Dalston Synagogue opened in Colveston House, Ridley Road, in 1874. It later moved to a purpose built building in Mildmay Road. The synagogue was admitted as a Constituent member of the United Synagogue in 1885. North London Synagogue merged with it in 1958, and it amalgamated with Stoke Newington Synagogue in 1967.
Ellis Wolfe set up a charity by his will, to be called "Ellis Wolfe's Mite". It was to be administered by the Great, Hambro and New Synagogues for the relief of the poorer members of their congregation. The charity was set up in 1830.
Finsbury Park Synagogue was founded as an independent synagogue in 1884. It was initially affilited with the Federation of Synagogues, before becoming a District Synagogue of the United Synagogue in 1934. The Synagogue was situated on Portland Road, then Princess Crescent, before moving to Green Lanes where it is still situated.
The Great Synagogue was founded in 1690, and was situated on Duke's Place, near Aldgate in the City of London. The Synagogue was the first in England built for Ashkenazi Jews and for many years it was the centre of Ashkenazi life in London. It was one of the original five synagogues which grouped together to form the United Synagogue in 1870. The Hambro Synagogue was incorporated into it in 1936. Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler was the rabbi there 1845-1890, succeeded by his son Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler, 1890-1911. The synagogue was destroyed by enemy action in 1941.
The Hambro Synagogue was founded in 1707, situated at Church Row, Fenchurch Street, E.C. It was one of the five original synagogues which grouped together to form the United Synagogue in 1870. It amalgamated with the Great Synagogue in 1936.
The North London Synagogue was opened in 1868, although services had been taking place in the area since 1864. It was situated on John Street (now Lofting Road) in Barnsbury, Islington. The synagogue was admitted as a Constituent member of the United Synagogue in 1878. The opening of Dalston Synagogue caused a decline in membership and in 1958 the two establishments were amalgamated.
From: 'Islington: Judaism', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 117 (available online).
Cecil Roth (1899-1970), Jewish historian, compiled a report and catalogue on the archives of the United Synagogue and its predecessor synagogues in 1930. A copy of the catalogue is available within this collection (reference ACC/2712/13/01/50).
Solomon Arnold was a Russian Jew and a member of the New Synagogue. In his will he left 2000 pounds to the New Synagogue, the interest from which was to be used as a dowry for poor women of the congregation. The Solomon Arnold Charity was set up in 1846.
The Stoke Newington Synagogue was established in 1887, and admitted as a Constituent member of the United Synagogue in 1903. Dalston Synagogue was incorporated into it in 1967.
Isleworth Grammar School originated in a charity school founded in 1715 using a bequest from William Cave, vicar of Isleworth. It was known as the Blue School after the uniforms issued to the children. In 1896 it moved to St John's Road. The name changed to Isleworth Grammar School by 1958.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 133-137.
The Enfield East parliamentary constituency existed between 1950 and 1974. During this time it elected two Labour members of Parliament, Ernest Davies (1950-1959) and John Mackie (1959-1974).
Nathan Adler was born in 1803 in Hanover, Germany and was the grand-nephew of Chief Rabbi David Tewele Schiff. He was educated at the universities of Gottingen, Erlangen, Wurzburg and Heidelberg and was ordained in 1828. In 1829 he was elected Senior Rabbi of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and in 1830 appointed to the office in Hanover in his father's stead. In 1844 Nathan Adler succeeded Chief Rabbi Soloman Hirschell and was installed on the 9th of July 1845.
Nathan Adler worked to establish uniformity of religious practices. In 1847 he issued a code of Laws and Regulations which underlined the supremacy of the Chief Rabbi. He visited provincial congregations and took an active interest in settling or preventing communal disputes. In 1855 he founded Jews College in Finsbury Square, London. It was opened as a school and college, but the attraction of good schools outside the Jewish community and the movement of Jews from the area of the City led to the school being closed in 1879.
Many changes to the composition and administrative framework of Anglo-Jewry took place during this Chief Rabbinate. Important Jewish institutions such as the Jewish Board of Guardians and the Anglo-Jewish Association were founded. In the 1860s Adler encouraged proposals for the union of Ashkenazi congregations under one management and the United Synagogue was created by Act of Parliament in 1870. It was also a period when some Jews examined their approach to their faith; some broke away from traditional observance to worship at the newly formed West London Synagogue, the first Reform congregation in Britain. The number of Jews in the country grew, especially from 1881 with the arrival of thousands of refugees fleeing from pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. In 1850 the Jewish population in Britain as around 35,000; in 1914 it stood at 300,000.
In the last decade of his life Nathan Adler had poor health and retired to Brighton. His son Hermann Adler acted for him as Delegate Chief Rabbi until his death on 21st January 1890.
Israel Brodie was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and was educated at Rutherford College, University College London, Jews College and Balliol College, Oxford. Between 1917 and 1919 Brodie served as a chaplain in France and Belgium. After the war he returned to Oxford and also worked as a chaplain and counsellor in the east end of London. He was ordained in 1923 and then moved to Australia to head the Jewish ecclesiastical court in Victoria. During his time there he visited all Jewish congregations on that continent.
Israel Brodie returned to England at the end of the 1930s to become a senior lecturer at Jews' College. He entered into military chaplaincy on the outbreak of war and served in France and the Middle East. For a short period after the war he served as Principal of Jews' College; in 1948 he succeeded Joseph Hertz as Chief Rabbi.
He was by temperament a more peaceable character than his predecessor. Israel Brodie was energetic in working to advance the cause of the new state of Israel and in efforts for the reconstruction of the remnants of European Jewry. Improvements in air travel meant that he was able to tour provincial and overseas communities and congregations frequently. He visited Israel many times and supported the foundation of the Bar-Ilan University where a chair was endowed in his honour. In 1957 Brodie convened a standing conference of European rabbis of which he long remained President.
Israel Brodie faced what was probably his greatest crisis in the 1960s. In 1962 he vetoed the return of Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs to be Minister of the New West End Synagogue. Dr. Jacobs, a notable scholar, had a few years earlier left that position in order to assume at the Chief Rabbi's invitation the post of tutor at Jews' College. Following differences connected with Jacobs' theological and doctrinal opinions (which he had made before his appointment to the College), he had retired from the College. The New West End Synagogue now defied Brodie and a majority confirmed Jacobs' re-appointment. A public debate about the powers of the Chief Rabbinate broke out. Finally, the Board of Management of the New West End Synagogue were dismissed by the Council of the United Synagogue; Jacobs and many of his followers broke away from the New West End Synagogue to form the independent New London Synagogue which became the nucleus of the Masorti movement in Britain.
Israel Brodie retired in 1965, the first Chief Rabbi to leave office by retirement. During retirement he was knighted and he died on the 13th of February 1979.
Jonathan Sacks succeeded Lord Jakobovits as Chief Rabbi on the first of September 1991 at the age of forty-three. He was born in London and educated at Cambridge, Oxford and London. He studied at the Yeshivat Tomhei Temimim in Israel and was ordained at Jews College, London. Sacks lectured in moral philosophy at Middlesex Polytechnic, and Talmud and Jewish philosophy at Jews' College where in 1982 he was the first incumbent of the Lord Jakobovits Chair in Modern Jewish Thought. In 1983 he was appointed Director of the Rabbinic Faculty there and in 1984 became Principal of the College. At the same time Sacks held successive rabbinic appointments at Golders Green Synagogue (1978-1982) and Marble Arch Synagogue (1983-1990). He also held academic appointments at London University and the University of Manchester and was Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex. He was a member of the Central Religious Advisory Committee to the BBC and the IBA. In 1990 he gave the Reith Lectures.
Jonathan Sacks launched several initiatives early in his Chief Rabbinate and emphasised the need to reach out to Jews who felt in some ways neglected by the Jewish community; women, the young, people in small communities and in the provinces. He proclaimed a Decade of Renewal and in 1993 founded Jewish Continuity, a community-wide organisation aiming to invest in Jewish culture and education and in particular to encourage younger Jews to take interest in or further develop the study of their heritage. A Walkabout in Hyde Park was organised for the summer of 1992 and registered charities were invited to participate from both the orthodox and other sections of the community. An application was received from the Jewish Lesbian and Gay Helpline and the group was barred from taking part.
For the first time women were allowed to be full members of synagogue management boards and members of the United Synagogue Council. The Chief Rabbi set up a commission headed by Rosalind Preston, then a vice-president of the Board of Deputies. A report was published two years later. Certain advances were made. Sacks was criticised for not addressing some of the grievances.
In 1993 the Chief Rabbi's Awards for Excellence were introduced whereby ordinary people of merit throughout the country whose work had hitherto been unrecognised by the Jewish community at large received public awards.
The Chief Rabbi is a prolific author. His many books, articles, and papers have attracted wide attention. He is a gifted speaker and broadcaster. Like his predecessor, Lord Jakobovits, he is a prominent national figure and a much-noted publicist within and beyond the Jewish community.
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was born in 1628, son of royal favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. After his father was murdered George and his brother were brought up in the royal nursery with the King's children. They took the Royalist side during the Civil War, and George's brother was killed in action. After the war George fled England and became part of Charles II's court in exile. After the Restoration he gained a reputation for intrigue as a courtier and politician. He died in 1687.
The Manor of Osterley in Heston was purchased by property developer Nicholas Barbon in 1683. Barbon conveyed the Manor to two co-mortgagees including the banker Sir Francis Child the elder (1642-1718). Child took possession of the Manor on Barbon's death in 1698, while his son Robert Child (d 1721) bought out the co-mortgagee, so that the Child family owned the whole estate. The family expanded the estates by purchasing nearby Manors and commissioned Robert Adam to redesign the house. The estates and Child's Bank were inherited by Sarah Anne (1764-1793), daughter and sole heir of Robert Child (d 1782). Under the terms of Robert Child's will the estates passed to Sarah Anne's daughter Lady Sarah Sophia Fane (1785-1867), who was said to have an income of £60,000 a year. Lady Sarah married George Villiers, the fifth Earl of Jersey (1773-1859) who took the name Child-Villiers in 1812. Osterley Park stayed in the Jersey family until 1949 when it was sold to the National Trust.
Victor Albert George Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, was born in 1845, son of the 6th Earl of Jersey, George Augustus Frederick Child-Villiers, and his wife Julia. Victor was educated at Eton and Oxford. He was the governor of New South Wales from 1890-1892, but on his return he did not hold major public office, preferring local positions in Oxfordshire and Middlesex. He was the principal proprietor of Child's Bank.
The Great Western (London) Housing Association, or the Great Western (London) Garden Village Society as it was known until 1947, was established in 1923. Its aim was to provide houses at moderate rents for employees of the Great Western Railway Company and their families in the London area. This co-operative scheme was set up largely in response to the acute housing shortage after the First World War.
The Great Western Railway Company acquired sites at Acton and Hayes. The company then leased the land to the association as and when it was required. The houses were built in groups of fifty, the first being completed and occupied between May and November 1924. A financial agreement between the company and the association enabled the company to lend the association up to ninety per cent of the approved cost of the houses, the loan being secured by a mortgage. The association was administered by the Welsh Town Planning and Housing Trust until 1976. The trust was experienced in the formation and management of garden villages in England and Wales. The administration was taken over by the Family Housing Association until June 1980, when the Great Western (London) Housing Association elected to employ its own administrative staff. The association was managed by a committee of management, which consisted of between seven and eleven people elected by the association's members.
When the opportunity arose in December 1983 for the association to buy the freehold interest in its properties from the British Railways Board, it was unable to raise the capital on its own. A joint venture agreement was therefore entered into, whereby the shareholder tenants were able to purchase their properties from the board and the association. Ninety seven per cent of the shareholders took advantage of this offer, leaving the association with only thirty rented properties. It was decided to transfer these to a new housing association. Thus, the Great Western (London) Housing Association was dissolved in 1990.
The Great Western (London) Housing Association is referred to in the catalogue as 'the association'.
The Benevolent Society of St Patrick was established in 1783 to provide charitable relief to poor and distressed Irish living in and around London. It was amalgamated with the older Irish Charitable Society (founded 1704) in 1787. In providing relief no religious or political distinctions were to be made. Children were particularly the objects of the Society's care. Assistance in clothing and education were regularly given. In 1820 the Society opened its own schools in Stamford Street. These were closed in 1921. The Society reviewed its activities and started to give grants to young Irish men and women 'of good conduct and industry' and to elderly Irish people. In addition grants were given towards hospital beds. After 1948 grants were regularly given to assist the unemployed and other Irish families in need. The Society has long enjoyed royal patronage.
Under the will of Sarah Rachael Titford of Walworth, who died in 1843, a trust was established to pay charitable pensions to 'poor widows' and 'poor maiden women' residing in London, Westminster and Southwark. A bequest from Miss Rutt of Upper Clapton in 1907, for similar charitable purposes, was additionally administered by the trustees.
The Western Synagogue was founded in 1761. Its location has changed many times: in 1774 it moved to Bedford Road, Strand; from 1797 it met in Didben's Theatre "Sans Souci" in Denmark Court; in 1826 it moved to St. Alban's Place, Haymarket where it remained until 1914, moving to 40 Whitfield Street; in 1915 it moved to Alfred Place where it remained until 1943 when the Grotrian Hall, Wigmore Street was occupied; in 1947 it met in Carton Street and eventually a new synagogue was built in Crawford Place in 1957. It has remained an independent congregation.
The synagogue burial society has burial grounds in Edmonton, New Southgate and Cheshunt.
A portion of the congregation set up a separate synagogue in Brewer Street in 1810; this later moved to Maiden Lane. It reunited with the Western Synagogue in 1907.
The Synagogue was closely involved with the running of the Westminster Jews Free School, founded in 1820. Several friendly societies were associated with the synagogue.
The Freemasons Charity for Female Children or Royal Masonic Institution for Girls was founded in 1788. A building was erected for it in St Georges Fields, Southwark, in 1795. It moved to Wandsworth in 1852. It moved to Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire c 1935.
The long-standing connection between the Wood family and the parish of Littleton began in the middle of the seventeenth century when Edward Wood, citizen and grocer of London, built his mansion house there. This remained the principal seat of the family until the house was destroyed by fire in December 1874, and Captain Thomas Wood removed permanently to the family estate at Gwernyfed, Brecknockshire, Wales.
The Woods were substantial landowners with property in a number of counties. The Middleham estate in Yorkshire was purchased in the seventeenth century and the estate at Gwernyfed was acquired in 1776 upon the marriage of Thomas Wood to Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Edward Williams of Langoid Castle. In Middlesex the lordships of Astlam and Littleton were held by the family, and Captain Thomas Wood was lord of the manor of Littleton in 1906 (The Victoria History of the County of Middlesex, Vol. 2., 1911). The Littleton estate, comprising over 1250 acres in Littleton, Shepperton, Ashford and Laleham, was broken up and sold from 1892, although Captain Thomas Wood still owned much of the land in Littleton parish in the early twentieth century.
Members of the family followed careers, for the most part, in law, government, and the armed forces. The first Thomas Wood to live at Littleton (d.1723) continued his father's merchant business and held the appointment of Ranger of Hampton Court. His son Robert was a scholar and Doctor of Laws and, in the next generation, Thomas (1708-99) was Treasurer of the Inner Temple. His descendants entered the government, at home and overseas, often preceding this by military careers. Colonel Thomas Wood (1777-1860), Member of Parliament for Brecon for forty years, commanded the Royal East Middlesex Regiment of Militia for fifty six years and encamped with them at Aldershot in his eightieth year. His son Thomas (1804-72) commanded the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards in the early stages of the Crimean War, Prior to this he represented the County of Middlesex in Parliament, Thomas his son (b.1853) followed his father into the Grenadiers and saw action in the Sudan. Upon leaving the regular army he became a colonel in the Brecknockshire Rifle Volunteers and entered local government. Famous soldiers in the family include Charles Wood (1790-1877) who fought in the Peninsula, and at Waterloo, and his nephew General Sir David Wood (1812-94) an officer in the Crimean campaign and the Indian Mutiny.
Throughout the nineteenth century the family consolidated its position among the landed gentry by contracting alliances with the aristocracy. In successive generations three Thomas Woods married, respectively, the daughter of 1st Marquess of Londonderry, the grand-daughter of 4th Duke of Grafton, and the daughter of 1st. Lord Tollemache. Colonel Thomas Wood and his wife enjoyed the friendship of William IV and Queen Adelaide and the King. nominated Wood to be one of his executors. Colonel Wood was host to George IV at Gwernyfed, and members of the royal family visited Littleton.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Philip William Flower lived at Furzedown, Surrey. He was married to May, daughter of Jonathan Flower. Their son Cyril Flower was born in 1848. He became a Liberal MP and from 1892 a Liberal peer as Lord Battersea. He was married to Constance de Rothschild, but died childless in 1907.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
A bargain and sale was an early form of conveyance often used by executors to convey land. The bargainee, or person to whom the land was bargained and sold, took possession, often referred to as becoming 'seised' of the land.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Shepherd's Hill road runs from Archway Road, near Highgate tube station, to Park Road in Crouch End.
As in Hayes the first industry to make its appearance in Norwood was brick-making. As early as 1697 a London tiler and bricklayer, Robert Browne, had bought 3 acres in Bulls Bridge Field, Hayes, and in South Field, Norwood. That the brick-making industry grew in the 19th century was due to the opening of the Grand Junction Canal in 1796 and of the Paddington Canal five years later. The industry was slightly later in developing in Norwood than in Hayes and in 1821 there was only one small brick-field near Wolf Bridge. In 1826 John Nash, the architect and builder, was licensed by Lord Jersey to dig brickearth in East Field, and apparently he also made his bricks in Norwood. These are said to have been too rough and uneven for anything but thick walls. Nash supplied a great number of bricks for Buckingham Palace and may have sent some from Norwood.
In 1859 a Holborn builder developed a 14-acre brick-field in Norwood, paying Lord Jersey a royalty of 1shilling 6 pence on every thousand bricks over 2,666,666 a year. He also erected labourers' cottages on the site and built a dock on the canal. In the 1860s the St. John's parochial school at Southall Green drew most of its pupils from the brick-makers. The school numbers fluctuated, which may indicate a rapid turn-over of labour, and the speedy working-out of the brickfields.
The Southall Brick Co. was in existence by 1874 and three other brick-making firms were centred on the Green in Southall. At the end of the 19th century a 28-acre brick-field was opened in North Road, Southall, by Thomas Watson and between 1899 and 1901 this produced well over 2 million bricks a year. A site for a brick-field in Havelock Road was advertised for sale in 1903, and a brick-field behind Tudor Road was causing such smells in 1906 that there were complaints at a council meeting. A new brick-field in North Road was let as late as 1910 at 2s. a thousand bricks, and the East Acton Brick Co. held property at least until 1926. In the late 19th century some gravel was also extracted.
From: 'Norwood, including Southall: Economic and social history', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 45-48.
Edward Ind purchased the Star Inn, Romford, Essex in 1799, and built a brewhouse on the site. In 1845 he went into partnership with brothers Octavius and George Coope. From 1856 the business was known as Ind Coope and Company. In the same year the company opened another brewery in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
The company went into recievership in 1909 and was subsequently re-registered in 1912 as Ind Coope and Co. (1912) Ltd. The (1912) was dropped from the name in 1923. After merging with Samuel Allsopp and Sons Ltd in 1934, the company name was changed again to Ind Coope and Allsopp Ltd and then to Ind Coope Ltd in 1959. In 1961 the company merged with Tetley Walker Ltd and Ansells Brewery Ltd to form Ind Coope Tetley Answell Ltd, later Allied Breweries Ltd. The company is now part of the Carlsberg-Tetley group.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Gardner's Trust for the Blind was created by the will of Mr Henry Gardner who, on his death on 9 January 1879, left £300,000 for the benefit of blind persons residing in England and Wales.
In accordance with the wishes of the testator the matter was referred to the Court of Chancery where a scheme for the administration of the fund was drawn up, dated 20 January 1882.
Income from the trust is used to give educational and other grants, and pensions, to blind persons of all ages. The trust has also founded scholarships at various colleges, schools and institutions for the blind.
Alan Payling was a bus driver for London Transport during the 1980's, based at Stamford Hill Bus Garage. In 1981/82, Payling was on the branch committee of Stamford Hill Bus Garage trade union, TGWU Branch 1/312, responsible for "Education and Information" and appointed a "Fare Fight Delegate" (ACC/3029/7). He was responsible for the distribution and reception of various trade union, transport and local community leaflets and magazines.
The Public Transport Workers Jobs Campaign (Leaside District) ran a printing workshop and resource centre which were used by individual trade union branches such as Finsbury Park NUR and Wood Green ASLEF (see annual report 1985/86 (ACC/3029/17)). The resource centre held material necessary to those campaigning in the transport industry and included GLC, LRT and TGWU material.
The Busworker group began as part of the campaign against one person operation of buses (OPO) in 1982/83. It derived partly from the LT worker group which was set up in 1982 to fight the proposed loss of jobs/services after the "Fares Fair" campaign. The Transport Worker (which incorporated Busworker Monthly) was a joint rail and bus newsletter for the dissemination of trade union information to all sections of London Transport. Alan Payling was on the editorial board of Transport Worker.
The National Council for Jews in the former Soviet Union was founded in 1975 under the name of the National Council for Soviet Jewry. Before then various groups had acted on behalf of Soviet Jews. Individuals too had spoken out in defence of Soviet Jews. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Board of Deputies had tried to present a coordinated response on behalf of all these groups in the 1970s, but the Board came to realise that an independent agency was required to do this work. A conference was held for Soviet Jewry groups and activists in December 1975 and there the National Council was established.
The mandate of the National Council for Soviet Jewry was not to replace the existing Soviet Jewry groups but rather to act as an umbrella body for them; to coordinate and promote action. The Council had two major concerns; firstly to defend the rights of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel; secondly to secure the betterment of Jewish life for Jews within the Soviet Union (especially the cultural, religious and educational aspects). Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and well into the 1980s Jews who attempted to establish a Jewish culture and identity within the USSR, for instance by teaching Hebrew or Jewish history, suffered repression. Those Soviet Jews who applied for permission to settle in Israel and who were refused visas became known as "refuseniks". Refuseniks and other Jewish activists were frequently singled out by Soviet authorities as anti-Soviet troublemakers; many lost their jobs, were arrested, tried and imprisoned. The National Council aimed, in conjunction with Soviet Jewry Groups in other countries, to draw attention to their difficulties.
The National Council was made up of delegates nominated from the major British Jewry bodies (such as the Board of Deputies; the United Synagogue; the Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief) and Soviet Jewry groups within the United Kingdom. The Council met regularly and appointed Committees to undertake the day to day running of the movement. The Council worked closely with its affiliated groups and supporters and organised some very public campaigns on behalf of refuseniks. On a quieter level it encouraged rabbis, community leaders and other Anglo-Jewish groups to make individual contacts with Soviet Jews and provide them with encouragement to explore their Jewish identity. Visits and the sending of letters and books to the USSR was promoted in the face of Soviet hostility. The Council also lobbied non-Jewish organisations and individuals for support. It liaised with members of parliament, trade unions, the press and a wide span of private individuals. The National Council was always careful however not to become a political anti-Soviet body.
The National Council received a Parliamentary award for services to Soviet Jewry in 1989. By then some degree of improvement in the lives of Soviets Jews had taken place following the internal Soviet reforms of the late 1980s. In December 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved and its constituent republics became independent. Consequently the National Council decided to review its role. It was decided to concentrate on work to increase Jewish cultural and religious awareness and to fight rising anti-semitism within the former USSR. Although emigration had become easier for Soviet Jews by the early 1990s the refuseniks did not disappear as some republics failed to establish emigration procedures. In 1992 the National Council renamed itself the National Council for Jews in the Former Soviet Union and embarked upon a new phase of activity.
Whitelands Lodge, King's Road, Chelsea, was leased to the National Society (Church of England) for Promoting Religious Education, during the nineteenth century, for the purposes of their school, Whitelands College. The College was founded in 1841 as a training college for women teachers. It is now part of the University of Surrey.
The executors of the estate were George Heaver (later transferred to Miss J Heaver); Revd. Alfred Heaver; Lily Havers; and Mrs P M Havers. The plan is colour coded, showing which properties were assigned to which party under the terms of the bequest.
The website of the Board of Deputies provides the following historical information:
The London Committee of Deputies of British Jews, which is now known as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, was established in 1760 when seven Deputies were appointed by the elders of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation to form a standing committee to pay homage to George III on his accession to the throne. 1760 was also the date the Ashkenazi Community appointed their own "Secret Committee for Public Affairs". It was agreed at the end of 1760 that the two committees should hold joint meetings from time to time.
The Secret Committee of the Ashkenazim and the 'Deputados' met intermittently until well into the 1800s. From 1817 the two appear to have achieved greater unity and met thereafter as one body. In the 1830s the role and reputation of the Board began to expand with the election of Moses Montefiore as President of the Board in 1835 and with official recognition from Parliament, when the Marriage Act of 1866 named the President of the Board of Deputies as the authority for certifying the Marriage Secretaries of Synagogues. In 1836 Montefiore was instrumental in drawing up the first constitution and establishing the name Deputies of British Jews.
Moses Montefiore was to have profound influence over the development of the Board, and it came to be recognised as the representative body of British Jewry and its name became known overseas. In 1840 Montefiore went to plead for persecuted Jews in Damascus; the Board has been actively concerned with the interests and rights of co-religionists abroad ever since. Montefiore was President until 1874. He was an active international figure and interceded many times on behalf of Jews with foreign leaders.
By the end of the century, when the Anglo-Jewish community had achieved emancipation on the level of fellow non-Jewish citizens, thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe came to the country to escape Tsarist oppression. The Aliens Committee was formed in 1905 (the year the first Aliens Restrictions Act was passed) to ensure that these immigrants, or Aliens, received considerate treatment and to provide help with naturalisation problems. Britain remained a place of refuge well into the twentieth century, particularly with the growth of fascism in Europe in the 1930s and the accompanying rise of anti-Semitism. In 1936 the Jewish Defence Committee was created and launched an Outdoor Campaign to challenge the open air meetings conducted by the British Union of Fascists. Anti-Fascist leaflets and literature were circulated and protest meetings, supported by Christian Churches and other non-Jews, were organised. Co-operation with other faiths continues, most significantly perhaps in the close liaison with the Council for Christians and Jews.
In 1950 the Board convened the first Conference of Jewish Communities in the British Commonwealth, and was represented at the first meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco. Dr. D. Mowshowitch prepared surveys of the conditions of European Jewry as the Board helped these communities to rebuild and the Foreign Affairs Committee had an active role in the negotiations for Jewish reparations. The Board is a member of the Co-ordinating Board of Jewish Organisations and the World Jewish Congress. It has helped in the rehabilitation of Holocaust survivors and works to secure compensation and restitution for them. In 1983 a Holocaust Memorial was set up in Hyde Park in London at the instigation of the Board of Deputies.
Education is a keen interest of the Board. In 1853 grants were made to Jewish Day Schools after the Board had negotiated the matter with the government. The Board of Deputies works with local and private education authorities to combat racism, anti-Zionism and religious discrimination in schools and colleges. The Board of Deputies has always fought anti-Semitism in whatever guise and degree it manifests itself. Much of this work is very routine and it can be on a communal or individual level. Educating and informing non-Jews about Judaism, Israel and the Anglo-Jewish community continues to the present day and is an important aspect of the work of the Board.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Board established the National Council for Soviet Jewry (later the Council for Jews in the Former Soviet Union) in 1975. The archives of the National Campaign for Soviet Jewry are catalogued at the London Metropolitan Archives as ACC/3087.
The creation of the State of Israel in 1948 provided the Board with a new focus. A Palestine Committee of the Board of Deputies existed from 1923 until 1948 when it became the Erets Israel Committee. The Committee now acts as a bridge between the Anglo-Jewish community and Israel and seeks to promote a sense of identity with Israel among the Anglo-Jewish. Anti-Zionism in Britain is monitored and countered at all levels. The Board also has close links with the Israeli Embassy.
In 1940 the Trades Advisory Council was established to combat anti-Semitism in trade; to encourage good relations between Jewish and non-Jewish traders; to licence Jewish shop-keepers to work on Sundays and to give advice during a period of food rationing and close government observation. The Council was able to issue certificates to Jewish traders who wished to work on Sundays (before restrictions on Sunday trading were eased in the 1990s) and give support to Jewish employees asked to work on Jewish High Holy Days and Sabbaths. It is able to arbitrate in business disputes. The Trades Advisory Council began life as a sub-committee of the Defence Committee but is now a practically independent body affiliated to the Board.
Source: Board of Deputies website at http://www.boardofdeputies.org.uk/page.php/Historical_Background/106/2/1, accessed Feb 2010.
The registered office was at 57 Berners Street, London W1. The Company patented indicating and advertising devices.
Finchley Teachers' Association and Hendon Teachers' Association were professional associations representing and supporting local teachers.
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was born in 1796, the only child of the unhappy and controversial marriage of George, Prince of Wales (later George IV) and his wife Caroline of Brunswick. Princess Charlotte was very popular with the public and was greeted with cheering crowds when she made appearances. She married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg in 1816, soon falling pregnant. The pregnancy was difficult, ending in November 1817 with a fifty-hour labour in which both mother and son died. The death ended the line of succession of George III (Charlotte's grandfather) and was greatly mourned by the public. Charlotte was buried in Windsor on 19 November 1817.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The Metropolitan Rifle Range Company was set-up to provide ranges close to London at which the Metropolitan Volunteers could practice rifle shooting. Directors included Colonel Deane of the 21st Middlesex; Lieutenant-Colonel Cantlon of the 2nd London; Major Cunningham of the 9th Middlesex and Major Gallie of the 21st Middlesex. Mr Mortimer was Secretary.
In 1892 the Company opened a rifle range called the Runemede or Runnymede Range, near Staines. This comprised 1000 acres of flat land bordered by a river, marsh land, a railway and a road, along which a concrete wall was constructed. Nevertheless, the range was later closed because of safety concerns, particuarly relating to the railway.
Twickenham Park covered over 160 acres of which about a third were in Isleworth parish. The Twickenham Park estate was gradually broken-up and more houses were built, particularly after the 1850s. The process continued well into the 20th century, until the whole of the former Twickenham Park was covered in housing.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
The Colne Valley Water Company Plc was a statutory water company supplying parts of South West Hertfordshire from 1873 to 1994. In 1994 it merged into Three Valleys Water. Stanmore is in Harrow, North London, close to the border with Hertfordshire.
The 'Plume of Feathers' is an old public house situated on Plumstead High Street. It may be the same public house referred to in the document.
Mission work was carried out in rented halls in Edmonton until a church was built in 1850 on Fore Street. A parish was assigned to this church in 1851. It was first dedicated to Saint Pancras but this was later changed to Saint James. The church carried out active mission work, opening several mission halls in the area.
In 1847 John Snell left 1 acre in his will, to be the site of a Church of England school for the poor. A school for boys was therefore opened by Saint James's church in 1851. Girls' and infants' departments were added in 1871. It was rebuilt in 1963.
From: 'Edmonton: Churches' and 'Edmonton: Education', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 181-187 and pp. 196-203 (available online).
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The church of Saint George in the East, Stepney, was one of three Stepney churches built under the 1711 "Act for the building of Fifty New Churches in the Cities of London and Westminster or the Suburbs thereof" to be paid for by a tax levied on coal entering the City of London. The church was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor to serve the residents of Upper Wapping, however it was not consecrated until 1729 because of financial difficulties. It has a 160 foot tower. The east window was designed by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
The church was the centre of a controversy in the 1850s when the Presbyterian Bishop of London A C Tait replaced the high church rector with a low church preacher, causing demonstrations and unrest and the eventual temporary closure of the church.
The interior of the church was gutted during World War II, but the exterior was left intact. After the bombing, services continued in a shed at the rear. In 1963 a new church, by Arthur Baily, was built within the Hawksmoor shell. The original apse with its plasterwork and the font at the west end have been retained. There was space for an inner courtyard between the original west front and the new, which was built entirely of glass. On either side of the courtyard, the former galleries incorporate four flats which were given the Civic Trust Award in 1967.
Frederick Gill lived in Dartford, Kent.
The first meeting of the London Trades Council was on 18 May 1860 in Shaftesbury Hall, Aldersgate Street. The Council had been established as a result of a campaign for a nine hour day in the building trade, and was intended "to cheer, instruct and advise in any trade difficulty", (Short History of the London Trades Council, 1935, Acc/3287/02/007), but became increasingly involved in political activity, particularly under two of its Secretaries - George Odger (1862-1872), and George Shipton (1872-1896).
There were trade councils in many industrial areas in the country at this time, but it was the London council which through its links with them and their equivalents abroad was considered to be the leader of British trade unionism. By the early 1870's the Trades Union Congress had been formed and it gradually took over many of the trade councils' functions and political impetus, although the latter remained in existence within the Congress framework. In 1945 Julius Jacobs became Secretary, and for the next seven years the Council became a voice for the Communist Party, distanced from the rest of the trade union movement. The result was expulsion from and deregistration by the Trades Union Congress in 1952; followed by the drawing up of a new constitution, election by the Trades Union Congress of a new committee, and a move into new offices in Rosebery Avenue. The Council is no longer in existence.
The National Union of Vehicle Builders was founded in 1919 on the merger of several smaller societies such as the London and Provincial Coachmakers' Society and the United Kingdom Society of Coachmakers. It represented the manufacturers of coaches and cars, and related trades such as smiths and wheelwrights. The union merged with the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1972.