Edited from material prepared by Samuel Simpson
There were few Jews in Derby in 1837 - a contemporary list contains five names,
one of them being the 'Israelite' who, in a letter in the Derby Reporter
in 1833 stated, 'I am a Jew living in Derby' - but, by the late 1850s, there was
a notable difference for, after the abortive 1848 Revolution in Germany, a
number of German Jews settled in Derby. There was still no synagogue there,
however, for in 1858 one of the Derby Jews published
a letter giving a vivid
description of a Yom Kippur service in the Nottingham synagogue. The population
appears to have been floating rather than permanent, for few stayed in Derby for
any length of time. Some of the family inter-connections indicate, however, the
close relations between many of the East Midland communities.
Amongst those who settled in Derby was John Davis who made for himself a
considerable name in the local political and intellectual life. One of his
sons, Arthur Davis, educated privately in Derby, acquired sufficient Jewish
learning to be the translator of what has been for several generations the most
widely used Festival prayer-book of Anglo Jewry, while another, Henry, later
played a prominent part in the setting-up of a proper congregation. It is clear
in all events that there were one or two individuals who tended to move about
between various parts of the country, and tried to establish some regular
congregation wherever they happened to live. Barnet Berstein (or Bierstein) for
instance, born in Dowlais in South Wales, at an early age went to Blackburn,
where he was instrumental in acquiring a building suitable for a synagogue. He
moved to Burton-on-Trent some time before 1885, and in that year began to
organise services at his home. At about the same time the Jews of Derby were
trying to organise themselves; the Jewish Chronicle reported on 5
November 1886: 'There are at present six Jewish families in Derby, and steps are
being taken towards the engagement of a shochet and the establishment of a
minyan as preliminary measures for the ultimate formation of a congregation.'
On 4 March 1887 a meeting of the residents of Derby and Burton decided to form a
joint congregation, but the attempt failed despite the existence of a nucleus in
Burton, and the Jewish Chronicle reported on 5 May 1889 from Derby: 'The
Jewish inhabitants assembled at the Temperance Hall on Sunday evening 30th April
for the purpose of meeting Mr Henry Davis to whom a cordial and unanimous
invitation has been sent to become the President of the newly-formed
congregation.' By 1895 the two groups had definitively separated, services
being held in Burton at the Masonic Hall and at Derby in the Corn Exchange.
The
Derby community by 1899 had its own proper synagogue - a loft over a butcher's
yard - and by 1901, when the Chief Rabbi paid a visit to Derby there was a
properly organised community possessing a regular cemetery, and with all the
appurtenances of a congregation. A set of members' payments for 1902 record a
total for weekly contributions of 17/1d. per week and of £2.15s. 'offerings'
