Cardiff Jewish Community

South Glamorgan, Wales

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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 Cardiff

Cardiff (in Welsh - Caerdydd), a unitary authority, is the largest city and capital of Wales, with a population of about 300,000. From 1974 to 1996, it formed the district of Cardiff in the county of South Glamorgan and, prior thereto, it was a county borough in the old county of Glamorganshire. It lies on the northern coast of the Bristol Channel at the mouth of the river Taff.

The Cardiff Jewish Community

The date traditionally given for the first Jewish settlement in Cardiff is 1787. However, an organized community, with synagogue and Jewish burial grounds, was not fully established until approximately 1840 (Rise of Provincial Jewry, C. Roth).

Jewish Congregations

The following are the Jewish congregations that existed in Cardiff:

Beth Hemedresh - active during the 1930s.
Cardiff Hebrew Congregation (including predecessor congregations) - original orthodox congregation, joined Cardiff United Synagogue in 1942.
Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation - orthodox synagogue, established in 1889, joined Cardiff United Synagogue in 1942.
Cardiff Reform Synagogue* - established in 1948 as the Cardiff New Synagogue, the city's only non-orthodox congregation.
Cardiff United Synagogue* - estabished 1942 on the merger of Cardiff Hebrew Congregation and Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation.
Marlborough Road Synagogue - active during the 1930s.
Talmud Torah Congregation - established in 1901 and merged in 1904 into Cardiff Hebrew Congregation.

* An active congregation.

The following are former or alternative names of the above congregations:

Beth Hamedrash - this term can also refer to the Talmud Torah Congregation (1901 to 1904)
Bute Street Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation
Cardiff New Synagogue - see Cardiff Reform Synagogue
Cathedral Road Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation and Cardiff United Synagogue
Clare Road Congregation - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation or Beth Hemedresh
Cyncoed Gardens Synagogue - see Cardiff United Synagogue
East Terrace Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation
Edwards Place Synagogue - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation
"Englisher Shul" - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation
"Furriners Shul" - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation
Merches Place Synagogue - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation
Moira Terrace Synagogue - see Cardiff Reform Synagogue
Old Hebrew Congregation - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation
Penylan Synagogue - see Cardiff United Synagogue
Roath Park Synagogue - see Marlborough Road Synagogue
Windsor Place Synagogue - see Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation and Cardiff United Synagogue
Penylan Synagogue - see Cardiff United Synagogue
Trinity Street Synagogue - see Cardiff Hebrew Congregation

Cardiff Jewish Cemeteries Information

JCR-UK HOSTED DATABASES

Search:
Cardiff Highfield Road Orthodox Jewish Cemetery Database
and
Cardiff Ely Orthodox Jewish Cemetery Database,
including burial records and photographs of the headstones,
as well as a description of the cemetery

Basic Cemeteries Information

Cardiff has three Jewish burial grounds (two Orthodox and one Reform), as listed below.:

Old Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, Highfield Road, Roath Park, Cardiff CF14 3RE. This is the original Orthodox Jewish cemetery, still in use, which was reputedly presented to the Community by the Marquis of Bute in about 1841. First burials 1852. The above hosted database includes nearly 1,800 records, with 1,470 headstone photographs from 1852 to July 2020. (JOWBR also includes 1,372 searchable record in respect of this cemetery.)
Ely Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, Greenfarm Road, Ely, Cardiff. The New Orthodox Jewish cemetery, also in use. The above hosted database includes nearly 970 records, with 820 headstone photographs from 1968 to November 2019.
Western Cemetery (Ely), Reform Jewish Section, Cowbridge Road West, Ely, Cardiff CF5 5ST. This is the burial ground of the Cardiff Reform Synagogue.

(For additional information, see IAJGS International Jewish Cemeteries Project - Cardiff)

Search the All-UK Database

The records in the database associated with Cardiff include:

Burials
- Cardiff Old Jewish Cemetery, JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Register (1,371 records, searching under Wales).
UK Jewish Communal Leaders Database
- 57 Cardiff records (as of 30 September 2021).
1851 Anglo Jewry Database (updated 2016)
- Individuals in the 1851 Anglo Jewry Database who were living in Cardiff during the 1790s (1 record); 1810s (1 record), 1820s (6 records), 1830s (10 records), 1840s (26 records), 1850s (55 records), 1860s (48 records), 1870s (30 records), 1880s (17 records), 1890s (10 records) and 1900s (1 record).

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

on JCR-UK

There is a short reference to Cardiff, in the section on Swansea, in "The Rise of Provincial Jewry" by Cecil Roth, 1950. Available on JCR-UK as part of the Susser Archive.
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:
- Into the Vortex: South Wales Jewry Before 1914 by Geoffrey Alderman;
- Paper on Cardiff - by Aubrey Newman;
- Chief Rabbi's Questionnaire of 1845 - Cardiff Congregational Data and Cardiff Educational Data; and
- Jewish Alien Paupers in Cardiff - Digest of Reports from Jewish Boards of Guardians.
How 'Greeners' Came to the Valley by Michael Wallach, Jewish Chronicle Colour Magazine, 1975.
Images of Memorial/Dedication Plaques in the Ohel (prayer hall) of the Cardiff Highfield Road Orthodox Jewish Cemetery.
Naturalised Citizens of Cardiff.
Jewish Heritage Sites in Wales
Bibliography
- Cardiff - No. 7 in the "Small is Beautiful" series by Rabbi David Katanka, initially published by the Jewish Tribune, and subsequently included in the selection of Rabbi Katanka's writing, entitled Kol Dodi (2015), pp 105/106.
- other Cardiff Bibliography

Other Cardiff Jewish Institutions & Organisations

Educational & Theological

School, adjoining Synagogue (founded by 1874)

Other Institutions & Organisations
Formed by 1900*

Hebrew Board of Guardians (from 1900 until 1904)
Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society (founded 1894)for relief of resident poor.

Formed Later

Board of Shechita (see Into the Vortex, G. Alderman)
Hillel House
Jewish Club and Institute
Jewish Naturalisation and Political Association (from 1905, see Into the Vortex, G. Alderman)

* As listed in the 1896/7 & 1900/01

Community Records

National Archives:
- Cardiff Jewish Community records and papers, a PDF file listing the documents and records deposited with the Glamorgan Records Office relating to the Cardiff Jewish Community 1845-1991 (Reference Code GB 0214 DJR - The National Archives)
Register Office (for BMD): Registers currently held by Cardiff Register Office
- Registration Districts until 1996:
  Cardiff - from 1 July 1837 until 1 April 1974;
  South Glamorgan - from 1 April 1974 until at least 1996.
- Any registers would generally be held by current register office.
- Register Office website

Cardiff Jewish Population Data
1858	about 150	estimate (Into the Vortex, G. Alderman)
1900	about 1,500	estimate (Into the Vortex, G. Alderman)
1934	2,225	(The Jewish Year Book 1935)
1946	2,500	(The Jewish Year Book 1947)
1968	3,500	(Encyclopeadia Judaica, 1971 edition)
1990	1,400	(The Jewish Year Book 1991)
1990	941	(The Jewish Year Book 2005)

Jewish Congregations in the former county of Glamorganshire

Jewish Congregations in Wales, according to current unitary authorities

Jewish Communities in Wales home page

Page created: 21 August 2005
Latest revision or update: 19 April 2023

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