the former

Hoylake Hebrew Congregation

& Jewish Community

Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside

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congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.

Town of Hoylake

Hoylake (population about 6,000) is a seaside town situated on the northwest corner of the Wirral peninsula, on the eastern side of the mouth of the Dee River Estuary, in northwest England. Hoylake was part of the Urban District of Hoylake, in the county of Cheshire, until 1974, when it was incorporated into the newly-formed metropolitan borough of Wirral in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. In 1986, Wirral became a unitary authority, when the metropolitan county of Merseyside lost its administrative status, becoming purely a ceremonial county.

Hoylake Jewish Community

There was a small Jewish community in Hoylake from the mid-twentieth century, with an organised Jewish congregation, which continued until the latter part of that century.

Congregation Data
Name:	Hoylake Hebrew Congregation⁽ⁱⁱ⁾
Address:	Market Street, Hoylake, Wirral, a former Methodist chapel, from 1964⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ Previously services held at the Synagogue Chambers, British Women’s Temperance Association (BWTA) Hall, 3a Birkenhead Road, Hoylake, which was first used in 1940 or 1941.^(iv)
Formation:	At a meeting held in April 1940, the residents of the town, supplemented by war-time evacuees, decided to form a congregation,^(v) which was fully established later that year.^(vi) The status of the congregation between the late 1940s and early 1960s is unclear. There were no Jewish Year Book listings from 1949 through 1963 and no press reports relating to activities of the congregation from the 1940s until 1962 and it appears that the congregation was dormant during this period, although there are no specific reports of the congregation being disbanded and then reestablished.
Affiliation:	None known.
Closure:	The congregation closed in October 1980.^(vii)
Ritual:	Ashkenazi - Orthodox
Ministers:	Rev. David Silver - minister from at least 1945 until about 1948^(xi) Rev. Louis Chinn - minister-reader from 1962 until about 1980s^(xii)
Lay Officers:	World War II S. Rogansky - Chairman in and about 1940/41^(xv) H. Newman - Hon. Secretary from 1940^(xvi) Immediately Post World War II^(xvii) H. Solomon - President from at least 1945 to about 1948 A. Tearle - Hon. Secretary from at least 1945 until 1948 H. Newman - Treasurer from at least 1945 until about 1948 Later Period^(xviii)
	Chairmen 1963-1965 - A.M. Lerman 1965-1968 - D. Solomon 1968-1976 - S. Endfield 1976-1980 - M. Jacobs	President 1976-1980 - A.M. Lerman Hon. Secretaries 1963-1966 - S. Endfield 1966-1976 - P. Gould 1976-1980 - Mrs. D. Newman
Membership data:	National Reports & Surveys^(xxi) 1977 - 23 male (or household) members.
Registration District (BMDs):	Wirral (since 1 April 1998)^(xxii) - Link to Register Office Website.
Cemetery Details	There are no Jewish cemeteries in Hoylake.

Online Articles and Other Material relating to relating to
the Hoylake Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

Press Reports relating to the Hoylake Jewish Community 1940-1980.

Other Hoylake Jewish Institutions & Organisations

Educational or Theological

Hebrew and Religious Classes - establishment in 1940^(xxvi)

Other Institutions

Hoylake Jewish Social Club for boys and girls - founded 1941^(xxvii)
Hoylake Keren Hayesod Committee - founded in 1941^(xxviii)
Hoylake and District Jewish Ladies’ Social Club - founded in 1941^(xxix)
Hoylake Jewish Ladies’ Circle - founded in 1941^(xxx)
Hoylake Jewish Discussion Group - founded by 1959^(xxxi)

Hoylake Jewish Population Data
1963	58	(The Jewish Year Book 1964)
1970	60	(Jewish Chronicle 29 May 1970)

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.
(ii) This was the name listed in Jewish Year Books and appeared in several press reports. ↵
(iii) Jewish Chronicle report of 3 January 1964. Listed in Jewish Year Books from 1965. ↵
(iv) Jewish Chronicle report of 1 August 1941. ↵
(v) Jewish Chronicle report of 26 April 1940. ↵
(vi) Jewish Chronicle report of 20 September 1940. ↵
(vii) Jewish Chronicle report of 17 October 1980. ↵
(viii) to (x) Reserved.
(xi) Based upon Rev. Silver's Listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1945/6 through 1948. The Jewish Year Book was not published during the war years after 1940. ↵
(xii) Jewish Chronicle of 19 October 1962 reported on Rev. Chinn's appointment. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books until 1980. ↵
(xiii) and (xiv) Reserved.
(xv) Jewish Chronicle reports of 26 April 1940 and 2 May 1941. ↵
(xvi) Jewish Chronicle report of 20 September 1940. ↵
(xvii) Listed as holding their respective offices in Jewish Year Books 1945/6 through 1948. ↵
(xviii) Extracted from Jewish Year Books 1964 through 1980. Where a person is first listed in a Jewish Year Book as holding a particular office, it is generally assumed that his term of office commenced in the year of publication of the relevant year book. Year books were published according to the Gregorian year, being published generally towards the end of the year prior to the year appearing in the title of the year book. For example, if an officer is listed in Jewish Year Books 1964 through 1966, it is assumed that he commenced office in 1963 and continued in office until 1966. However, it should be noted that this is only an assumption and, accordingly, his actual years of office may differ from those shown here. ↵
(xix) and (xx) Reserved.
(xxi) Report on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the report. ↵
(xxii) Previous Registration Districts: Worksop (from 1 July 1837 to 1 May 2005) and Bassetlaw (from 1 May 2004 to 1 April 2012). Any registers would be held by the current register office ↵
(xxiii) and (xxv) Reserved.
(xxvi) Jewish Chronicle report of 20 September 1940. ↵
(xxvii) Jewish Chronicle report of 7 March 1941. ↵
(xxviii) Jewish Chronicle report of 2 May 1941. ↵
(xxix) Jewish Chronicle report of 1 August 1941. ↵
(xxx) Jewish Chronicle report of 9 September 1941. ↵
(xxxi) Jewish Chronicle report of 22 May 1959. ↵

Wirral Jewish Community home page

World War II Evacuee Communities

Jewish Congregations in Merseyside

Jewish Communities of England homepage

Page created: 23 April 2005
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 15 January 2023
Page most recently amended: 10 September 2023

Research by David Shulman and Harold Pollins
Formatting by David Shulman

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