Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1791-1998 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
4 linear metres
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Jews' Free School (now JFS Comprehensive) is the largest Jewish school in Britain. It was founded by Moses Hart, who paid for the restoration of the Great Synagogue where the school opened as a Talmud Torah for 15 boys in 1732. It was originally a charity school for orphaned boys with priority given to those of German parentage. By 1788 the school had moved to Houndsditch and in the late 1790s moved again to Gun Square where the number of pupils increased to 21. In the nineteenth century Dr. Joshua Van Oven found a permanent site for the school in Bell Lane.
Between 1880 and 1900, one third of all London's Jewish children passed through its doors - by 1900 it had some 4,000 pupils and was the largest school in Europe. The School provided these children with a refuge from poverty, a religious and secular education and in the spirit of the times anglicised them. Famous pupils from this time include Barney Barnato, Bud Flanagan, Alfred Marks and the novelist Israel Zangwill. The school enjoyed the patronage of the Rothschilds and had for 51 years a headmaster called Moses Angel. Angel was probably the most influential figure in Jewish education in the nineteenth century and a great advocate of "anglicising" his pupils. They were, he said "ignorant even of the elements of sound; until they had been Anglicised."
The school remained there until 1939 when it was evacuated to Ely. The Bell Lane building was destroyed during enemy action and after the Second World War the school remained closed until a new site was found on the Camden Road. In 1958 the school reopened as JFS Comprehensive.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0074 LMA/4046 1791-1998 Collection 4 linear metres Jews' Free School x JFS Comprehensive
The Jews' Free School (now JFS Comprehensive) is the largest Jewish school in Britain. It was founded by Moses Hart, who paid for the restoration of the Great Synagogue where the school opened as a Talmud Torah for 15 boys in 1732. It was originally a charity school for orphaned boys with priority given to those of German parentage. By 1788 the school had moved to Houndsditch and in the late 1790s moved again to Gun Square where the number of pupils increased to 21. In the nineteenth century Dr. Joshua Van Oven found a permanent site for the school in Bell Lane.
Between 1880 and 1900, one third of all London's Jewish children passed through its doors - by 1900 it had some 4,000 pupils and was the largest school in Europe. The School provided these children with a refuge from poverty, a religious and secular education and in the spirit of the times anglicised them. Famous pupils from this time include Barney Barnato, Bud Flanagan, Alfred Marks and the novelist Israel Zangwill. The school enjoyed the patronage of the Rothschilds and had for 51 years a headmaster called Moses Angel. Angel was probably the most influential figure in Jewish education in the nineteenth century and a great advocate of "anglicising" his pupils. They were, he said "ignorant even of the elements of sound; until they had been Anglicised."
The school remained there until 1939 when it was evacuated to Ely. The Bell Lane building was destroyed during enemy action and after the Second World War the school remained closed until a new site was found on the Camden Road. In 1958 the school reopened as JFS Comprehensive.
Deposited in multiple accessions between May 1998 and June 2001.
Records of the Jews' Free School, later renamed JFS Comprehensive, 1791-1998, including papers of the Governors' Committee, Ladies Committee, Education Committee, Executive Committee, Managers' Meetings and School Council; papers relating to scholarships and prizes; correspondence; financial accounts; pupil admission and discharge records; papers relating to pupil discipline; records of the Headmaster; magazines; programmes; publications; newspaper cuttings; and photographs of pupils, staff, important visitors, school facilities, charitiy activities, sports and buildings.
The records have been arranged into the following series: LMA/4046/A Administration; LMA/4046/B Finance; LMA/4046/C Pupils' Records; LMA/4046/D Staff Records; LMA/4046/E Printed Material; LMA/4046/F Photographs.
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.
English
Fit.
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Further records of the Jews Free School can be found at LMA/4290 and LMA/4297.
For further reading see: 'JFS Builds on a moving tradition', by Lorraine Kirk, Jewish Chronicle, 13 March, 1987 and 'The Origins of the Jew's Free School, by Salmond S. Levin from The Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, vol. XIX.
For further information please consult the LMA Information Leaflet: "Records of the Anglo-Jewish Community at London Metropolitan Archives"; available to download here: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/Visitor_information/free_information_leaflets.htm (URL correct Feb 2010).
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Description prepared in March 2010. Social science education Religious education Jewish education Denominational schools Jewish schools Educational institutions Schools Secondary schools Comprehensive schools Religious groups Jews Information sources Documents Education records School admission registers Charity schools School discipline Educational environment Jewish Cultural identity Judaism Ancient religions Religions Jews' Free School x JFS Comprehensive London England UK Western Europe Europe
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited in multiple accessions between May 1998 and June 2001.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records of the Jews' Free School, later renamed JFS Comprehensive, 1791-1998, including papers of the Governors' Committee, Ladies Committee, Education Committee, Executive Committee, Managers' Meetings and School Council; papers relating to scholarships and prizes; correspondence; financial accounts; pupil admission and discharge records; papers relating to pupil discipline; records of the Headmaster; magazines; programmes; publications; newspaper cuttings; and photographs of pupils, staff, important visitors, school facilities, charitiy activities, sports and buildings.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The records have been arranged into the following series: LMA/4046/A Administration; LMA/4046/B Finance; LMA/4046/C Pupils' Records; LMA/4046/D Staff Records; LMA/4046/E Printed Material; LMA/4046/F Photographs.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Further records of the Jews Free School can be found at LMA/4290 and LMA/4297.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English