London Jewish records go online
A collection of nearly 100,000 London synagogue records has been uploaded to thegenealogist.co.uk.
Spanning 1920 to 1939, the historic dataset reveals the names of seat-holders at 18 synagogues across the capital, including details of whether or not they held any positions of authority.
Fully searchable by name, keyword, synagogue and address, each entry is also accompanied by a scan of the page in the book Seatholders for Synagogues in London in which it originally appears.
Among the names included in the collection is Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942), a prominent Conservative politician and member of the famous Rothschild banking dynasty. The first practising Jewish man to take up a seat in Parliament, searching the dataset reveals that Rothschild held positions in three different synagogues.
This includes his tenure as Warden of the Great Synagogue, which once stood in Duke’s Place, Aldgate (later destroyed by enemy action during the Second World War), as well as his time serving as President of the United Synagogue in North Finchley.
“These records will allow you to search for Jewish relatives among the London synagogue seat-holders,” said Nigel Bayley, managing director of TheGenealogist.
“It is now easier than ever to discover any official positions that your Jewish ancestor held.”