Brighton Jewry Reconsidered
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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 at Newhaven 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 Scholars' Life-Boat Fund.5 'Jacobs Post'?north of Ditchling?where the body of Jacob Harris was gibbeted in 1734, has been restored by a local school and the original 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 living with 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 Green has identified two formerNaval 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 * This paper 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; and the Brighton Museum has on permanent exhibition a silver-mounted tipstaffpresented to him by the citizens of Lewes inApril 1840, in gratitude for his efficiency as Chief Officer of Police in Brighton.11 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 (formerly Springs 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 Street nor Jew Street; nor is a synagogue listed or marked among the non-denominational places ofworship.13 A deed dated 9 October 1789 refers to '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 basement room, 20x14 feet in size, was found to be sound-proofed by a 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 Cohen, the editor, was burnt in effigy 7 Lewis's Buildings: the home of Hyam Lewis' family 8 Town Hall: part of the town hall was used as a police station. Itwas here that Henry Solomon was murdered in 1844. 93 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 Brighton Jewry reconsidered 'Boyces Street was formerly Boyces 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 for a 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 Jews who '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 the words '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.