Oxford Jewish Community

Oxfordshire

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congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
NOTE: We are not the official website for this community.

City of Oxford

The university city of Oxford, situated in south central England on a section of the river Thames known as the river Isis, has a population of over 135,000. It was a county borough until 1974, when it became a local government district of the administrative county of Oxfordshire.

The Oxford Jewish Community

There was a significant medieval Jewish community in Oxford, dating from about 1075 until 1290, when Jews were banished from England. In modern times, individual Jews began settling in Oxford from the mid-eighteenth century, but an organised Jewish congregation was not established until about 1841.

Jewish Congregations

The following are the Jewish congregations that exist or existed in Oxford in modern times:

* An active congregation.

Search the All-UK Database

The records in this database associated with Oxford include:

Censuses
- Extracts for Oxford for 1841 / 1851 / 1861 / 1871 / 1881 / 1891 / 1901 / 1911 (395 records)
UK Jewish Communal Leaders Database
- 12 Oxford records (as of 30 September 2021).
1851 Anglo Jewry Database (updated 2016)
- Individuals in the 1851 Anglo Jewry Database who were living in Oxford during the 1770s (1 record), 1780s (1 record), 1800s (3 records), 1810s (1 record); 1820s (1 record), 1830s (7 records), 1840s (30 records), 1850s (53 records), 1860s (29 records), 1870s (23 records), 1880s (12 records) and 1890s (7 records).

On-line Articles and Other Material
relating to the Oxford Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

Articles by Harold Pollins originally published in the Oxford Menorah (25 articles) 1993 - 2017.
Press Reports relating to the Oxford Jewish Community, compiled by Harold Pollins.
- Part 1 (1844 - 2011) (excluding those during World War II).
- Part 2 During World War II.
Oxford Synagogue - an article, dated 28 September 1849, from the Jewish Chronicle.
The Rise of Provincial Jewry - Oxford. From papers for a conference at University College, London, convened by the Jewish Historical Society of England, prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975.
Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain - Papers for a conference at University College, London, convened by the Jewish Historical Society of England, prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975.
- Paper on Oxford.
- Chief Rabbi's Questionnaire of 1845 - Oxford Congregational Data.
Oxford Synagogue - Memories - an article dated 26 August 1955, by K. R. A. Hart from the Jewish Chronicle.
Oxford - City of Sweetness - an article dated 20 October 1978 on the Oxford Jewish community, its history, characters, buildings and institutions from the Jewish Chronicle.
Herbert Martin James Loewe in Oxford - an article by Harold Pollins that was first published in 2006 in the Jewish Journal of Sociology.
Oxford Jewish Community - a Brief History, dated 13 June 2003, by Harold Pollins.
Oxford’s Forgotten Sons and Daughters - an article dated 5 February 2011 from the Oxford Mail on Oxford's rich Medieval Jewish history.
Oxford Jewish Casualties during the Great War, an article by Harold Pollins published in The Bulletin of the Military Historical Society, volume 65, pages 92-101, November 2014.
Oxford Medieval Jewish Community.
Oxford Bibliography

Additional articles are to be found on the Oxford Jewish Congregation page.

on third parties' websites

Oxford Jewish Heritage at http://www.oxfordjewishheritage.co.uk This website contains extensive material on the Oxford Jewish Community, past and present, including the history of the Community (both medieval and modern), maps, boigraphies, articles and much more.

Memorial Marks City's Old Jewish Cemetery - an on-line article dated 8 July 2012 in the Oxford Mail on Oxford's Medieval Jewish cemetery.

Community Records

Registration District (for BMD): Oxfordshire (since 1 October 2001)
- Previous Registration District:
  Oxford (from 1 July 1837 to 1 October 2001).
- Any registers would now be held by current register office.
- Link to Register Office website.

Oxford Jewish Cemeteries Information

The following are the known Jewish cemeteries that existed in Oxford:

Wolvercote Cemetery, Jewish Section, Banbury Road, Wolvercote, Oxford. First Jewish burial dates from 1894. This is the cemetery currently in use by the Oxford Jewish community and contains some 400 burials.

The Oxford Jewish Cemetery page of the Oxford Jewish Heritage website, includes a downloadable pdf list of all burials in the Wolvercote Jewish Cemetery.
Medieval Jewish Cemeteries:
- The Jews Garden: acquired in 1177, when Jews were first allowed to purchase land outside London.
- A Jewish cemetery, now part of Magdalene College and the Botanical Gardens, was in use from 1231 until 1290.

(For additional information, see also IAJGS Cemetery Project - Oxford)

Oxford Jewish Population Data (excluding student population)
1896	*35	(The Jewish Year Book 1896/97)
1955	500	(The Jewish Year Book 1956)
1965	450	(The Jewish Year Book 1966)
1990	542	(The Jewish Year Book 1991)
2004	500	(The Jewish Year Book 2005)
*The source also gives the Jewish student population as 12 in 1896.

Jewish Congregations in Oxfordshire

Jewish Communities of England home page

Page created: 13 June 2003
Latest revision or update: 11 August 2022

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