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Brighton Jewryreconsidered*
DAVID SPECT0R
It is some twenty years since a paper on Brighton's Jewry, delivered to this
Society, aroused considerable national and local interest.1 The present article
supplements the earlier one and draws attention to new material, some ofwhich
has come to hand since the lecture on which it is based was presented in 1987.
The earliest reference to Jewry in post-resettlement Sussex appears in the
records of fees, duties and Rents of Assizes of the Harbour of Rye dated 1670:
'The Bailiff received one shilling headmoney on every Jew leaving or entering
the Harbour'.2 Until about 1840 there was an inlet east of Rye known as 'Jews
Gap', but the name has since been corrupted to 'JuryGap'.3 It is possible that it
obtained its original name by being a place of landing or exit for those who
chose not to pay this impost. In proposals to finance works for the new harbour
in 1724, one Fuller suggested a tax to be levied on Jews on any
ship entering the harbour. Henry Pelham, the local MP, while sympathetic,
doubted whether merchants would tolerate another impost on shipping and
noted that a tax on Jews had often been rejected.4 In the latter half of the
nineteenth century, ironically enough, under-privileged Jewish children of the
East End subscribed their half-pennies and pence to provide a series of lifeboats
at Newhaven, which altogether saved 136 lives. The lifeboats were all named
'Michael Henry', after the editor of the Jewish Chronicle who founded the Jewish
at Newhaven
Scholars' Life-Boat Fund.5
the body of Jacob Harris was
of Ditchling?where
'Jacobs Post'?north
a
local school and the original
gibbeted in 1734, has been restored by
indictments at Horsham Assizes examined.6 The Lewes press reported in 1789
that Jewish pedlars were travelling the county with 'pens, sealing wax and
slippers'.7 The question has been raised recently whether Antioch Street in
Lewes was the medieval Jewish quarter.8 The Brighton Vestry Minutes of 18
December 1797 ordered 'that John Reeder's daughter now livingwith Mr Levi
be allowed a Gown, petticoats, two shifts, two aprons, two pairs of stockings and
a Bonnet'. Isaac Levi's address is given as 'Pounes Court, West Street' where the
synagogue succeeding that in Jew Street is recorded in about 1800. Geoffrey
Agents, Isaac Aaron and Saul Charles
Aaron, among early-nineteenth-century residents.9 JacobMontefiore in 1840 is
noted as the twelfth-largest landowner in the area, with a 476-acre estate, used
Green has
*
This paper
identified two formerNaval
is based on a lecture delivered
to the Society on 10 December
1987.
91
Jewish Historical Society of England
is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Jewish Historical Studies
www.jstor.org
®
Brighton Jewry reconsidered
as a farm, in Rottingdean.10 The Police History Society published the present
writer's account of themurder in 1844 of the Chief Constable, Henry Solomon;
has on permanent exhibition a silver-mounted
and the Brighton Museum
to
citizens of Lewes inApril 1840, in gratitude for
him
the
tipstaffpresented
by
as
inBrighton.11
of
Police
his efficiency Chief Officer
A more detailed examination of the origins of Jew Street in Brighton, and the
deeds of premises, lead one to the conclusion that the first synagogue opened in
Jew Street in 1789, and not, as previously thought, in 1792. The first section of
Jew Street leads immediately south fromChurch Street (formerlySprings Walk),
and then turns east into a twittenwith one building on the south side, and leads
out into Bond Street (known at times as New Street). Both sections are
designated Jew Street. Land in this area was purchased fromNathaniel Kemp on
23 March 1787, and there is a reference in the Land Tax Assessments for 1789
to 'three buildings in Jew Street'.12 Budgen's map of 1788 shows neither Bond
listed or marked among the
Street nor Jew Street; nor is a synagogue
A
dated 9 October 1789 refers to
of
deed
non-denominational
worship.13
places
'Little Bond Street otherwise Jew Street'. The section immediately south of
Springs Walk is reported to have been known at one time as Little Bond Street,
but with the erection of a building on the south side of the twitten and itsuse as
a synagogue, both sections became known in 1789 as Jew Street. The building
on the south side of the twitten extends into Bond Street and is known as 14
Bond Street. Edward Cobby's Map of Brighthelmstone of 1799 clearly shows the
area, and gives it the name Jew Street.14 Frederick Harrison, the local historian,
states 'Jew-streetwas so called as therewas at one time a synagogue in it'.15An
additional storey has been added to the old building in Jew Street, but an
archway and windows on the ground floor are clearly visible. There is an entry
point on the exterior wall for either coal or water, and a covered-in recess in the
basement perhaps for a mikveh. J. Godfrey-Gilbert, FRIBA, has examined the
area and confirmed that itwas constructed of eighteenth-century material. A
feet in size, was found to be sound-proofed by a
basement room, 20x14
contemporary method known as 'pugging', and may well have been the room
Plate 1 Pike and Ivimy's New Map of Brighton, 1867. The numbers refer to the following locations:
1 Jew Street: the first synagogue, 1789
2 Poune's Court: the home of Isaac Levi and the second synagogue
{c. 1800-23)
3 Devonshire Place: the third synagogue (1823-75)
4 Middle Street: synagogue consecrated
1875
5 Old Cemetery: opened 1826, on land given by Thomas Read Kemp
6 34 North Street: the offices of the Brighton Guardian, where Levi Emanuel
burnt in effigy
7 Lewis's Buildings: the home ofHyam Lewis' family
8 Town Hall: part of the town hall was used as a police station. Itwas
in 1844.
murdered
93
Cohen,
the editor, was
here that Henry Solomon was
David Spector
Plate
2
Jew Street, showing
the door of the building
that contained
the first synagogue,
1789.
used for services by the then small minyan. Jew Street was then on the outskirts
of the town, and in about 1800 the congregation moved to Pounes Court in the
centre of the town, where the Brighton Vestry recorded Isaac Levi's address. It is
clearly indicated inMarchant's map of 1808 and given the reference number
seven.16 It remained there until 1823, when the congregation made its third
move, to Devonshire Place, where it remained until the opening ofMiddle Street
in 1875. This is confirmed in a book published in 1937 which states that:
94
'Boyces Street was formerlyBoyces Lane and a little further down there was a
passage that led to a small square, Pounes Court, in which was the Jews'
Synagogue built before Devonshire Place'.17
The Sussex Archaeological
Collections published an article on Religious
Dissenters in Sussex and referred to returns ordered by the House of Lords in
1810 and 1829.18 The background of these returns was the disturbance caused
to the Anglican establishment by the growth of dissent and the pressure for the
removal of discrimination. There was strong opposition to the idea of collecting
and publishing figures showing the extent of thismovement. However, in 1810
the House of Lords called by order fora list of places ofworship in parishes with
a population of more than 1000. The returns of 1810 for the Diocese of
Chichester at the British Library contain a special column for Jews, showing at
Brighthelmstone one synagogue with room for fiftyworshippers.19 The only
other reference to Jews in the 1810 returns is for the Diocese ofNorwich, which
records a synagogue at Kings Lynn. In 1829 a similar order was made by the
House of Lords, but this time only Jews 'belonging' to the community were to be
so called. The returns were not printed, and most of thematerial was destroyed
in the great fire at the Palace ofWestminster
in 1834. The originals of the
parish returns for Sussex survived in the Quarter Session Records at Lewes, and
in 1829 Jewswho 'belonged' numbered forty.20Dr Lipman has suggested that
as the congregation premises moved at some point between the 1810 and 1829
returns, one might assume they preferred a place ofworship of smaller capacity.
Another figure of interest is the record of sixty-three Jewish signatures from
Brighton in the petition organized in 1833 by Isaac Lyon Goldsmid for the
removal of disabilities from the Jews; but some signatories may have been
visitors to the town.21 Brighton is therefore unique in having official figures
available for 1810 and 1829. Jewry also had a public place of worship in
Brighton before the Roman Catholics (1806) or theMethodists (1808).22
More information has been forthcoming on Hyam Lewis (1767-1851).
The
name 'Hyam Lobb' is found among the children of the Emanuel Hyam Cohen
family, and a family relationship can be assumed, since 'Hyam Lewis' would be
its anglicization. A postcard showing 44 Kings Road, the former premises of the
family, reveals thewords 'founded in 1790' on the side blind of the shop. Hyam
Lewis supplied swords to the local Commissioners and was the firstpawnbroker
in Brighton. He married a daughter of Emanuel Hyam Cohen, was a member of
the Great Synagogue, and was active in the affairs of the congregation, serving
as an Elder and President.23 His brother George Lewis is referred to in early
minutes. Except that he is recorded in an 1823 Directory of Lewes as having a
shop at 'The Cliffe', little is known about him. In 1826 Richard
Dighton depicted Hyam Lewis in the print 'Lewis and Brighton' (see Plate 3).24
Antony Dale, an eminent authority on Brighton, commented T always thought
of Hyam Lewis as being an averagely prosperous local tradesman. I am
pawnbroker's
95
Plate
3
(opened
and jeweller. Richard
Hyam Lewis, commissioner
in 1823)
in the background
and a small steamboat.
96
Dighton's
print shows
the 'Chain Pier'
surprised that he was well-known enough to have justifiedmaking such a print,
and that itwas plain to whom it referred, because themajority of these prints
referred to very well-known people. For instance a "View ofNorfolk" meant the
Duke of Norfolk. It is amazing that Lewis could be treated on that level.'25
'Lewis's Buildings' to a
Brighton Corporation recently restored the name
opposite the Post Office in Ship Street, tomark adjacent premises
occupied by the Lewis family fora number of years.26 In 1813 he was elected an
'Improvement Commissioner forBrighthelmstone', which was some three years
1816.27 'Improvement Com?
before he was
'endenizened' on 16 November
missioners' were established by Acts of Parliament to meet the needs arising
from the growth of towns and the increasing industrial population. Eventually,
200 such bodies?together with nearly 100 similar bodies in theMetropolitan
area of London?functioned
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a
passageway
form of local government. The 1810 Act forBrighthelmstone laid down that the
firstobligation of a Commissioner was to sign the Oath, or in the case of Quakers
the Affirmation. The next task was to testify that they were householders
paying 'scot and lot': that they occupied a house to the annual value of ?50.
Hyam Lewis attended the firstmeeting of the new Commissioners on 24
November 1813, but declined to take the Oath as he stated that he was not duly
qualified. He was again elected on 15 February 1822, and now being properly
qualified he took the Oath on 6 March 1822. The abjuration of the Oath was 'So
help me God'. In 1823 he was appointed Director and Guardian of the Poor. His
name is printed in the 1825 List of Commissioners, and in 1838 he became a
member of the firstPolice Committee established under theMunicipal Corpora?
tion Act of 1835.28 The mainly Jewish area of the Parish of St James, Duke's
Place, in the City of London, provided Jewishmembers for the 'Leet Jury', a form
of local government, but it is not known whether they took an Oath on
accepting office.29Hyam Lewis is the first recorded professing Jew to have been
elected and sworn to office in a form of local government. His son, Benjamin
assisted him in his business, and Benjamin received the Royal
(1806-76),
in
in 1838.30 Benjamin's daughter, Leah, married a Coleman-Cohen
Warrant
later Lord Cohen of Brighton,
(1897-1966),
1854.31 Lewis Coleman-Cohen
was a direct descendant.32 Hyam Lewis is reported to have paid for the
tombstone of Phoebe Hessel in the grounds of St Nicholas Church, who died at
the age of 108, having served as a private soldier for a number of years.33 The
tombstone was recently restored by her regiment. I cannot trace any obituary of
Hyam Lewis in local papers or the Jewish Chronicle. The transformation of a
in about 1790,
into the well-dressed
young man
arriving from Prague
A
is
Richard
remarkable.
Harry
by
Dighton
great-grandson,
depicted
gentleman
B. Lewis, who died in 1955, was an Alderman and an extremely able Chairman
of the Finance Committee of the Brighton Council at a period when he was
completely blind.34
97
Plate
Plate
4
'Hanging
5
in Effigy': Levi Emanuel
Cohen
in a cartoon
from 'Looking Glass No.
'The London & Brighton Railway Advertizer', depicting Levi Emanuel
the controversy about the site of the proposed railway station.
Brighton during
10' i October
Cohen walking
1830,
London.
on the promenade
at
The role of the three brothers-in-law in nineteenth-century Brighton must be
considered in relation to the small number of Jewish residents. Hyam Lewis,
Commissioner and man of influence, and Henry Solomon, Chief of Police, are
overshadowed by the third brother-in-law, Levi Emanuel Cohen, an Elder and
Reader of the Congregation. Levi founded the Brighton Guardian in 1827 and
was sixth President of the Newspaper Society for the years 1841-3.35 Editorials
attacked the Corn Laws, paid Police, emphasized that poverty was the cause of
crime, demanded universal suffrage as in the USA and civil marriage, praised
the 1830 revolution in France, expressed delight at the fall ofWellington's
ministry and recommended a political union among the middle classes, who
should combine with theworking class, and not the aristocracy. On 18 August
1830, in the course of a leading article occupying nearly a column in the
Brighton Guardian, Cohen stated that 'the King is not a strong-minded man'.
This comment created an uproar, as many people felt that the goodwill and
visits of royalty to Brighton were essential to the prosperity of the town, and
that the king would be Vexed' and spend his money elsewhere. A hostile crowd
stoned and broke the windows of the building at 34 North Street where his
officeswere situated, and he was hanged in effigy (see Plate 4). In May 1988 a
previously unknown cartoon depicting this incident was found at the Brighton
Reference Library. The Royal Pavilion can be seen in the background and a
pickpocket of Jewish appearance.36 The Brighton Guardian of 8 September 1830
stated that the king had expressed his displeasure at 'the loyal holocaust of the
Brightonians' and Cohen defended himself by stating that his enemies had
exploited his 'unguarded expression'. The weekly edition of The Times, according
to Cohen, had also attacked him, but the daily edition of 28 August 1830
defended him in the name of freedom of the press. Political lifewas fierce at this
period, and Cohen, who represented the Liberals, was marked forharassment by
the magistrates who were well-to-do. Newspapers
and their editors were a
to
of
An
Grand
contempt
special object
Jurymen.
opportunity for revenge arose
with the publication in the Brighton Guardian of 28 November
1832 of a
on
areas
in
fires
the
of
Arundel
and
'correspondent's' report
incendiary
Horsham.37 The paragraph was not quite thirty-three lines long, but was said
by adversaries to contain not less than eight distinct and grave charges. A
complaint was made by a Mr Wm C. Mabott, and although a Grand Jurymet in
December
1832 and again at the Quarter Sessions in January 1833, the
authorities convened a special Grand Jury to consider the complaint against
Cohen. This Grand Juryultimately consisted of twenty-threemembers, ofwhom
twentywere magistrates and declared enemies of Cohen. His fatewas decided in
advance, and the trial of 'The King v. Cohen' took place before a special jury of
ten men at the Lewes Assizes on 31 July 1833. Cohen defended himself
splendidly and with great dignity, but the jury took only a quarter of an hour
unanimously to find him guilty. He was convicted of libel, 'tending to bring the
99
David Spector
Levi Emanuel
Plate 6
Cohen, distinguished
journalist and radical,
commissioned
by the committee organized by the Jewish Chronicle.
IOO
in the memorial
portrait
magistrates of Sussex into contempt, to set the lower classes against the higher
and to incite the people to acts of incendiarism'. The last part of the charge,
Justice Parke the presiding Judge told the jury,was quite unsupported. Cohen
was sentenced to sixmonths' imprisonment, fined ?50 and had to find sureties
for three years. Chelmsford Prison was selected for his internment, so as to
impede the continuity of the newspaper. Cohen used this to his advantage by
leaders in the following manner:
'Chelmsford Gaol,
heading his weekly
Twentieth week (last but six) of our incarceration on the prosecution ofW. C.
Mabbott, Esq., ofUckfield'. On 21 February 1834 thematter was brought to the
attention of the House of Commons, but the Government abstained and the
motion was rejected by fifty-eight votes to twenty-seven, drawing severe
comments on the libertyof the press under aWhig administration.
Uninhibited by his imprisonment, Cohen involved himself in the turbulent
controversy over the site of the terminal of the proposed Brighton railway from
London, then in the course of legislation.38 Stephenson had proposed a site just
north of Brunswick Square for the terminus, in the fashionable section ofHove;
his rival Rennie's choice was north of the centre of Brighton. The radicals
combined with thewealthy residents of Brunswick Square and won a victory for
the Rennie line, to the discomfiture of theWhigs. Cohen is depicted in a cartoon
captioned 'The London & Brighton Railway Advertizer' (Plate 5). Cohen became
a prominent member of the Incorporation Committee, organizing a petition to
the Privy Council for the granting of a Charter to Brighton as a Municipal
Borough, which was eventually granted on 30 January 1854.39 Posters used in
the campaign show that Cohen printed all the pro-incorporation material with
the name 'Cohen Brighton' prominently displayed.40 The mayor of Brighton at
the time of the fiftieth Incorporation Celebrations in 1904 was Emile Maurice
Marx (1887-1932),
the first Jewishmayor of Brighton and the youngest ever
elected in the town?he was twenty-seven.41 Cohen led the lifeof a recluse and
died in i860. His brother Nathan succeeded him and was reported to have
abandoned the bitter tone which had characterized its articles.42 An extensive
obituary of Levi was printed in the Brighton Guardian on 28 November i860
with a supplement containing 'the Speech of the Defendant, Levy Emanuel
Cohen, at the TRIAL "The King v. Cohen"'. The Jewish Chronicle paid generous
tribute to Levi and organized a committee to publish a memorial portrait (see
Plate 6).43 He is a neglected figure in Anglo-Jewish history, and is not
mentioned in the 125th- or i50th-anniversary publications of the Newspaper
Society (founded 1836), which he served so loyally.
Printers' ink ran in the blood of the Cohen family, as apart fromLevi, Nathan
and Rosetta, another sister, Zipporah Harris, at times assisted, and during the
illness of Levi edited the paper.44 Two other brothers, Abraham (1812-74)
and
were
also
involved.
to
Aus?
Both
Ralph (1814-90),
subsequently emigrated
tralia, where Abraham
purchased
an interest in The Australian and Ralph, who
101
David Spector
came out in 1838, was initially employed by Abraham on the paper.45 Yet
another brother, George, who will be discussed inmore detail later, established
The Intelligencer at Belleville, Ontario, then Lower Canada. This paper is still in
production. Zipporah wrote to Ralph on 19 January 1848 to tell him of the
improvement she was able to obtain after the installation of 'a machine'. This
had been necessary because The Times was now arriving by rail from London at
10 o'clock in the morning, which required them to work rapidly. They could
now establish the outer forme by 7 o'clock (instead of 3 o'clock) and the inner
by 10 o'clock, and could print 800 an hour. They could do job printing, and
produce thousands instead of hundreds.44 Other Cohen families produced
journalists. Cohen posters can be seen in the foyer of the Theatre Royal,
Brighton. The first issue of the Brighton Guardian appeared on 31 January 1827,
and the final issue on 25 September 1901. In 1869 it described itself as
'Published every WEDNESDAY
Morning, circulates through Sussex generally,
in
but more especially among the Gentry, Clergy and Influential Classes
at
is
sold
Chichester
and
and
besides
Arundel,
Hastings;
Brighton,
Worthing,
the principal Stations of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway.'
Research on crime in the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the
provinces has been carried out by BillWilliams inManchester, Louis Hyman in
Ireland, and published by John Samuel Levi in his studies of Jews transported to
Australia.46 A Lewes group recorded and indexed details of 6000 cases for the
years 1810-40 from the rolls of the criminal cases at the Lewes Quarter Sessions.
The present writer could identify only four Jewish names. In 1810 Mordecai
Barnet was charged with fraud and bound over to appear at the Old Bailey, which
he failed to do. Abraham Phillips was charged in 1819 with having uttered base
shilling coins, was imprisoned for one year and ordered to find sureties for two
years. David Isaacs, a twenty-three-year-old general dealer, was acquitted in
1824 of stealing twenty yards of calico. In 1828 Mary Aiternacker, alias
convicted of 'keeping and
Burchell, otherwise called Mary Turner, was
a
common
and
house
for
her
lucre
maintaining
gain' and was sentenced
bawdy
to hard labour. In 1830 she was again charged, this time with 'keeping a
disorderly house inApollo Gardens, Brighton', and was once more imprisoned.
family is known in early records and this account is printed with the
permission of their descendants. Contrary to repeated allegations that Jews at this
period were themain passers of counterfeit coins, the Sussex researchers record
that the passing of counterfeit coins was a common charge among the local
population.47 InMarch 1838a letterappeared in the Brighton Herald stating that
with a population of 40,000 therewere no Jewish beggars, drunkards, prostitutes
or suicides. One agrees with BillWilliams' conclusion that viewed in the context
of general crime, Jewish criminality was relatively insignificant in the provinces
and certainly negligible in Sussex, in spite of its proximity to London, themass
centre of Jewish population in theUnited Kingdom.
Her
102
M^^^^^^^^^^,>,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It also
Salomons'
Plates 7 and 8 Philip
synagogue
private
today.
contained his private collection ofHebrew books and religious appurtenances.
It is on the top floor of 26 Brunswick Terrace, Hove, and is visible from the
promenade.
David Spector
Another example of local research of interest to Jewrywas the publication in
1986 of Clockmakers of Sussex 1600-1900
by E. J.Tyler. Twenty-three names
can be identified as Jewish,with premises at Brighton, Hove, Lewes, Chichester,
Hastings, Petworth and Worthing. All are nineteenth-century entries, by which
period very little clockmaking in the traditional sense was carried out, since
imported parts were made up to formmany of the clocks produced. The 'Ann of
Cleves Museum' at Lewes has among its exhibits a mantel clock with the name
Berncastel on itsmovement and a barometer with the name Berncastel (to be
discussed below) on its face.
The writer obtained access to the room used by Philip Salomons
(1796
1867) as his private synagogue, at 26 Brunswick Terrace, Hove (see Plates 7
and 8).48 It is under the pepperpot feature still clearly visible from the
promenade at Hove. Israel Davis in the Jewish Chronicle of 13 November 1891
records his impression of visits to the private synagogue: 'Philip Salomons...
one ofmy early memories is his pretty little private synagogue in Brunswick
Terrace. When itwas dressed inwhite forRosh Hashona itwas charming. Some
learned immigrant from the Ruthenian provinces was usually engaged as
reader for the holy days. Mr Salomons himself acted as Baal Koreh and virtually
the Shomas.' His collection of books and appurtenances could be described as the
in this country. After his death Reuben Sassoon, fellow
first Jewish museum
resident ofHove, purchased the bulk of his appurtenances. They were exhibited
at theAnglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition in 1887, which led to the formation of
this Society.49 Recently the JewishMuseum in London acquired a pair of Queen
Anne Rimonim formerly belonging to Philip Salomons. They are dated 1712
and are one of three English silver Rimonim of that period known to be in
existence. The maker's mark has been identified as that of Samuel Edlin,
London. The Hebrew inscription on the shafts says T bought the Torah Scrolls
and its bells. They are the glory of God, may He Bless me, for His service
A corresponding Scroll of the Law,
without?David
Lopes Pereira?5743'.50
dated 1712, was also donated by the same David Lopes Pereira to Bevis Marks
Synagogue and is still in their possession. As was the custom of the time, it is
likelyJhat when the donor died the beneficiaries reclaimed the finials. Part of
the original inscription was removed at a later date tomake room for the name
'P. Salomons, Esq.'. The Rimonim had not been in use for the past sixty years
and had suffered damage. They are now restored and on display in the Jewish
Museum, a visible reminder of our history. On 15 May 1864 Philip Salomons
signed, as President of the Brighton Hebrew Congregation, a certificate from its
members to Sir Moses Montefiore, expressing the sentiments of Brighton Jewry:
'You left the quiet of home and your own fireside at an inclement season of the
year accompanied by a small band of earnest men to do battle against ancient
prejudices, NOT for the love of glory but to remove those oppressive burdens
under which our brethren have so long suffered'.51
104
founder of
The records indicate that Emanuel Hyam Cohen (c. 1762-1823),
the community, had ten children; but in December 1986 a letterwas received
from Sheldon J. Godfrey, a Toronto barrister, requesting information on the
'Cohen' family and giving details of one George Benjamin, formerlyCohen, born
in Brighton on 15 April 1799.52 The details of the family, which had been
copied into a Hebrew prayer book, while not accurate, were sufficientlyprecise
to establish that he was a hitherto unknown son. George ran away from
Brighton in about 1820, dropped the surname Cohen and adopted 'Ben?
jamin'?his mother's maiden name. He was well educated and could speak
eight languages. He is referred to in family correspondence as 'Mo'. Moses was a
name in use in the Benjamin family and 'George' is found in the Cohen family.
One can surmise that his original name was 'George Moses Cohen', but he will
be referred to here as 'George Benjamin'. He joined Orange Lodge No. 27 in
Liverpool, and on 12 July 1822 the Lodge awarded him a silvermedal.53 This
medal, still in the possession of the family in Canada, is inscribed with the name
'George Benjamin'. Membership of the Orange Order is restricted to Protestants,
but no clarification can be obtained as local Orange Order records were
unfortunately destroyed in the bombing of Liverpool in the Second World
War.54 George migrated toAmerica, and on 5 February 1832, aged thirty-two,
married in North Carolina a twelve and three quarter year old Jewish girl
named Isabella Jacobs, daughter of Lipman Jacobs and Esther Abrahams. Their
firstchild was born inNovember ofthat year. Isabella had fourteen children and
lived to the age of eighty-four. Benjamin travelled north to Lower Canada,
where he met James Hunter Samson, member of the Lower Assembly for
Hastings, and a leading barrister in Belleville.55 Samson persuaded Benjamin to
purchase a printing press and establish himself as printer in Belleville, and in
is still in production. Benjamin
1834 he founded The Intelligencer, which
continued his association with the Orange Order, although, according to
Sheldon J. Godfrey, he apparently admitted to being Jewish in Canada during
the 1830s. He was a Captain in the Belleville Militia, and served in the ranks of
a volunter company in 1848, repelling Canadian rebels and USA infiltrators.He
was active and successful in local politics and was helped to lucrative and
impressive offices by his Orange Order connections. When Benjamin advertised
for an apprentice, a youth named Mackenzie Bowell joined him. Bowell lived
and Benjamin greatly influenced his education and
with the Benjamins,
subsequent career, for he became a successful journalist, was active in the
Orange Order and later Prime Minister of Canada. The Orange Order had started
in illegal
in Ireland before the 1798 rebellion, and found itsway to Canada
army Lodges.56 Catholics formed just 20 per cent of the population of Canada,
and Orange Lodges gained the patronage of influential sections of the upper and
middle classes, and became an important factor in the politics of the Province of
Ontario inwhich Belleville was situated. George Benjamin was Grand Master of
105
David Spector
the Orange Order of British North America from 1846 to 1854, but there were
internal schisms in the movement which were eventually resolved. He was
elected by a substantial majority to the Province of Canada Assembly in 1856,
and served with distinction under Sir JohnMacDonald, who promised George
Benjamin a Cabinet appointment but did not keep his word.57 Benjamin
resigned in 1863 to devote himself to familymatters but died in 1864 from
injuries received in an accident the previous year.
It is difficult to reconcile the unbaptized George Benjamin's adherence to the
Orange Order and to Christianity. George and his wife were early founders of an
Anglican church in Belleville. Eight children were baptized between 1846 and
1852, and in his last year, 1864, both George and his wife and mother-in-law
were baptized. Photostats, in the possession of the writer, of pages of a Hebrew
show his own record of his
prayer book belonging to George Benjamin,
a
sent in 1864 to one of his
In
of
his
letter
and
the
births
children.
marriage
brothers inAustralia we findhim writing Hebrew.58 Family seals were popular
with European Jewry and the family have in their possession the Cohen family
seal. George returned to Brighton in 1857 and was reconciled with his
family?this was before his baptism, naturally. His photograph (see Plate 9)
to the 150th
and according
shows him to be of Jewish appearance,
Anniversary-Year number of The Intelligencerothers were aware of this. In 1888
therewas correspondence between the firstPrime Minister of the Confederation
and Colonel Arthur W. Hart, on the complaint
of Canada, Sir JohnMacDonald,
'that there were no Jews in public affairs in Canada due to scarcely veiled
prejudiced feelings of influential Canadian circles'. MacDonald
replied, 'the late
George Benjamin was a Jew although I believe had become a Christian. His son
is now in one of the public departments and a year ago I got an appointment for
one of your race with the Post Office in Ontario.'59 Correspondence between the
brothers revealed yet another unknown son of Emanuel Hyam Cohen, a Dr
Benjamin N. Cohen, born in Brighton on 8 August 1807, living inNew York in
1862 with a family of four boys and two girls, and two sons serving in the
Northern Army, in fighting forwhich the eldest was severely wounded.60 Dr
Cohen became a naturalized United States citizen on 5 June 1833.61 As a result
of a communication fromOntario in 1986, the story of the Cohen who became
a Grand Master of the Orange Order can now be told, together with details of the
previously unknown Dr Cohen.
In April 1983 thewriter gave a series of broadcasts on the history of the local
community, and was later contacted by Frank Berncastle, great-grandson of
Solomon Nathan Berncastel, mentioned earlier as a resident of Lewes. Frank
Berncastle had recently retired to the area and was seeking further information
about his family,which he was aware was Jewish. His great-grandfather was
president of the congregation in 1824 and active in its affairs.62 The '1798
1803 Sussex Register ofAliens' recorded his arrival at Deptford in 1803.63 In an
106
1805 Lewes Directory he is recorded as a watchmaker and jeweller, and in
1823 he moved to a newly erected building, No. 1 CliffeHigh Street, still in use
as a jeweller's shop.64 A Jewishwedding was performed there on 9 June 1852.65
Solomon Nathan Berncastel moved to Brighton and later to London, where he
ceased his association with the community. Frank Berncastle revealed that the
family originated fromTrier and that Solomon's father, Jacob Nathan, represen?
ted the Trier community at the Assembly ofNotables convened by Napoleon in
1806. A brother of Solomon, Lion Berncastel (1770-1840),
qualified as a
doctor at Jena University in September 1797, and in 1809 was a member of the
Consistorium of the Trier synagogue. The Berncastel family had close connec?
tions with theMarx family in Trier, and Dr Lion Berncastel and Heinrich Marx
area of the
(father of Karl Marx) jointly owned a vineyard at Metersdorf?an
after Heinrich's death was legally divided
Moselle not far from Trier?which
between his widow and Dr Lion Berncastel.66 In 1818 Dr Lion Berncastel was
the doctor present at the birth of the subsequently famous Karl Marx. When
Karl Marx needed a medical certificate in 1836, his father recommended that it
should be obtained from Dr Berncastel in Trier 'who was a highly esteemed
eldest daughter Diana
Berncastel's
Jewish physician'.67 Solomon Nathan
a French politician.68 His father
(1812-97) married Simon Deutz (1802-52),
had been a member of the 1807 Grand San
Emanuel Deutz (1763-1842)
hedrin, and in 1822 was appointed Grand Rabbin of France.69 Simon Deutz was
converted to Catholicism when he was twenty-three, but returned to Judaism in
London on 11 March 1833.70 Simon became involved while in France with the
Duchesse de Berry, whose husband, the Due de Berry, was murdered at the
Paris Opera in 1820.71 The duchesse was actively engaged in a legitimist
conspiracy against King Louis-Philippe of France, her uncle, and sent Simon
Deutz to Spain and Portugal to obtain arms and men. He was also entrusted
with the delicate mission of securing a promise of Russian military intervention.
On his return to France, Deutz betrayed the duchesse to Thiers, Minister of the
Interior, and she was arrested at Nantes on 7 November 1832. Rumour had it
that Simon had betrayed her for a considerable sum ofmoney, but he denied
this, saying he was activated by motives of loyalty to France and wished to
avoid bloodshed. There was an outcry against the 'Jewish traitor',which did not
subside until 1835. At some time Diana parted from Simon and set up a school
in Leamington Spa.72 The Berncastels are thus Brighton's linkwith the family of
Karl Marx and politics of early-nineteenth-century France.
Howlett and Clarke, the oldest firm of solicitors in Brighton, who acted for
the congregation, have deposited their nineteenth-century papers at the East
Sussex Record Office.73 These contain references to Mendes da Costa and
lived the
Adelaide, South Australia. Levi and Bergman state: 'In Adelaide
Da
sister
Louisa.
da
Costa
and
his
Mendes
middle-aged Sephardic Jew Benjamin
Costa was a merchant in Adelaide from 1840 to 1848, when he returned to
107
Moses
born George
Benjamin,
George
and
Canadian
1799.
politician
Brighton,
journalist, member of the Legislative Assembly, Grand
Master of the Orange Order of British North America.
Plate
9
Cohen,
Plate 1o The Devonshire Place Synagogue was opened in 18 2 3, enlarged
in 1837,
and disposed
of when
the Middle
Street
by David Mocatta
Synagogue
opened in 1875. It is a Grade II listed building.
IO8
England. In the years immediately prior to Da Costa's departure Bishop Short
was organizing the foundation of a Church of England School forBoys. By the
way of a parting gift,Da Costa donated six town acres in the centre ofAdelaide
to the College which was built in 1849 in the suburb later to be called St Peters.
Now Da Costa Building stands on immensely valuable land at the corner of
Place and Grenfell Street and the Anglican
institution "St Peter
Collegiate School" can attribute its present sound financial condition to the
generosity of a descendant of the Sephardim of Portugal.'74
There ismore detailed reference to this gift and later benefactions in Jews of
South Australia 183 6-193 6 by Hirsch M?nz, but littlewas otherwise known
about the background of Benjamin and Louisa. The college, unaware of the
material in Lewes, requested the writer's help; he traced the family, and this
particular branch of theMendes da Costa clan, back to France at Saint Esprit?a
designated quarter for Sephardim at Bayonne?where
they had fled the
Inquisition.75 Bayonne was a centre of considerable mercantile activity, in
which the Sephardim were prominent. Louis Henriques Mendes da Costa
later known as Abraham, was born in Bayonne and married
(1652-1724),
Theresa Mendes Salazar. In about 1700 theymoved to Amsterdam, where he
died in 1724. A son, Jacob Mendes da Costa (1682-1752),
settled in London
was the
and was endenizened in 1704. Jacob's son Hannanel
(1739-1810)
father of Benjamin Mendes da Costa (176 7-1817) who married twice, his first
wife dying in 1798 after having borne him two sons: Hannanel
(1789-1826)
In 1802 he married, by licence, a minor of the
and Jacob Joseph (1791-1826).
Church of England, one Louisa Naylor, who also had two children.76 The first
was Benjamin (1803-68)
and the second Louisa (1806-98),
both of whom
were brought up in the faith of theirmother and in 1840 journeyed toAdelaide.
the father and son who settled in London, were successful
Jacob and Hannanel,
and wealthy merchants,
related to the outstanding Sephardi families of
Hannanel's
son, did not abjure Judaism after his second
England.77 Benjamin,
was
and
buried
his
beside
firstwife at theMile End Jewish Cemetery.
marriage,
The children maintained good relations with their Jewish relatives, whom we
find leaving them legacies.78 Benjamin became a Freeman of the City of London
on 2 February 1837, and a member 'by redemption' of the Spectacle Makers
In 1840 the
Company of London. He is described as an 'indigo merchant'.
brother and sister left forAdelaide, no doubt influenced by their association
a founder of the South Australian Associa?
with Jacob Montefiore (1801-95),
Gawler
tion.79 Their first address was Hindley Street, an area associated with Jewish
merchants.80 Benjamin was successful and acquired a portfolio of properties in
the town and surrounding areas. Two other Jews were associated with the
school project: Philip Levi and Montague Phillipson.81 The firstMinutes of the
Governors, of 4 November 1848, record a request for the admission of Samuel
Solomon (son of Emanuel Solomon), which was granted. The school had a
109
David Spector
liberal admission policy, and thirteen further Jewish names can be identified as
scholars between 1847 and 1857.82 Benjamin and Louisa returned to England
in 1848, having appointed and granted Powers of Attorney to local agents.
They lived for a period in London and then took up residence at a Brighton
boarding house, 6 Bedford Square, close to the seafront,where Benjamin died in
1868. In his will he leftthe life interest in all his properties and assets to Louisa,
and on her death, in varying proportions to his Jewish and non-Jewish relatives.
On their eventual death the entire estate was to revert to the St Peter Collegiate
School. The school had no prior knowledge of this and were surprised and
delighted with the news, which reached them in early 1869. Louisa and her
relations lived formany years and itwas not until 1912 that the entire estate
was vested in the school.83 From time to time 'spies' were sent over by the
school to discover how many relatives were still alive, and the school raised
funds on its 'expectations'. This act of philanthropy was outstanding in the
and possibly for Australia
itself. The school?
history of South Australia
in
school
the
the
major public
Antipodes?was
firmly based for
nowadays
eventual expansion. Its history records: 'In 1946 the school was spending upon
each boy approximately 20 per cent more than he was paying in fees, and this
educational liberality, together with most of the cost of buildings, such as the
Memorial Hall and the great building scheme of 1935, was due to the
munificence of Benjamin da Costa'.84 Ifwe allow for the extensive grounds and
buildings of the school, the value of property and current developments in
Adelaide, and additional securities, the successor charity must have current
assets of over fiftymillion pounds sterling.85 Ironically the only Jewish gift in
Benjamin's will was the sum of 'Ten Pounds to the Portuguese Jews Synagogue,
Bevis Marks'. Wealthy by modern standards, brother and sister lived austere
Victorian lives at Brighton. Although Benjamin was born in Britain, he is
described on his tombstone as 'ofAdelaide'. The school had not heard of its
patron's connections with the terror of the Inquisition or of his journey to
Adelaide by way of Bayonne, Amsterdam and London. They had known only
that he was a merchant of Jewish descent. Lucien Wolf once said that the story
of the Anglo-Jewish family of Mendes da Costa composed the greater part of
Anglo-Jewish history.
Brighton Jewry has
contacts also with Sierra Leone, where, after the
suppression of the slave trade, ordinary merchants began to penetrate. In 1855
JohnMyer Harris, a tailor, left 11 Oriental Place, Brighton, together with his
for Sierra Leone.86 Abraham died in May 1859
younger brother Abraham,
during a Yellow Fever epidemic. JohnMyer Harris started trading in the Sherbo
estuary and by i860 had prospered sufficiently to open a factory at Sulima in
the Gallinas country, formerly one of the principal areas of slave trading.87
('Factory' was a nineteenth-century word in Africa for a 'trading store'.)
Traders were not keen to pay customs dues and many of them established
no
themselves in border regions where sovereignty was disputed and customs
difficult to enforce. Harris took advantage of this in the disputed area between
Sierra Leone and Liberia (now Monrovia). At times he was encouraged by the
government, which eventually annexed certain regions to British rule, for
which John Myer Harris is esteemed to this day by the inhabitants of the
annexed area. His book, Annexations in Sierra Leone and their influenceon British
Trade with West Africa, was published in 1883 and is of sufficient importance to
have been reprinted in 1975.88 Harris's firstwife was Boie Sally of the family of
the Chief of Juring. Her grand-daughter was Lady Beoku-Betts, wife of a
who was the first
barrister, Sir Ernest (Samuel) Beoku-Betts (1895-1957),
elected member of the Legislative Council and subsequently Speaker of the
House of Representatives in Sierra Leone.89 The second wife was reputed to be a
native princess, Yana or Jane Tucker, daughter of Chief Thomas Tucker. Her
son, John or James Nathaniel Harris, married the daughter of the President of
Liberia, Rosie Marie Roberts. Some members of the Harris family moved to
Liberia and recently a descendant, William Tolbert, then Chairman of the
Organization of African Unity, was assassinated during a coup d'etat. On his
return to England, Harris married a London Jewishwoman and settled down in
Maida Vale. His grandson, Bernard Harris of Hove, discovered the 1883 book,
and recollected coloured cousins visiting the family.90 In 1975 he visited Sierra
Leone and met no fewer than twenty-five cousins of some degree. Their
positions ranged from the president's personal doctor to vice-chairman of a
university, and the then mayor of Freetown. The president of Sierra Leone
placed his private helicopter at the disposal of Ben Harris to enable him to visit
the old factory at Sulima, where he was greeted on arrival by 600 villagers. The
Sierra Leone descendants of the Brighton Jewish tailor are proud of their
background and their personal contribution to the political and cultural fabric
of Sierra
Leone.
Equally surprising are some of the accounts of how Jewish families found
their way to Brighton in the first place. One begins with the kidnapping by
Cossacks of a boy in the 1880s, from his village in Russia. The path of the
Cossacks crossed that of a band of Russian non-Jewish peasants on theirway to
Palestine. The peasants bought the boy from the Cossacks and continued on
their journey, eventually finding employment in Palestine in the recently
The boy grew up, married and had
opened vineyards of Zichron Yaacov.
not
suit
the
did
the
climate
but
children,
family and they leftforEngland, where
descendants eventually settled in the Hove area. The storywas told tome by a
grandchild of the kidnapped boy, and I searched for corroboration of its
background. The firstwas from an account, in the weekly Jerusalem Post of
15-21 November 1981, of the story of Ephraim Avidan, who died in 1969, and
was the son of a Russian
'Sobetnik' Christian farmer, one of the Grodianskis
to
Palestine at the end of the last century and were invited
who had immigrated
in
David Spector
in 1900.91 The invitation came from
toMetulla fromYesud Hama'ala
the local agent of Baron Rothschild's Palestine Jewish Colonization Association.
The settlerswere to set an example to newcomers who had not farmed before.
The second corroboration appeared in a book published in 1924 by Myriam
Harry, who recalls meeting in Sejera (now Ilaniya) an old Russian peasant
woman and her son, and in response to enquiries as towhether she was really a
Slav, was told that the woman came from the Caucasus and belonged to the
sect of Sabbatists, who read the Bible and held their sabbath on
Russian
tomove
Saturday.92 They were on good terms in Russia with neighbouring Jewish
families, and when the latter were persecuted in the 1880s many were
converted to Judaism, moved by the desire to suffer as a protest. The baron
needed good husbandmen and and employed them in his colonies. Clearly the
basis of this account of the kidnapping and eventual arrival of the boy with the
Russian Christian parents is credible.
A discovery was recently made by Antony Dale in uncatalogued material in
the basement of the Brighton Museum, of two hitherto unknown sketches of the
interior and exterior of the third synagogue in Devonshire Place (1823-75).
This synagogue was enlarged by David Mocatta in 1837. In 1824 the following
description was recorded: Tn Devonshire Place is a small square building
standing in an enclosed space, at a little distance from the road. The Minister,
Rabbi Levi. Service on Saturday at eight in the morning and two in the
afternoon'.93 The 1853 sketch shows Sephardic influence on the interior of the
enlarged synagogue and there is a plaque recording the 'Eliason Legacy'
in the present writer's previous lecture.94 Baron de Rothschild
discussed
worshipped in this synagogue when in Brighton, and is reported as prostrating
himself on the sanded floor on Tisha B 'Av. Lectures in English were given as
early as 1840, with attendance of non-Jews welcomed.95 It has however been
described in later years as a 'rather primitive place ofworship'.96 It is a Grade II
listed building, as isMiddle Street, and since the listing of synagogues is rare in
the United Kingdom, Brighton has yet another unique feature in possessing two
such buildings.97 The Devonshire Place building is now a health studio (see
Plate 10).
Michael
in his thesis The Evolution of
Ray, Planning Director of Hove,
revealed useful information on the nature of
Brunswick Town, Hove 1830-1881,
the relationship of the community, particularly the Goldsmids, with the local
people.98 He records 'that the Rev. Henry Venn Elliott was the Secretary of the
Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but there was no local
of anti-semitism'.99 Michael Ray then dealt with the possibility of
problems between the Goldsmids and the local population, but concluded: 'If
frictionwas to be found itwould be more likely to arise with the Goldsmids, who
bought the rest of the land [this refers to theWick Estate] on which the estate
was built from Scutt. They did not always sell freehold, kept a residence in the
evidence
112
area and were farmore wealthy.' Their religion could have alienated local
residents but the evidence for conflict was very slight. Negotiations with the
Commissioners to extend their jurisdiction over his land went well at first.
However, in February 1851 they objected to the proposed right of Sir Isaac to
drain his land outside the proposed new district through its sewers, and the
retention of his right to remove beach and shingle in front of Adelaide
Crescent. Goldsmid then proposed to exclude Adelaide Crescent from the
scheme. This led to the complete hostility of the Commissioners who
threatened 'every opposition' to the further progress of the Bill. The disputes
were finally resolved and when the extended Commission met for the first
time, Goldsmid was in the chair. Perhaps itwas his wise donation of land
that won the support of the local people. He allowed Western Road to be
extended so as to avoid 'funerals from the northern part of the District
passing through the principal squares and streets', and donated the site of St
John's Church.100 His successor, Sir Francis, also seems to have been well
respected. He attended twenty-two meetings of the Commissioners over four?
teen years (his father sat in at eleven over eight years). Sir Francis was a
busy man who became a QC in the year before his father's death and an
MP the year after it. The Goldsmids also won support by holding an annual
dinner for the estate workers, starting in 1862. This was a major social
event involving as many as a hundred men and boys. In 1866 the resident
surveyor recalled that while he had worked on the Estate, for thirteen years,
'he had never to dismiss a man in anger'.101 Sir Francis was also active in
the campaign for the improvement of the sewerage system of Brighton and
Hove and was the power behind the 'Grand Hotel Group', no doubt influen?
ced by his development of theWick Estate.102 Sir Isaac leftover ?2,000,000
in 1859, which was the fourth-largest estate nationally recorded between
1809
and
1914.103
Sir
Francis
left ?1,000,000
in 1878,
and
it was
revealed
that Sir Julian (1838-96)
had land in Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Berk?
income of ?35,000;
shire with an annual
however, of a total of 14,272
was
a staggering ?20,000
in
but
it
worth
acres, only 193 lay
per
Sussex,
annum.104 One must in no way underrate Sir Isaac's shrewdness in his
affairs, as the planners for the railway between Brighton and Shoreham
found when
they proposed a short tunnel of only 231 yards under his
He
secured an agreement that 'there shall be no manufacturing
property.
allowed, no coals deposited in the Depot to be made on his [Mr Goldsmid's]
property, so that coals shall not pass down the road through his property at
Hove.'105 Sir Julian Goldsmid was a Director of the London, Brighton and
South-Coast Railway. An engine was named
'Goldsmid' after him in May
as
over
is
and
recorded
been
handed
1892,
having
by Southern Railway to
British Railways on its formation in 1948. The handsome outline of this
engine was reproduced in copper as an engineer's cap badge and remained
113
The Middle Street Synagogue's
Plate 11
fagade inMiddle
account of its interior, shown in the next plate.
Plate
12
Street Synagogue's
interior, an extremely sumptuous
are of stained glass.
craftsmanship. All the windows
The Middle
nineteenth-century
Street. It is a Grade
II listed building on
example
of late
the insignia of Brighton's drivers and firemen formany years. A history of the
railway records Sir Julian as living atWick, Hove, with the comment 'this great
Jewish familywas verymuch a power in these parts.'106
The famous Chazan and composer the Reverend Haim Wasserzug
(1822-82)
was the father-in-law of the Reverend A. Levinson, Minister ofMiddle Street,
and a frequent visitor to and lover of the town. He was also a keen swimmer,
and on 24 August 1882, in spite ofwarnings, entered the sea to swim between
the two piers. He subsequently collapsed on the beach from exhaustion, and
died seven hours later in the Royal Sussex Hospital.107 He was twice married
and lefta widow and fifteen children, five of them from his firstmarriage. The
Reverend Levinson's wife was a daughter of the second marriage. The evening
prior to his death was spent at the residence of the Chief Rabbi towhom he sang
portions of the service for theNew Year and Yom Kippur.
Sir Michael Costa (born 1810) retired to 13 Seafield Road, Hove, and died
there on 29 April 1884.108 He was a most important conductor of the
nineteenth century, a good musician, and a stern but fair disciplinarian. It is
said that Rossini, who was a noted gourmet, passed the following judgement on
Costa's music in 1856: 'Good old Costa has sent me an Oratorio score and a
Stilton cheese. The cheese was fine'.109 Sir Henry Irving purchased a house at
41 Lansdowne Place, Hove, and gave the house and deeds toMorris Abrahams
on Abrahams'
retirement. Morris Abra?
of the Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel,
hams' name appears in the local directories from 1898 to 1907 with the name
of his house given as 'Irving House'. Modern research has discovered no details
of this remarkable friendship between a distinguished actor and the lessee and
director of the home of the Yiddish theatre. Dr L. Loewe advertised the
attractions of his boarding school at Brighton as 'Hindustani, fencing, horse?
hair mattresses' and the fact that 'pupils are permitted towrite to their Parents
or Guardians
once
a week,
and
letters
are NOT
examined'.110
as his
Another devotee of Brighton was the late Cecil Roth (1899-1970),
wife has recorded in Cecil Roth, Historian without Tears. One of his familywho
lived permanently in Brighton was Cecil's great-uncle Maurice Jacobs (1864
193 7)> wno was ?nry one Year older than his niece, themother of Cecil Roth.111
Originally from Sheffield, he was the first Jew to enter St Paul's School, then in
the City of London, and a favourite pupil of the High Master. He won a
scholarship toWadham College, Oxford, and took his MA. For ten years he was
tutor to the sons of Leopold de Rothschild, and also toHerbert Samuel and Leslie
Hore-Belisha. His school, 'Ascot House', was in Sussex Square, and among its
patrons were the Chief Rabbi and the headmaster of Harrow. Jacobs was
and in 1931 was
appointed French Consul for Sussex (excluding Newhaven)
made a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. He was given permission towear the
order by his old pupil and friend, the then Home Secretary, Sir Herbert Samuel.
at Middle Street have
Families or individuals who have worshipped
115
David Spector
participated inmajor developments as varied as emancipation, or the Balfour
Declaration. The early minutes record pleas for help and assistance from the
poor Jews in Safed and Hebron and the poignant appeal forDamascus Jewry in
1840 from Sir Moses Monteflore. The Balfour Declaration is recorded in full, as
is correspondence with Lord Balfour. Chaim Weizmann visited the local Zionist
Society in 1918, but in 1922 the Honorary Officers refused to associate with, or
to sponsor, a visit to the town by Jabotinsky and Colonel Patterson. The most
is through Lady Rosebery (Hannah
intimate connection with the Mandate
Prime
wife
of
the
Minister, to whose memory two
Rothschild),
subsequent
windows are dedicated at the Middle Street Synagogue.112 Her daughter, Lady
was the second wife of theMarquis of Crewe,
Margaret Primrose (1881-1967),
through Mrs Charles Rothschild became interested in Zionism.113 The
Marquis of Crewe was a member of the Asquith Cabinet, and was one of those
whom Weizmann
could approach.114 Neil Primrose, one of the younger Lady
Crewe's two brothers, had been Under-Secretary of State forForeign Affairs, and
had held other important posts. He became interested in the Jewish National
Movement and used his influence to align the British Government with the
Jewish desire for the restoration of Palestine. He left the Government in 1917,
and associated himself with the scheme for a Jewish infantryunit for service in
Palestine. He went to Palestine with his Yeomanry Regiment and was killed
near Jaffaon 17 November 1917.115 His cousin, Major Anthony de Rothschild,
died the same day fromwounds received on 13 November 1917 m the famous
cavalry charge at El Mughar, south of Gaza.116 James de Rothschild, son ofHa
and
Nadiv, was a regular worshipper atMiddle Street and his seat at the eastern wall
was occupied for a number of years by the distinguished Emeritus Rabbi Isaac
Fabricant. The family has not lost its interest in Brighton, and in 1986 Mrs
James de Rothschild made a substantial donation to the local Jewish Book Week.
The number of resident members did not reflect the rapid growth of the area,
but after 1881 therewas an increase in the number of Jewish street traders and
shopkeepers of Eastern European origin. Jewish beach vendors were fora period
paid by the congregation to deposit their trays at the back of the synagogue
during the Sabbath. The area of activity was bounded by Trafalgar Street in the
north and Kings Road in the south, with numerous establishments in Gardner
Street, Sydney Street and Bond Street. The synagogue maintained a small team
of boys to run out to this area to provide a minyan. The boys were to be given six
pence a week for their services, and did not hesitate to strike if they were not
paid. The better areas of residence were originally Sillwood Road, then West
Hove and now the Shirley Drive and Upper Dyke Road area. The main period of
expansion was after the Second World War. The latest addition to the unusually
large number of roads associated with Jews in the area was Lyon Close in 1984
(fora list of such names, see the Appendix).117 The fact that Brighton and Hove
were popular with all classes of Jews did not escape the notice of journalists,
116
novelists and cartoonists, but overt anti-Semitism was experienced only during
periods of right-wing extremist activity, and in the campaign for the establish?
ment of the State of Israel.118 In the First World War
125 men of the
congregation served in the forces and 33 were killed. Casualties in the Second
World War were 30 killed; one member fell in Korea. In recent years the Ajex
contingent has been the largest at the local Annual Remembrance Parade.
Hospitals in this area which have benefited from Jewish philanthropy are the
(Bernhard Baron), St Dun
Royal Sussex (Sir John Howard), Hove Women's
stan's (Otto Kahn) and Midhurst (Sir Ernest Cassel).
In the early part of the nineteenth century, when three Brighton Jewish
elders were Chief Constable, Newspaper Editor and Commissioner respectively,
Jews in Italy were confined to ghettos, the Inquisition was not abolished until
1834, Russian Jews were confined to the Pale of Settlement and persecutions
took place in many countries. One possible explanation for this favourable
situation lies in the political lifeof the town. The visit of the Prince Regent in
1783, the Regency period, the development of the town and the presence of the
Court, all greatly influenced local politics. The Prince Regent initially supported
theWhigs and the town adopted his politics. It remained Whig even after he
transferred his allegiance to the Tories. There was a strong base of dissenters in
Sussex, and the Brighton Vestry were declared supporters of the Chartists. In
spite of thismilitant radical background therewas affection and support for the
monarchy, which explains both the outburst against Cohen in 1830 and the
continued support for his newspaper the Brighton Guardian. This paper was
established to support the cause of local-government reform, and its goodwill
was vital to candidates in the first elections after the passing of the Reform Act
in 1832. The Brighton electorate in 1832 numbered only 1600 out of a
population of 40,000.119 One of the successful candidates of 1832 was Henry
Faithful, a lawyer and dissenting preacher, who angered Cohen by his lack of
support for Jewish emancipation, by voting for his opponents in the debate in
the House of Commons on Cohen's imprisonment, and for failing to give him
public thanks for his support in the 1832 election. Faithful lost the next
election, in 1835, and turned to the Brighton Patriot, a vehicle of the Chartists,
but this paper failed in 1839, leaving the Brighton Guardian the only publication
influence
for liberals and the growing radical working class.120 Cohen's
increased and this assisted him in the battle for the incorporation of Brighton as
a municipality. The selection of Henry Solomon for numerous posts, cul?
minating in his appointment as the first Chief Constable of Brighton in 1838,
reflects the tolerance of the Brighton Vestry and his efficiency as a servant of the
Commissioners (see Plate 13). The inscription on his tombstone reads: 'Sacred
to thememory ofHenry Solomon, 15 years Chief Officer of Police of the town of
Brighton, who was brutally murdered while in the public discharge of the duties
of his office, on the 14th day ofMarch 1844 in the fiftiethyear of his age. The
117
David Spector
Plate
13
(left) Henry
sketch by B. Worth.
Solomon,
firstChief Constable
of Brighton,
1838,
in an early pen-and-ink
Plate 14
in 1833, later a successful businessman.
(right) Henry Cohen, transported to Australia
His daughter Sophia married Abraham Cohen, born in Brighton, 1812. His son Edward was later Lord
Grandchildren
included a Lady Mayoress ofMelbourne
and a High Court Judge.
Mayor ofMelbourne.
town of Brighton in testimony of his services honored his memory by a public
funeral and by the munificent gift of five hundred pounds in aid of the
subscription raised forhis widow and children.' Hyam Lewis, as one can deduce
from the Richard Dighton sketch, had considerable financial influence, and his
involvement in public affairswas inevitable. In the early part of the nineteenth
century the authorities were apprehensive about the working population, but
Anglo-Jewry was not looked on as a revolutionary body, but as a group
concerned mainly with improving itswell-being, with integrating itselfwith the
population, and grateful for itsprotection from overt persecution.
The Emanuel Hyam Cohen family isworthy of further study. An ancestor of
the family was Don Menachem
ben Chajim Ha-Cohen
who is
(1650-1723),
said to have come from Spain to Holland and then to Niederweren, a small
118
village outside Schweinfurt, in northern Bavaria. He is buried in the cemetery at
Eurebach, not far from Niederweren.121 As a result of legislation enforcing
adoption of surnames, some branches of the family adopted the name
Kohnstam, others dropped the prefix 'Ha' and became known as Cohen.
or Manie was born in Nieder wer en in about 1762 and can be
Menache
as
the subsequent Emanuel Hyam Cohen of Brighton.122 His son,
identified
Abraham, who had migrated to New South Wales, married in Sydney, on 2 7
July 1836, Sophia, daughter ofHenry and Elizabeth Cohen.123 Henry Cohen, a
London dealer, had been sentenced at the Old Bailey in November 1832 to
fourteen years' transportation for receiving stolen provincial banknotes (see
Plate 14).124 Cohen's evidence was inwriting and twenty-one people testified to
his good character. He was then aged forty-three and had a wife and ten
children, one ofwhom was married. He was assigned to a prison settlement at
Port Macquarie,
subsequently granted 'emancipation', and prospered.125 In
1833 his wife, children and son-in-law joined him in New South Wales. His
son-in-law Joseph Simmons later became a well-known actor and President of
the Sydney Synagogue.126 Abraham's daughter was Lady Francis Benjamin of
Melbourne, and a son, the Honourable Henry Emanuel Cohen, a distinguished
judge and politician. A grand-daughter, Ida Cohen of Tamworth, who was
awarded theMBE while in her nineties forRed Cross work, died in 1970 at the
age of 102. There are still descendants using the name Cohen residing in
Australia. The Cohen family also produced a Grand Master of the Orange Order
of British North America and a future Lord Cohen of Brighton. It is almost
certain that there ismore material available at the East Sussex Record Office
and the Brighton Reference Library: the challenge is to the younger generation
of Brightonians to continue the search.
case of the
They may also wish to look into an unsolved mystery?the
were
in
The
statues
statues.127
and
stood
niches on
five
feet
eight
high
missing
25 (later renumbered 45) Park Lane, the house built forBarney Barnato, who
it was purchased by Sir Edward
died before it was complete, whereupon
Sassoon. Sir Edward, whose taste did not extend to allegorical figures ofNight,
Morning, Truth, Fidelity and Welcome, presented them to the Corporation of
Brighton, and they were erected in the Victoria Gardens close to the Steyne in
1898. All the statues disappeared in 1922, and in spite of a thorough search in
all the Corporation depots and records no one knows where they went. It has
been suggested that the statues were really creditors who had been asked by
Barney Barnato towait on the roof for theirmoney
the search goes on.
prolonged wait. Meanwhile
119
and had frozen during the
David Spector
NOTES
1 Trans JHSE XXII (1970) 42-52.
2 L.A. Vidier, A New History of Rye
Works of Robert Dighton (1732-1814),
Actor,
Artist and Printseiler and Three of his Artist Sons
(Hove
(Lewes 1981) 44.
2 5 Letter from Antony Dale
1934)81.
3 Sussex Weekly Advertiser (Lewes) 5 Oct.
73
Survey Maps,
1789. Victorian Ordnance
1988)
(David & Charles Ltd, Newton Abbot
13
two small tene?
Buildings were
35-6 Ship Street, Brighton, originally 32
Ship Street, home of Hyam Lewis, and 29 Duke
Street. Two marriages were performed at these
premises (entries 12 and 15, Brighton Hebrew
'Jews Gut'. Ordnance Survey Sheet, 184 (i960)
indicated as 'JuryGap'.
4 John H. Farrant, 'The evolution of New
haven Harbour',
Sussex Archaeological
Collec?
tionsno
(Lewes 1972) 55.
ments,
A Cen?
5 The Jewish Chronicle 1841-1941:
tury ofNewspaper History (London 1949) 82.
6 Evening Argus (Brighton) 18 Nov. 1968.
ASSI 35/174/8RC/445 5.
PublicRecordOffice
7 Sussex Weekly Advertiser (Lewes) 17 Aug.
1789.
8 'Historical Notes',
Sussex Archaeological
Collections 123 (Lewes 1985) 272-3.
between
the present
9 Correspondence
see Trans
writer and Geoffrey Green, forwhom
JHSE XXIX (1988) 97-134.
10 Sue Farrant, The Growth of Brighton and
Hove (Falmer 1981) 10.
11 Police Review
18 Apr.
1986.
(London)
Brighton Museum, Case 2, Exhibit 15.
12 East Sussex Record Office X1431/4/5/6.
and
13 Frederick Harrison
James Sharp
North, Old Brighton, Old Preston, Old Hove (Has?
socks 1974) 5.
14 Harrison and North (see n. 13) 3.
15 Frederick Harrison, The Story of Brighton,
Hove and Neighbourhood
(Brighton 1931)
78.
Cecil Roth, The Rise of Provincial Jewry (London
footnote 36; J.H. Cohen's
observations
1950)
are not correct; no buildings were erected in
Bond Street until 1788.
16 Brighton Reference Library Map No. 5.
17 Harrison and North (see n. 13)63.
c.
18 N. Caplan,
'Sussex Religious Dissent
in Sussex Archaeological Collections 120
1830',
(Lewes 1982)
19 British
to the writer,
July 1984.
26 Lewis's
193-203.
British
Library
Parliamentary
Papers (Lords) 1811 (48) xlvi, 17.
20 East Sussex Record Office QCR/i/n
E.i
and W.i.
21 Sir I.L. Goldsmid's
Congregation
on Ordnance
Marriage
Survey
It appeared
Register).
and Town Maps
up to
1890.
27 Antony Dale, Brighton Town and Brighton
People (Chichester 1976) deals extensively with
in Brigh?
the development of local government
ton, and Hyam Lewis in particular. East Sussex
Minutes
Office DB/B58/5.
of Com?
Record
in a
includes Hyam Lewis's name
missioners,
to 'guard and watch
list of persons appointed
and keep order and preserve the peace of the
on 17 Jan. 1816. Later, on 6 March
Town',
1816, they authorized a payment to him of ?3
for 'swords for the Night Patrol'. Hyam Lewis's
standing can be judged from the April 1827
he was one of the
Election for Commissioners:
thirty elected and received 126 votes (highest
vote 158,
lowest 16). Sydney and Beatrice
Webb, History of English Local Government IV
discuss the formation and
(London 1906-29),
of
work
and
other
'Com?
'Improvement'
missioners'.
28 Inspector Gerald W. Baines, History of the
Brighton Police 1838-1967
(Brighton 1968) 2.
29 John M. Shaftesley
(ed.) Remember the
Days: Essays on Anglo-Jewish History Presented to
Cecil Roth (London 1966), essay by Alfred Ru?
bens, 'The Jews of the Parish of St James, Duke's
Place, in the City of London', 182-4.
'Portrait of Anglo-Jewry
30 Alfred Rubens,
Trans JHSE XIX (i960) 2on.
1656-1836',
31 Brighton Hebrew Congregation Marriage
Register, Entry 12, 30 Aug. 1854.
32 Evening Argus (Brighton) 16 July 1986.
33 Erredge (see n. 22) 182.
to the
34 Letter from Reggie Coleman-Cohen
Letter
papers, Vol.i,
320, University College Library.
22 Roman
Catholics:
Brighton and Hove
Herald 10 June 19 71. Methodists:
J.A. Erredge,
writer, 18 March 1969.
of the News?
35 Letter from the Director
paper Society to the writer, 16 April 1968.
36 The Looking Glass, published 1 Oct. 1830,
History of Brighthelmstone (Brighton 1862) 376.
23 Roth (seen. 15) 36-9.
Rose,
24 Dennis
Life, Times and Recorded
London, Vol.i,
I20
No. 10.
of Levi
Guardian,
37 Brighton
obituary
Emanuel Cohen, 28 Nov. i860, gives extensive
details of his lifeand career. The Jewish Chronicle,
28 June 1861, 5 and 12 July
23 Nov. i860,
1909, are
13 Feb. 1863 and 24 Dec.
1861,
sources
of information. F. David
additional
Roberts, Victorian Periodical Newsletter 20 (Am?
lists 479
tierst 1973)
33-41,
early-Victorian
newspaper
editors; Levi Emanuel Cohen is the
only Jewish name.
38 Edward W. Gilbert, Brighton, Old Ocean's
Bauble (London 1954) 132-52.
Reference
Smith's
39
Library,
Brighton
Unclassified Cuttings, 'Incorporation' volume.
40 Brighton Gazette & Hove Post, Special
of Brighton's
Illustrated Edition commemorative
30 June
government,
fifty years of municipal
1904.
41 Ibid.
42 Brighton Herald, obituary 31 Dec. 1873.
The Jewish Chronicle, 13 Feb. 1863.
between Henry C. Co?
44 Correspondence
Australia
hen, New South Wales,
(direct de?
and Theodore
scendant of Abraham
Cohen),
Marx ofWembley Park, Middx., in 1987.
45 Ibid.
The Making
of Manchester
46 Bill Williams,
re?
(Manchester
paperback
Jewry 1740-1875
43
print 1985) 58-61.
East Sussex
of Lewes
47 Report
Group,
Record Office, Evening Argus (Brighton) 14 Mar.
1985.
Emden,
Jews of Britain
(London
48 Paul
198. M.D. Brown, David Salomons House
!943)
(Edinburgh 1968) 18.
49 Joseph Jacobs and Lucien Wolf, Catalogue
of Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition 1887, Royal
Collectors
of the prayer
and provided photostats
1987
of the por?
book and medal and a photograph
trait of George Benjamin.
56 Leslie H. Saunders, Orangeism in Canada
(Ontario reprint i960). Hereward
1830-1860
Senior, The Genesis of Canadian Orangeism, On?
tario Historical Society Vol.15 N0.2. June 1986.
Senior described George Benjamin as
Hereward
a hard-working
in
and imaginative politician
in fact, a moderate
Con?
local affairs. He was,
interest in Orangeism was poli?
servative whose
the admini?
concerned with
tical and more
life.
strative aspects of parliamentary
5 7 Letter to the writer fromMrs N. Cooper,
17 Feb. 1987.
to his brother Abra?
58 George Benjamin
ham inAustralia, 6 May 1864.
G. Sack, History of Jews in
59 Benjamin
Canada 1 (Montreal 1945) 200.
60 Benjamin Cohen to his brother Abraham
inAustralia, 26 Aug. 1862.
61 Naturalization
Certificate No. 289, Phila?
delphia City, 5 June 1833.
62 Roth (seen. 15) 39.
of
63 East Sussex Record Office, Register
under Act of 33, George III,
Aliens 1798-1803,
C4 1793, found by Record Office in folder from
private collector dealing with shipwrecks off
Seaford.
Albert Hall
(London 1888).
50 Phillips, Silver & Plate
Catalogue, 4 Dec. 1987 (London
Archives,
51 Anglo-Jewish
Certificate No. 156.
52 Roth (seen. 15) 38.
silver medal,
53 The
if
meter, has George Benjamin's
date inscribed on the face, and
of the Battle
commemoration
believed to have died when he was about five
years old. His father died in 1823. Benjamin's
Mrs N. Cooper,
great-great-grand-daughter,
in
with and visited the writer
corresponded
Items
1987).
Presentation
in dia?
inches
name and the
on the reverse a
of the Boyne,
1690.
'The Chosen Few',
54 Anthony D. Buckley,
6: 'The
Folk Life Twenty-Four
(Leeds 1986)
is only open
Orange Order whose membership
to professing Protestants...
The Order professes
loyalty to the Crown and Protestant faith.'
IX
55 Dictionary
of Canadian
Biography
The Intelligencer, 18 Dec.
(1861-70)
44-6.
issue, 4, is not cor?
1984, 150th Anniversary
rect when it states that Benjamin's
parents were
121
64 J.V. Button and
Lewes Guide, 1805.
65 Brighton Hebrew
J. Baxter,
Brighton and
Congregation Marriage
Register, Entry 9, 9 June 1852.
66 Frank Berncastle has provided the writer
details of the
with copies of correspondence,
family, and an account of his visit to the Karl
Marx Museum, Trier.
a Political
Karl Marx,
67 Fritz J. Raddatz,
Biography (London 1979) 6.
68 Encyclopaedia
cols 1597-8.
69 Ibid.
Judaica (Jerusalem
1972)
V,
of Simon
70 Cecil Roth, 'The Reconversion
Deutz', Journal of Jewish Sociology 17, 401-5.
The Restoration and the
71 J. Lucas-Dubreton,
Major
(London
1929)
227-8.
July Monarchy
John Hill, England and the Orleans Monarchy,
197.
72 Diana Deutz's daughter left the property
to the father of Frank
in Leamington
Spa
Berncastel. Portraits of the mother of Solomon
David Spector
Berncastle and Simon and Diana Deutz,
thought to have been lost in the bombing of
inWorld War
London
II, have been located in
theWest of England.
73 East Sussex Record Office, HOW 2 5-6.
74 J.S. Levi and G.F.J. Bergman, Australian
Genesis (London 1974) 286.
Nathan
Bart.,
75 Sir Thomas
Colyer-Fergusson,
Papers, Mocatta
Library. Gentle?
Genealogical
man's Magazine,
Jan. 1812. For perplexities of
this task see Index to Trans JHSE I-XXV, 156-7.
see Neville Laski,
For Hannanel
(1739-1810),
The Laws and Charities of the Spanish and Portu?
in London
(London
Jews' Congregation
source
268-9,
276-7. A major
1906) 242-9,
of information is Christopher Fyffe, A History of
Sierra Leone (Oxford 1962). Fyffe also published
A Short History of Sierra Leone (London, 3rd imp.
inter?
1965) 106-8. The writer had numerous
views with Ben Harris who kindly provided him
with copies of correspondence with Christopher
Fyffe, disputing his interpretation of the actions
of his grandfather.
91 Ya'acov
Friedler, 'Metulla at your finger
tip', Jerusalem Post 23 Oct. 1981.
92 Myriam Harry, A Springtime in Palestine
(London 1924) 42-4. Trans JHSE XXIX (1982
6) 230, note
guese
1952)177
76 St Peter's College Handbook (Adelaide, 4th
edn 1987) 66.
and Coral
Diamonds
77 Gedalia
Yogev,
references to
has extensive
(Leicester 1978),
their activities.
left to Benjamin
78 In 1841,
legacies were
da Costa, and in
and Louisa by Esther Mendes
1845 by Moses Mendes da Costa.
79 Emden (see n. 48) 154-5.
80 F.H. Schubert, Setting up a School (Ade?
laide 1947) 104-5.
81 Dr Grenfell Price, The Collegiate School of
St Peter 1847-1947
(Adelaide 1947) 3-4.
82 Ibid. 21-2.
Ibid. 33
84 Ibid. 34.
85 M.S.J. Hood, History of St Peter's College
66-7, also provides
(Adelaide, 4th edn 1987)
da
Mendes
information on Benjamin
useful
Costa and the estate. Dr Shinkfield, the head?
master, visited the writer in 1988 and informed
him that the successor
charity, apart from
and the site and buil?
securities of ?2,500,000
dings of the school, had actual real estate of
of a similar
and developments
?30,000,000
it had
ultimate value. Over the last decade,
subsidized projects in the educational field of the
a similar
and planned
value of ?5,000,000
83
expenditure over the next decade. All religions,
to
to Jews, had endeavoured
from Catholics
obtain access to its funds.
86 Evening Argus (Brighton) 5 Dec. 1976.
87 John M. Harris, Map Showing the Various
Independent Tribes between Sierra Leone and
Liberia (London 1883).
to Sierra
88 John M. Harris, Annexations
Leone and their Influence on British Trade with
West Africa (London 1883).
89 Who Was Who, V (London 1961) 94.
90 Sir Harry
Johnson, Liberia I (London
122
the
107, refers to 'Yesud Hama'la:
in
immigration of eleven farmers from Russia
1883'.
93 R. Sicklemore, History of Brighton (Brigh?
82. 'Rabbi Levi' could be
ton, 3rd edn 1824)
either Isaac Levi or Levi Emanuel Cohen.
94 Spector (see n. 1) 47.
95 Brighton Herald 5 Jan. 1840.
13 Mar.
1908?
96 The Jewish Chronicle
of Hyam
obituary of Lewis Lewis, grandson
Lewis.
List of
of the Environment
97 Department
or Historic
of Special Architectural
Buildings
Interest, County Borough of Brighton, ninth list
as at 20 Aug. 1971?28,95.
98 Michael
Ray, The Evolution of Brunswick
Town 1830-1881
(Falmer 1986) 220-1.
99 Ibid. 117.
100 Evening Argus (Brighton) 21 and 28
Jan. 1972.
101 Ray (seen. 98) 220-1.
102 John H.
'The Drainage
of
Farrant,
Brighton', Sussex Archaeological Collections 124
(Lewes 1986) 218.
Wealth
103 Ray
(see n.
98)
338-9,
see W.D.
'The
Table
Rubenstein,
B4. Also
Victorian
Middle
Classes?Wealth,
Occupa?
Economic History Re?
tion and Geography',
view (1977).
104 Ray (see n. 98) 204.
105 Public Record Office LBR1/26.
106 C. Hamilton
Ellis, London Brighton &
South Coast Railway (London i960)
150,153.
107 The Jewish Chronicle 1 Sept. 1882.
Trans JHSE
108 Emden
(see n. 48) 512-3.
166. Dictionary of National Bio?
(1977)
7-9.
graphy IV (London 1885)119
109 Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Conduc?
tors (London 1968) 148.
110 The Jewish Chronicle (see n. 5) 39.
in
Irene Roth, Cecil Roth, Historian With?
out Tears (New York 1982)
Cox,
89. Horace
XXV
Who in Kent, Surrey and Sussex (London
1911)384.
112 Chaim Bermant, The Cousinhood
(New
York 1972) 126,149,154-63.
113 Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage
Thames
and Companionage
upon
(Kingston
1965) 306. Simon Schama, Two Rothschilds and
Who's
late
information. The
writer and exchanged
W.S.
also of
USA, was
Jessop of Sarasota,
considerable help and the writer is indebted to
Dr A.P. Joseph.
122 Roth
(see n.
15)
37-8?however,
is not near Munich. David J. Ben?
Niederweren
jamin, 'Henry Emanuel Cohen', Australian Jew?
ish Historical
Society Vol.11, Part X (Sydney
1948) 524.
123 Ibid.
124 Sidney Schultz, 'Early Jewish Settlers in
the Land of Israel (London 1978)
198-9. Chaim
Trial and Error, the Autobiography of
Weizmann,
Chaim Weizmann
196, 205-6.
(London 1949)
Who Was Who IV (London 1952) 265-6.
114 Weizmann
(see n. 113) 193, 205.
115
The Jewish Chronicle
23
and
Port Macquarie',
Australian
Jewish Historical
Society Vol.III, Part VIII (Sydney 1953) 341- Old
Sessions
November
Papers,
1832-3,
Bailey
30 Nov.
1917.
116
Ibid.
to the writer by
117 Information
given
of
Michael
Officer, Borough
Ray, Planning
Hove.
and
118 F.E. Sawyer,
Sussex Place Names
Local Proverbs (Brighton 1883). Typical exam?
ple of 19th-century
jibe: 'BRIGHTON N0.20,
the Golden?The
Grand
Hotel,
"Jerusalem
Jews
by the wealthy
Brighton, so nicknamed
who frequent the town 'Whereth Motheth? Oh
gone to Jerusalem the Golden'".'
119 Gilbert (see n. 38) 207.
120
524-8.
125
Levi and Bergman
157,
(see n. 74)
216, 242. Australian Jewish Historical
167-8,
Society Newsletter (Sydney 9 Sept. 1987) 8 and
Appendix.
126 Levi and Bergman (see n. 74) 119, 158,
213-4, 239, 242-3, 245.
166-8,170,172,
Vol.11,
127 Harmsworth
Magazine
April
'Victoria
1899.
Library,
Brighton Reference
cut?
Gardens...
Statues, newspaper
Allegorical
tings and notes'. Brighton Herald 8 Apr. 1922.
Milton Kemnitz, The Origins of
Editorial Policy in Early-Victorian Newspapers:
The Case of the 'Brighton Patriot' (Toronto 1974).
121 Theodore Marx
(see n. 44), whose wife
is a Kohnstam,
corresponded with and met the
Thomas
123
East Sussex County Library Local History Series,
Brighton inRetrospect (Brighton 1974) 21, gives
information about the plinths of the five statues.
to
Two were
left in the gardens, one went
Preston Park, and one to Moulsecomb
Wild
Park. The fate of the fifth plinth, and of all the
statues, isunknown.
David Spector
APPENDIX
Brighton and Hove?street
Coleman
Avenue
names with Jewish associations
brother of Lord Cohen,
Coleman-Cohen,
Reginald
lived in this area.
Jew Street
Site of the first synagogue
Lewis's Buildings
opposite Post Office, Ship Street. Named after Hyam Lewis,
Passageway
who lived at premises at the corner of passageway
and Ship Street.
Tamworth
Nathan Cohen, grandson of Emanuel Hyam Cohen who came to Brighton
in 1782, one of the founders of the town ofTamworth, New South Wales,
Road
and formany
Streets associated
DavigdorRoad
Rachel,
1789.
years mayor.
with Baron de Goldsmid
fifth daughter
e da Palmeira
and his family
of Sir Isaac, married
Count
Solomon
Henry
d'Avigdor.
Goldsmid Mews
ditto.
Goldsmid Road
ditto.
Holland Mews
Lord Holland was a close friend of the baron and was a devoted advocate of
Jewish emancipation. The title of baronet was conferred on Sir Isaac Lyon
Goldsmid by Lord Melbourne at the special wish ofLord Holland. The mews
and road were built on land forming part of theWick Estate purchased by Sir
Isaac in 1830.
Holland
ditto.
Road
of Baron Goldsmid.
Julian Road
Sir Julian Goldsmid,
Lyon Close
Second personal name of Baron de Goldsmid.
and came into operation in 1984.
Montefiore
Road
Nizell's Avenue
A daughter
grandson
of Baron Goldsmid married
A farm in the vicinity of Somerhill,
Osmond
Gardens
Sir Osmond Elim d'Avigdor-Goldsmid,
Osmond
Road
ditto.
Palmeira
Avenue
The new street was named
a Montefiore
in 18 5o.
called Nizell's.
great-grandson
of Baron Goldsmid.
The Portuguese titlewas also associated with the grant of land to Baron de
Goldsmid in the north of the country.
Palmeira Mansions
ditto.
Palmeira
Place
ditto.
Palmeira
Square
ditto.
Somerhill Avenue
Somerhill, a Jacobeanmansion
in 1849.
Somerhill Road
ditto.
124
inKent, was acquired by Baron deGoldsmid

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