring your story to life for everyone! 

What format? Does it have to be a book? (Cost may be a consideration!) 

Is this going to be a printed publication? Consider e-publishing or online publishing. 

Use the EPUB standard to produced e-volumes for the Nook and Kindle. 

What about a Blog, Website, Family newsletter, Fanzine, scrapbook, journal or diary? 

Consider writing an article for a genealogy Journal, e.g. Shemot. 

What style? - Is it a memoir or an autobiography? Is it a migration history or a biography? 

Is it fact or Fiction? - How much truth do you want to include? 

Is this a social history? What is in or out of scope for your work? 

What about something more academic? – Cite your sources, so that others can rely 

on your research and information. Other people will want to know they can trust the 

quality of your work, by checking the details you have included. 

Organising your material - Many tools exist to help authors organise their work, 

scrivener software is supposed to be one of the best. Don‟t forget to create an index 

of the people and places you mention, it will help others, particularly genealogists, 

using your work as their own source of reference. Do you need a glossary for any 

non-standard words so all your readers will understand what they‟re reading? 

Context and Sharing - Reach out to your reader. Think of your audience, what do 

they want to know and how will they find out? Develop your characters. Consider 

including deep biographical sketches to help bring your audience closer to the subject. 

Add colour and depth – be descriptive, tell your reader about your feelings, but 

take care, don‟t share too much! Think of the legal situation! 

Writing - Remember to write as you go along. If you‟re anything like me, you‟ll probably 

never finish your family history research, so if you leave writing it all up until 

then, you will never get around to writing up your family history. Don‟t leave it until it‟s 

too late! 

Do you need an editor, mentor or coach? It‟s a good way to cure writer‟s block! 

Who else is looking out for your typos, bad spelling, layout, and grammar? Has the 

editor set you any deadlines? 

24

July 2011 

25 


Illustration, Design and Layout - Make your work attractive and readable. Use pictures, 

photos, maps, letters, diary excerpts, family trees, wills, etc. to break up long 

blocks of text, but remember to check who owns the rights to these images first! You 

also need to check the image resolution is high enough for reproduction, and strike 

an appropriate balance between images and text. Choose tiny fonts and you will alienate 

your reader! Be consistent with your presentation. Will the work be in colour, 

or in black and white? 

Printing – Think about costs, stock, volume, storage – where will I keep all those 

boxes of my books? Consider Print on Demand or short run printing, etc. What about 

other formats rather than killing trees? Share copies with everyone! If you can, leave 

a few blank pages in your book so you can add additional information. 

Use a Blog instead? - Probably the best example I‟ve seen of using a Blog to publish 

information about a family is “Everything I know about Hyman Victor” by Elliott 

Malkin, see www.dziga.com/victor/ Malkin describes it as “A genealogy and family 

history centring on his late great-grandfather Hyman Victor, a Jewish immigrant who 

came to America in 1913 – pieced together from the vital records he unknowingly left 

behind.” Blogging makes sharing your work much easier! 

Useful Resources for Genealogy and Family History Authors 

Books 

Producing a Quality Family History by Patricia Law Hatcher. Publisher: Ancestry.com 

(July 1, 1996), 286 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0916489649. 

Writing & Selling Your Memoir by Paula Balzar. Publisher Memory Makers (1 July 

2011), 240 pages, ISBN-13:978-1599631356 

Web-based help and advice to Genealogy Authors 

Advice for Authors Blog: www.storiestotellbooks.com/blog/ 

Website hints: About.com/genealogy by Kimberly Powell http://genealogy.about.com/ 

bio/Kimberly-Powell-5227.htm 

Website to help genealogists write their family history: www.genwriters.com/ 

Self Publishing Websites – multi format, not just books! 

Lulu – www.lulu.com/ 

Create Space from Amazon - www.createspace.com 

My Canvas – the Ancestry self-publishing tool www.mycanvas.com/ 

Get Organised - Organisation software for authors, this is supposed to be one of the 

best: Scrivener www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php 

Technology – for IT and Tech tips for genealogists : http://technologytamers.blogspot.com/ 

Information on formatting documents, taming software, producing 

presentations, etc. 

Get a Coach - To help with your writing 

Nancy Hendrickson http://nancyhendrickson.com/ 

Hint: Subscribers to Nancy‟s email list are currently being sent an e-book of 21 ideas 

to spark your imagination while writing your family tree book!


July 2011 

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS 

SIG Co-ordinator: Michael Hoffman 

SIG CONVENORS 

Anglo-Jewish Doreen Berger Dutch/Sephardi Raymond Montanjees 

German Jeanette Rosenberg East European comprising Lithuania/Latvia/ 

Poland/Galicia/Ukraine/Rumania Raymond Montanjees/Michael Hoffman 

See the JGSGB PROGRAMME included with this Newsletter or visit the JGSGB website 

for details of meetings. 

Dutch & Sephardi SIG Meeting Sunday 3 April 2011 

At this extremely interesting meeting, Emeritus Professor Michael Alpert gave a talk 

with a broad outline on the subject of Spanish Jewry and its diaspora during and 

following the Inquisition from 1492. Although the subject on this occasion was aimed 

mainly at Sephardi researchers, rather than at the usual mix of Sephardi and Dutch 

Ashkenazi researchers, it was well received by all. 

With the aid of a sketched map, we were told about the Inquisition, persecution, 

forced conversions to Christianity and subsequent migration and re-settlement in 

many parts of Europe, North Africa and the Ottoman Empire. 

The professor has written several books - one in particular, entitled "Secret Judaism 

and the Spanish Inquisition" - is, whilst harrowing, a very interesting and informative 

read. 

After the talk, we had the always popular and welcome round the table Workshop, 

with new names being added to the DUTCH & SEPHARDI SIG database. New 

names from the afternoon - GOMES DA COSTA, GOMEZ DE ACOSTA, DE WILDE, 

FRANK, KEMPLER and RECHNITZER. 

There is a list available of this SIG's researchers and researched names that I have 

produced and printed off for distribution at the meetings - most attendees have a 

copy. If you would like a copy sent as an attachment via e-mail, please contact me. 

I also have a list from several years ago, of past members' wants. Send me yours 

and I'll have a look to see if there is a contact there looking for the same - and don't 

forget to have a look at and support the following Forum, set up by Peter Glass 

 

The next meeting will most probably be on Sunday 13th of November. Please check 

the next (summer) issue of Newsletter for confirmation and further details. We look 

forward to seeing existing SIG members and hopefully some new faces as well at the 

next meeting. 

Raymond Montanjees 

26

July 2011 

Henry Roache 


Anglo Jewish SIG meeting Sunday 15 May 2011 

A meeting of the JGSGB Anglo-Jewish Special Interest group 

was held on 15th May 2011 at 33 Seymour Place. There 

were 26 members present and Doreen Berger was in the 

chair. The minutes of the previous meeting were read by Sue 

Woolf, and were duly signed as a correct record of that meeting. 

Doreen introduced our speaker for the afternoon, Henry Roche, whose talk was entitled 

“Portsmouth Jewry and its Old Circumcision Registry” Levy Isaac was born in 

Germany and his Portsmouth Circumcision Register covers the period of 1762 to 

1807. He was latterly assisted by his son Joel, and the register was transcribed in 

1951 by Eugene Newman. Henry first saw this small book, which is in exceptionally 

good condition, at the Portsmouth Synagogue in 1986. Assisted by Richard Cooper. 

who took digital photographs of the Circumcision Register, Henry was able to make 

corrections to the original transcription made by Eugene Newman. There are one 

hundred and thirteen entries in Hebrew and a few in Yiddish. During the period covered 

by the register there were two splits in the congregation, the first from 1762- 

1765 and the second from 1774-1789, the congregation were finally reunited in 1790. 

Doreen thanked Henry for his informative talk and for his pioneering and valuable 

work. Henry's transcription is now deposited in our Library and we are grateful to 

Henry for this. 

After a short break for refreshments members spoke about their own research. 

Doreen read out a letter she had written to Jewish News about the Jewish ancestry 

of one of the young bridesmaids at the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton. 

Amongst our members' varied interests, Diane Barnett's mentioned that her 

three-times great-grandfather was the subject of highway robbery, Naomi Fellerman 

had found another member of her Isaac's family who had been refused naturalization 

because he had been accused in a breach of promise court case. Michael Hoffman 

reminded us that it would be a good idea to include the names of families we were 

researching when sending emails to possible contacts. 

Gerry Newman found the death of his two times great-grandmother who died of cholera 

in 1849 on the U.S.A. Mortality Register. Gina Marks had found that her two 

times great-grandmother emigrated to New Zealand in the 1850's. A relative of Martin 

Lee left him fourteen diaries, written while the author lived in India and socialized 

with the Sassoon family, Sue Woolf mentioned the Solomon/Myers family conference 

which is due to take place in Australia next year. 

After the meeting was closed the library was opened for a short period for members 

research. The next meeting will be held on Sunday, August the 14th. Members will 

be able to discuss their problems and successes. The guest speaker will be our 

member, Stephen Jacobs, and is entitled "How I found my Jacobs Clan". 

Doreen Berger 

27


German SIG Meeting 5 June 2011 

July 2011 

A select band of German SIG researchers attended a presentation 

about Jewish Civil Records in C19th Southern Germany on 

Sunday 5 June 2011. 

We also explored the on line collections now available from the 

Jeanette Rosenberg Leo Baeck Institute in New York, which is digitising its collections 

and making them available free online. The records can be found 

along with those from the other co-located partners on the website of theCenter for 

Jewish History - www.cjh.org/ . We also explored some of the online Jewish records 

from the Landesarchiv Baden Wuerttemburg - 

https://www2.landesarchiv-bw.de/ofs21/olf/startbild.php?bestand 

After the formal part of the meeting people worked on their own research, sharing 

information with others and using the growing book collection. One member even 

found unexpected mentions of his relatives in a book in the library! The next German 

SIG meeting in September will review developments in German Jewish genealogy 

that are announced during August's IAJGS conference in Washington DC. 

Jeanette Rosenberg 

Convenor German Special Interest Group 

Genealogical Workshop Sunday 6 June 2011 

The Workshop on Sunday 6 June 2011 at the Jewish Museum, Camden Town was a 

great success. There were about 20 people in attendance there including the workshop 

team. Of those who attended there were two families each consisting 3 family 

members. 

Several interesting stories were told, including one lady who was descended from 

the Czech composer Smetana. Questions were asked about research in Poland, 

Lithuania, the Caucasus, Jamaica etc. 

Daniel answered many of the questions in great detail; generally the feeling was that 

we managed to steer people in a useful direction, although there were one or two 

who had already done so much of their own research work there was not much that 

we could do to help them. 

One or two of those attending were already members of JGSGB and 2 or 3 others 

said they would join JGSGB. We also sold 3 guides. 

David Roth 

28

July 2011 


IN THE REGIONS 

Regional Co-ordinator - Michael Hoffman 

The Members' Corner of the Society‟s website has web pages devoted to Regional 

Groups 

. 

You will find links to your Group with diverse information including dates and 

subjects of forthcoming meetings. 

Leeds Regional Group Family History Workshop: 10 th May 2011 

Just two days after attending the superb Manchester conference, which Lorna & her 

team organise annually, Michael Hoffman ran his second workshop in Leeds. This 

time numbers had been reduced and in retrospect 15 seemed an ideal number – 

small enough to feel informal and non-threatening, so people could add their comments, 

but large enough to give a wide variety of backgrounds and problems encountered 

in the genealogical trail. 

Michael‟s impressive knowledge shone through – everyone had a chance to list the 

names they were researching and raise at least one problem currently encountered 

in their genealogical research. For this workshop we had asked delegates to complete 

a form with these details and this preparation was helpful in making better use 

of the time available. It was also a lovely social occasion rounded off with refreshments 

over which people chatted. Two members of committee were delighted to 

meet people connected with their family members! The nature of a workshop is such 

that one learns about the other delegates – and we were delighted that members 

from Hull were present – we cover a far wider area than our name suggests. Nonmembers 

were pleased to obtain copies of the Leeds edition of Shemot and the 

newsletter, which Michael had brought along and some hopefully will have been persuaded 

to join the Society. 

This is the final “free for non-members” session arranged following the contacts 

made at the extremely successful Leeds Museum event in November 2010. Our next 

event is a joint meeting with the Leeds branch of the Jewish Historical Society, in 

which Dr David Lewis will be speaking on “The Jews of (& through) Hull”. This will be 

held at 8.00pm on Monday 6 th June at the UHC Synagogue, 151 Shadwell Lane, 

Leeds LS17 8DW. Non-members are welcome to attend, but a small charge will be 

made. In July we are arranging a session at the Leeds Museum‟s Discovery Centre 

to view their large collection of Leeds Jewish artefacts. 

Ann Lightman 

Chairman, Leeds Regional Group 

29


The Chilterns Regional Group 

July 2011 

A near disaster at our meeting on 5th April was averted 

with the help of Jeanette Rosenberg. Despite the fact that 

we always require the laptop and projector, we were without 

the equipment at the start of the meeting. 

Our meetings normally start with a 30 minute Tutorial 

based on the internet connection and for which we need a 

laptop and projector. For this particular meeting Tony Allen 

was to present his illustrated talk on researching his Raphael family. The evening 

looked bleak until Jeanette stepped into the breach with a brilliant question and answer 

session as we waited for Mark who had quickly driven home to pick up a projector 

he had there. 

There were two dozen of us present at the meeting and Tony was able, on Mark‟s 

return, to deliver his talk, and what a super story it was too! 

A great deal of research had gone into his presentation and he backed it up with a 

printout of the family tree. This was around 10 metres in length and needed several 

tables for support ! A short question and answer period followed leading to the break 

for refreshments. 

Following the talk, we were able to browse through our new group lending library 

and Naomi Lesser, our Librarian, said that a total of eight books had gone out on 

loan. She had produced a book list for members and any of the books may be borrowed 

by contacting her. They will be available more-or-less at any time and will also 

be displayed for browsing at our meetings. 

Stan Rose 

30

July 2011 


SE Essex Regional Group Meeting, Thursday 12 May 2011 

Jewish family research is now an established pursuit in 

South East Essex following the first meeting of this new 

group, which took place in the Talmud Torah at Finchley 

Road Synagogue in Westcliff on Sea on Thursday 12 May 

– and what a great evening it was with about thirty people 

in attendance. We were joined by Raymond Montanjees, a 

Council Member from the Jewish Genealogical Society, 

who told us about the society, explaining the research 

Ann Marcus library and other resources available. Gathered around a 

large table we each talked in turn about the names and 

places we were researching with Raymond offering the benefit of his many years of 

experience. 

A great deal of information was shared and almost everyone was able to take away 

some suggestions for the next steps to be taken to unlock those hidden ancestors 

from the past. There were some delightful moments when strangers became friends, 

or possibly relatives, having discovered that they may be searching for the same 

people. 

We were very grateful to the three representatives from the Essex Family History 

Society who brought along their computers, printers and wealth of knowledge all 

ready to help us search online. Regrettably the internet connection let us down on 

the evening but we have forged some close links between our groups to help each 

others members whenever needed. 

The next two dates for your diaries are: 

Monday 11 July: We will hold a “small tutorial”, for those of you who would like it, 

on how to order Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates; Naturalisation Papers; and 

Wills and we will also have time to continue our sharing of research - so please bring 

along any progress to report or “brick-walls” to test the brains of your fellow researchers. 

Thursday 8 September: This will be a resources sharing evening to tell your fellow 

researchers your favourite websites books and libraries. All meetings are £3, unless 

you are already a member of the JGSGB in which case it is free. (if any members 

inadvertently paid last time please ask me for a refund) 

Everyone is welcome so please tell your friends, however it would be helpful if you 

could confirm your attendance in advance to ensure we have enough chairs and 

biscuits. 

Time and venue: 7.30pm - 10pm 

Talmud Torah, Finchley Road 

Synagogue Westcliff on Sea, Essex. 

Anne Marcus avoceta@hotmail.com 

31


July 2011 

East of London Regional Group Meeting Monday 14 March 2011 

The EOL workshop on Monday 14 March was especially interesting when members 

related chance meetings and coincidences in their research. 

Victor Bensilum has been researching for an elusive birth certificate, he will now contact 

the GRO in Southport, search the parish records and the Mile End Cemetery 

information from the Bevis Marks cemetery records. 

Leon Silverman is researching the “Donn” family. Speaking with a member at the 

New Members meeting he discovered a link in Brazil, and will now look in the Brazilian 

Archives. The importance of attending meetings is that you never know who are 

going to meet! An aunt Rachel Donn went to the USA but no trace of her has been 

found. Leon will contact a member in San Francisco, AJEX and the War Graves 

Commission to further his research. 

Pamela Winbourne has achieved success in many areas, particularly the family who 

lived in Canvey Island, Essex where her aunt was the founder of the Abbeyfield Childrens 

home. Pursuing many areas she has learned that an aunt escaped from Poland 

in the boot of a car with the family name of Krasnopolsky. 

Daniel Morgan-Thomas whilst assisting on the “Family Search” stand at Olympia saw 

a lady holding a framed picture of her Grandmother who was also his Great Grandmother, 

so the family was reunited after many years. 

Nigel Fidlan who has a vast family tree spoke about his second cousin, once removed. 

Gerald Fink of Chicago was a Colonel in the Marines who was a POW in 

North Korea, who was incorrectly reported to have been hanged, he survived torture 

and was decorated with many medals for his work, his many exploits and bravery in 

helping his fellow prisoners. Nigel recommended a website for Dutch research 

www.joodsmonument.nl 

John Fitter was informed of the Irish research information available on Ancestry and 

discussed Jewish genealogy in Egypt and Israel. Researching the “Barr” family in the 

1851 Census John and Elizabeth Levy in the Parish Records. 

Susan Jacobs recently found two first cousins and her husband's relations in Australia. 

Two of her families lived next to each other, without knowing they were related. 

Susan has family worldwide, India, Australia and the USA and she has a famous Nobel 

prize winner in ancestor Dr Paul Erlich. 

Daniel Morgan-Thomas 

32

July 2011 


New Publication 

Jewish Ancestors? 

A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in the United Kingdom 

ISBN: 0-97809551023-1-8 (144 pages-paperback) 

Price: £7.30 (UK) - £9.50 (overseas) to include postage & packing. 

Contributing Editor Rosemary Wenzerul 

Revised in 2011 by Mark Nicholls 

Description 

This is the seventh publication in the Jewish Ancestors series (revised in 2011) produced 

by the JGSGB. The intention is to provide an introduction to the basic resources 

and concepts for the large number of researchers who have one or more 

ancestors in the United Kingdom. The guide is focussed on all the known large and 

small Jewish Communities. 

Copies are available via. The JGSGB website: 

By e-mail 

Coming soon a Revised Edition of “A Guide to Jewish Ancestors in Lithuania”. 

Advertisement 

33


July 2011 

CHANGING YOUR DETAILS ON MEMBERS’ CORNER 

It is now up to all to ensure that your membership details are correct and to change them 

when and if necessary. If you do not have an e-mail address then please inform Mark Nicholls 

and he will make the changes on your behalf. 

To access your information on the JGSGB website please log into Members 

corner then click on My Account, and then click on Edit and you can modify your 

membership details. 

Click on Account and you can modify your *e-mail address and *password. Click on About 

You and on this page you can change your *postal address, and the method of receiving 

*Shemot, *Newsletter and the details of the AGM. 

If you change your username or password you will be asked to log in once again with your 

new details. 

Please remember that the username and password access is case sensitive. If you use a 

capital letter or small letter you will always have to do so. 

Louise Messik 

jgsgb-discuss - - - - - - your own online discussion group 

The objectives of the Society‟s Online Discussion Group….. jgsgb-discuss are to: help one 

another to learn and discover more about Jewish Genealogy, research methods and resources; 

share information and resources amongst JGSGB members; facilitate establishing 

contact with members researching the same families or the same geographical areas and promote 

the activities of JGSGB. jgsgb-discuss is for both beginners and experienced genealogists 

alike. The geographical scope of the research discussed is global (although much obviously 

relates to UK genealogy). There is no obligation to post any messages and you are welcome 

to just read and enjoy the messages. However, by actively participating and posting 

messages, you may get one of your problems solved. 

JOIN NOW — IT'S FREE — it's a JGSGB membership benefit. 

Just send an e-mail to the Moderator Louise Messik at . 

Past and current messages posted are archived and can be accessed. 

You may search for messages on a particular topic or just browse - fascinating stuff. Do try 

looking at the archives first, prior to posting a message to the Group - you may find your question 

has already been answered! 

Use the following website link to obtain instructions: . 

PERSONAL SECURITY 

In the interest of security it is the policy of JGSGB NEWSLETTER not to publish member contributors‟ 

home addresses. These can be found in the JGSGB Membership List available to 

JGSGB members. Non-members seeking to make contact should contact the Editor or better 

still become a member. 

34

July 2011 


Welcome to the following NEW MEMBERS since the 

April 2011 Edition of the Newsletter. 

Sandra Pinker 

Mortdale, NSW, 

Australia. 

Ian Palot 

Bognor Regis, 

Derek Lennard London N1 Harvey Cohen Manchester, Lancs 

David Masters London NW4 Sylvia Elvey Mill Hill, London NW7 

Steven Cooper 

Sherwood Park, 

Alberta, Canada 

Jacqueline R 

Richmond Hill, Ontario 

Lisa Renak Elstree, Herts. Daniel Anderson London N11 

Marcelle Baum 

Leigh on Sea, 

Essex 

Jud Hendelman 

Montreux Switzerland 

Jeanette Encrement 

& James Taylor 

Birmingham, 

West Midlands 

Marion Schnurr 

Campbell River, 

British Columbia 

Lyn Saunders Wallington, Surrey George Hastings Manchester, Lancs. 

John Cable Westray, Orkney Peter Towey Plymouth, Devon 

Brookes Mckenzie 

New York, 

New York USA 

Margaret Cairns 

Irven 

London W10 

Ann Clements London SE 22 Carole Repton Woking, Surrey 

David P Lewis Totteridge London Peter Phillips Wasperton, Warks 

Martin Korn Edgware, Middx. Martin Asker Mitcheldean, Warks 

Julian Land 

Middle Park, 

Victoria, Australia 

Charles & 

Jacqueline Miller 

Cockfosters, Herts 

JFS School 

Simon & Anna 

Kenton, Middlesex Sidney & Valerie 

Lee 

London N12 

Woodford Green 

Essex 

35


News from the Library, Lydia Collins 

July 2011 

We have now acquired a complete set of the Jewish Encyclopaedia thanks to the 

indefatigable Gina Marks who is always on the lookout for useful books for the library. 

Those of you who have used this encyclopaedia will know it contains many interesting 

family trees and accounts of communities prior to World War I. The Edmonton 

Jewish Research Group set out to investigate the roots of settlement in the northern 

suburbs of London and we purchased a complete set of their booklets published 

1982-2007. The Kemblinski saga is the story of the family of Janina Hochland, a long 

standing member of the society and founder of our Manchester branch. Our other 

acquisitions relate mainly to World War II. Henry Morris and Martin Sugarman have 

finally produced an updated and enlarged edition of their invaluable record of Jewish 

people who died in the Armed Forces from 1939 onwards. Their information has 

been taken from a huge number of sources and in intended to be a definitive list but 

they ask that any names found have been to have been omitted be forwarded to 

them at AJEX. 

Recent accessions to the JGSGB Library. 

The Jewish Encyclopaedia, vols. 1-12 (Funk and Wagnall, New York and London, 

1901-06) [702 JE] 

Heritage. Historical Series on the Jewish Inhabitants of North London, vols. 1-6 by 

Edmonton Jewish Research Group [150 2 Edml 1-6] 

Leeds Jewry, 1930-1939: the challenge of anti-Semitism, Amanda Bergen [160 LEE 

2 Ber] 

We Will Remember Them. A Record of the Jews who died in the Armed Forces of 

the Crown from 1939, by Henry Morris and Martin Sugarman, 2nd edition, 2011 [625 

110 Mor] 

Jewish Serviceman at the Arnhem, Sept. 1944. A Project of Remembrance, by Martin 

Sugarman [625 110 Arn] 

The Kem(b)linski Saga, Janina Hochland [655 KEM Hoc] 

The Halcyon Lodge No. 3546 [London] 1911-1951, photocopy with index by George 

Regal [680 MAS Hal] 

Wartime Experience in Lithuania [Butrimantz], by Rivka L. Bogomolnaya [800 300 

BUT] 

Nineteen Months in a Cellar: how 11 Jews eluded Hitler's henchmen. The Diary of 

Kalman Linkimer (1913-1988) [800 347Lin] 

WHAT'S IN THE LIBRARY? 

The list of ALL available data in the JGSGB Members' Library is available for 

download at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jgsgblib 

36

July 2011 


The JGSGB Library and Resource Centre at 

33 Seymour Place, London W1H 9AU, 

is open at the times and dates as specified in the programme. 

For appointments outside normal opening hours, 

Contact: Jenny Osorio 

Or Tel: 020 8977 4640 

Non-members may visit the Library by prior arrangement, for which 

there is a fee of £5.00, which is deductible on joining the JGSGB. 

Access to the Library is through the entrance in 33 Seymour Place, 

where you will be required to “sign in” at the Reception Desk. 

Members of the Society are on hand to help in the use of the Library 

MENTORING 

Just beginning and need help on how to start your research? 

Need guidance with appropriate research strategies or sources? 

Moving into a new area of research (e.g. A different geographical area or 

different time period) which requires a different approach 

or a different record sources? 

Need specialist advice on a genealogical topic? 

“Brick Wall” problem and need fresh ideas / suggestions? 

If any of the above applies to you, then JGSGB offers services that are available free 

of charge to members only. One-to-one advice over a period of time, to help new 

members or members moving to a new research area. This may be by e-mail, phone 

or face-to-face meetings as agreed between the mentor and the member being assisted, 

or any further details about mentoring then please contact: 

Jeanette Rosenberg using 

The society also has a Register of Professional Researchers and Translators, available 

on request from . 

37


For Sale 

July 2011 

JGSGB Branded T-Shirts and Mugs 

Now on sale at all London-based JGSGB Events. 

Mugs: £5.00 each 

T-Shirts: £10.00 each 

Proceeds in support of the JGSGB. 

For further information contact: Jeanette Rosenberg 

 

38

July 2011 


JGSGB PUBLICATIONS ORDER FORM 

PRICE (price includes Postage & Packing) 

Title Price Quantity Total 

A Guide to Jewish Genealogy 

in Germany & Austria 

ISBN: 0-9537669-1-8 (76 pages) 


in Latvia and Estonia 

ISBN: 0-9537669-9-3 (144 pages) 

A Guide to Organising Your 

Family History Records 

ISBN: 0-9537669-4-2 (116 pages) 


in the United Kingdom (Revised 2011) 

ISBN: 0-97809551023-1-8 (144 pages) 

A Guide to Reading Hebrew 

Inscriptions and Documents 

ISBN: 0-9537669-6-9 (56 pages) 


in Lithuania 

ISBN: 0-9537669-8-5 (140 pages) 


in Poland 

ISBN: 978-0-9551023-0-1 (80 pages) 

Genealogical Resources within 

the Jewish Home and Family 

ISBN: 1-86006-148-6 (112 pages) 

Jewish Memorial (Yizkor) Books in 

the United Kingdom 

ISBN: 0-9537669-5-0 (188 pages) 

£4.30 (UK) 

£5.50 

(OVERSEAS) 

£7.30 (UK) 

£9.50 

(OVERSEAS) 

£6.30 (UK) 

£7.50 

(OVERSEAS) 

£7.30 (UK) 

£9.50 

(OVERSEAS) 

£5.80 (UK) 

£7.30 

(OVERSEAS) 

£7.30 (UK) 

£9.50 

(OVERSEAS) 

£6.30 (UK) 

£7.50 

(OVERSEAS) 

£7.30 (UK) 

£9.50 

(OVERSEAS) 

£22.10 (UK) 

OVERSEAS 

on request 

Total £ 

The Society‟s Books are available to purchase online via. our website and pay by 

PayPal at www.jgsgb.org.uk 

39


July 2011 

THE JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN 

Manchester Regional Group 

is proud to bring this very special exhibition to Manchester 

Another Space presents 

From Auschwitz to Ambleside 

An exhibition that tells the story of the three hundred Jewish child Holocaust Survivors 

who came to the Lake District in 1945, as featured in the BBC ONE documentary 

"The Orphans Who Survived The Concentration Camps" 

Images and background to their arrival including the 

Short Brothers "Flying Boat" factory at White Cross Bay and Calgarth Estate. 

The United Synagogue 

Mead Hill Road 

off Middleton Road 

Manchester M8 4FP 

27th July - 8th September 2011 

Opening Times: 

Monday to Thursday 10am - 12 noon and 2.00pm - 4.00pm 

Friday 10am - 12 noon 

Sunday 11am - 4.00pm 

Groups by special arrangement 

For further information contact Lorna Kay - Tel: 0161 792 274 

Click onto this link for full details http://www.anotherspace.org.uk/a2a 

Supported by: 

The National Lottery, Heritage Lottery Fund, Lake District National Park, 

South Lakeland District Council, Cumbria County Council. 

Another Space Limited is a company limited by guarantee incorporated in England. 

Reg. charity 1122304 Reg. Company 6441350 www.anotherspace.org.uk/a2a/ 


NEWSLETTER 

ISSUE: 56 July 2011 

40

Newsletter - Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain

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