JCR-UK

Chelmsford Jewish Community

Chelmsford, Essex

 

 

 

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congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
NOTE: We are not the website of this congregation, which can be reached by clicking on the congregation's logo below.

Town of Chelmsford

Chelmsford, the county town of Essex, is situated about 35 miles northeast of London.  The present administration was formed in 1974, when the municipal borough of Chelmsford merged with the surrounding Chelmsford Rural District to form the local government district (later borough) of Chelmsford, within the administrative county of Essex.

Chelmsford Jewish Community

Earliest press reports found indicate the presence of Jewish residents in Chelmsford from the 1830s. Shopkeepers and traders in 19th century Chelmsford include the Cohen, Myers and Jonas families. However, the first Jewish congregation, known as the Chelmsford Jewish Community, was not founded until the 1970s. There was later an abortive attempt to establish a formal reform congregation.


Congregation Data

Name:

Chelmsford Jewish Community

Address:

Services held in Central Chelmsford

Former Addresses:

The congregation previously held services at a number of venues, including:
Merlin House, 23 Parker Street, Chelmsford CM2 0ES(ii)
11 Haig Street, Chelmsford, CH2 0BH(iii)
and Springfield Lyon House, Springfield Lyon Approach, Chelmsford CM2 5LB(iv)

Date Founded:

1974(v)

Current Status:

Active, although as of mid-2025, for some time members of the congregation have only held occasional services by Zoom and haven't met in person except for social and cultural events. The community is in negotiations for a possible merger with the Harlow Jewish Community.(vi)

Ritual:

The congregation is not orthodox but was established "to provide for local Jewish people of all shades of religious observance and background."(vii)

Affiliation:

Unaffiliated, although the congregation was founded under the sponsorship of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain (now the Movement for Reform Judaism).(viii)

Ministers:

None listed

Website:

http://www.jewishcommunitychelmsford.co.uk/

JSCN Link:

Click on Chelmsford Jewish Community (a member community), on the Jewish Small Communities Network website.

Abortive Rival Congregation:

There was an attempt to establish a formal reform congregation, the Chelmsford Reform Synagogue Group, which collapsed and ended in disarray

Membership Data:

National Reports and Surveys:(x)

1977 - 50 male (or household) members and estimated 50 female members

1983 - 32 male (or household) members and estimated 39 female members

1990 - 58 members (comprising 54 households and 4 individual male members)

1996 - 69 members (comprising 40 households, 4 individual male and 25 individual female members)

2010 & 2016 - listed as having under 50 members (by household)

Other

2019 - 60 plus families(xi)

Charitable Status:

The congregation is a registered charity (no. 281498), registered on 6 February 1981. The governing document is the congregation's constitution, as amended 12 December 1978 and 15 October 1980.(xii)

Registration District:

Essex (since 1 February 2010)(xiii) - Link to Register Office website

Cemetery Information:

Chelmsford does not have its own Jewish cemetery. The Congregation has a Burial Scheme in association with the Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS), under whose auspices burials take place at the Western Cemetery, Bulls Cross Ride, Waltham Cross. Funerals also now include woodland and lawn burials. In addition to these facilities, the JJBS offers cremation at Hoop Lane Crematorium, Golders Green.(xiv)

Notes & Sources ( returns to text above)

  • (i) Reserved.

  • (ii) Jewish Year Books 1996 and 2001 through 2009

  • (iii) Jewish Year Books 2010 through 2015

  • (iv) Jewish Year Books 1998 through 2000

  • (v) Congregation's website, accessed 14 August 2019.

  • (vi) Discussion at the congregation's AGM, July 2025.

  • (vii) The Jewish Chronicle 29 August 1975, page 6.

  • (viii) Congregation's website, accessed 14 August 2019.

  • (viii) and (ix) Reserved.

  • (x) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of 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 various reports.

  • (xi) Congregation's website, accessed 14 August 2019.

  • (xii) Charity Commission website, accessed November 2023. Clicking the charity number will take you to the charity's registration on the website.

  • (xiii) The former Registration District was Chelmsford from 1 July 1837 to 1 February 2010. Any registers would now be held by current register office.

  • (xiv) Congregation's website, accessed 14 August 2019.

 


Search the All-UK Database

The records in the database associated with Chelmsford include:

1851 Anglo Jewry Database (updated 2016)

Individuals in the 1851 Anglo Jewry Database who were living in Chelmsford during the 1800s (2 records), 1810s (6 records); 1820s (6 records), 1830s (7 records), 1840s (10 records), 1850s (19 records), 1860s (4 records), 1880s (3 records) and 1890s (2 records).

 

Online Articles, Videos and Other Material
relating to the Chelmsford Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

on third party websites

 

Plaque commemorating Godfrey Isaacs of Chelmsford
Blue Plaque
unveiled 2021

 

Notable Jewish Connections with Chelmsford

  • Godfrey Charles Isaacs (1866-1925). born London, brother of Rufus Isaacs, first Marquess of Reading, industrialist and advocate of a single public broadcasting company funded by a licence fee, managed and grew the large Marconi works in Chelmsford, and opened the world's first purpose-built wireless factory there. In 2021, a blue plaque to him was unveiled by the Chelmsford Civic Society at the site of the Marconi Power House, 1 Dunn Side.

 

Chelmsford Jewish Population Data

1999

143

(The Jewish Year Book 2000)

2004

155

(The Jewish Year Book 2005)

 
Jewish Congregations in Essex

List of Reform Judaism Congregations

List of Member Synagogues of the Jewish Joint Burial Society

Jewish Communities of England home page

 
Page created: 30 November 2005
Page enhanced and notes added: 15 August 2019
most recently amended: 28 July 2025

Research and formatting by David Shulman


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