the former

Stockport Hebrew Congregation

Stockport, Greater Manchester

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

Town of Stockport

Stockport was a county borough in Cheshire, just to the southeast of Manchester. In 1974, it merged with adjoining areas (all of which had been in Cheshire) to form the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport within the new Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester. Stockport became a unitary authority in 1986 when Greater Manchester lost its administrative status, becoming purely a ceremonial county.

Stockport Jewish Community

A Jewish community developed in Stockport in the latter years of the nineteenth century. However, numbers began to dwindle in the 1950s and the Stockport Synagogue closed in the 1960s, Jews having migrated to other neighbourhoods in the Greater Manchester area. (There is, however, an active congregation in Gateley, Cheadle, the Yeshurun Hebrew Congregation, which is in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport.)

Congregation Data
Name:	Stockport Hebrew Congregation
Last Address:	211 Chestergate, Stockport, opened 17 September 1905 ⁽ⁱ⁾ The freehold plot of land, with large house attached was purchased at auction for £300 and extensive structural alterations were made at a cost of over £1,000, giving the synagogue capacity to accommodate 200 worshippers.⁽ⁱⁱ⁾
Previous Address:	Bridgefield Street, Wellington Road, Stockport, from 1903 to 1904.⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ Consecrated on Sunday, 27 December 1903, these premises were described as "formerly occupied by the Stockport spiritualist society".^(iv) On Tuesday, 7 June 1904, the synagogue collapsed, The walls had given way, and in their fall had caused a rent of about fifty square feet in the ceiling, and totally smashed the gallery, fixtures, seats and Almemar. The Ark and its contents were undamaged and no one was in the building at the time.^(v) The building was unable to be used and the congregation was forced to use temporary accommodation, including the Temperance Hall, London Square for its high holy day services,^(vi) until suitable new premises could be acquired (in 1905). Dodge Hill, Stockport, from 1891 to 1903 On Sunday, 27 September 1891, the congregation consecrated its first synagogue, a former Unitarian Christadelphian chapel, described as "a prestty structure ....in a fashionable part of the town".^(vii) The building, today the Stockport Christadelphian Meeting Rooms, is situated at the southeastern end of Dodge Hill, close to the Manchester Outer Ring Road.^(viii)
Formation of the Congregation:	The congregation acquired its first synagogue in 1891, but, being a community of already 20 families, services may well have been held earlier in private homes.
Closure:	Although the congregation continued to be listed in Jewish Year Books until 1975, this was an error (in fact, the data for Stockport had remained unchanged from 1965 through 1975), the congregation having merged into the Yeshurun Hebrew Congregation in about 1966, as membership had dwindled and many of its members had moved to the Cheadle and Gatley area. The synagogue building and the minister's house were sold and the money transferred to the Yeshurun congregation.^(ix)
Ritual:	Ashkenazi Orthodox
Affiliation:	The congregation was unaffiliated but under the aegis of the Chief Rabbi.
Ministers of the Congregation: (To view a short profile of a minister or reader whose name appears in blue- hold the cursor over his name.)	Rev. Nathan Speakmaster - from about 1903 until, possibly, 1908^(xi) Rev. Abraham Dove - from about 1908 until at least 1918^(xii) Rev. J. Erlich - from 1922 until 1924^(xiii) Rev. Menachem Ben Zion Ordman - from 1924 until 1927^(xiv) Rev. Harry Abrahams - from about 1927 until 1933^(xv) Rev. Abraham Freedman - from 1933 until 1944^(xvi) Rev. Shalom Barron - from 1944 until 1952^(xix) Rev. Ephraim Groundland - from 1953 until about 1957^(xx) Rev. Harold Lerner - from 1959 until 1961^(xxi) Rev. David Kurnoff - from 1962 until 1964^(xxii)
Other Ministers and Readers connected with the Congregation:	Rev. K. Slivkin was reader during the Chief Rabbi's visit to Stockport in 1903.^(xxvi) Rev. Abraham Samet served the congregation sometime prior to 1920.^(xxvii)
Lay Officers:	Unless otherwise stated, the data below on the lay officers of the congregation has been extracted from the following sources: (a) Data relating to the 1890s and 1901 - Jewish Chronicle reports of officers elected at annual meetings;^(xxxiii) (b) Data from 1902 - Jewish Year Book listings (in which the congregation was first listed in 1902). When a first name is given, this has generally been obtained from other sources.^(xxxiv)
	Life Presidents from 1891 - William Aronsberg, JP Honorary Presidents 1954 to at least 1956 - S. Clare Presidents 1893-1895 - Jacob Winter 1901-1907 - L. Williams 1907-1910 - I. Freedman 1910-1913 - S. Platt 1913-1915 - S. Berman 1915-1916 - Alexander Isaacs 1916-1918 - A. Isaacs 1918-1919 - M. Bearman 1919-1923 - F.I. Bowman 1923-1927 - S. Freedman 1927-1931 - L. Berger 1931-1934 - S. Freedman 1934-1935 - M. Blank 1935-1939 - A. Roseman 1939-1940 - L. Winter, JP 1940-1945 - no data 1945-1946 - B. Freeman 1946-1947 - S. Freeman 1947-1949 - H. Freeman 1949-1950 - M. Cohen 1950-1953 - L. Berger Vice Presidents 1891-1893 - Jacob Winter 1893-1894 - M. Cohen 1894-1895 - A. Cohen 1895-1936 - none listed 1936-1937 - L. Berger 1937-1939 - J. Mendleson 1939-1947 - no data 1947-1949 - M. Cohen 1949-1950 - L. Berger 1950-1951 - M. Blank Wardens 1891-1893 - David Bowman 1893-1894 - Reuben Bernstein 1894-1895 - Mr. Burman 1895-1916 - none listed 1916-1917 - R. Bernstein 1917-1925 - none listed 1925-1927 - S. Clare & E. Harris 1927-1929 - A. Isaacs & E. Harris 1929-1935 - E. Harris 1935-1940 - M. Craft 1940-1945 - no data 1945-1947 - M. Lakerman 1947-1956 - M. Craft	Treasurers 1891-1892 - Reuben Bernstein 1892-1893 - Louis Leverman 1893-1894 - H. Pivarsky 1894-1895 - Mr. Hyman 1901-1903 - S. Isaacs 1903-1904 - I. Freedman 1904-1905 - D. Flacks 1907-1908 - B. Brown 1908-1915 - J. Winter 1915-1918 - D. Flacks 1918-1927 - S. Leviene 1927-1929 - J. Korner 1929-1931 - S. Landau 1931-1934 - L. Winter 1934-1939 - S. Landau 1939-1940 - D. Blank, LLB 1940-1945 - no data 1945-1947 - E. Edels 1947-1956 - H. Craft Hon Secretaries 1891-1892 - Isaac Moses 1892-1893 - Mr. Tarshish 1893-1895 - S. Platt 1901-1904 - L. Harrison 1904-1905 - N. Bennan 1905-1906 - Charles Marks 1906-1907 - M. Barman 1907-1908 - A. Isaacs 1908-1909 - L. Harris 1909-1910 - L. Williams 1910-1913 - B. Clarke 1913-1914 - W. Isaacs 1914-1915 - R. Isaacs 1915-1916 - A. Lewis 1916-1918 - A. Sorkin 1918-1920 - M. Brown 1920-1921 - J. Kover 1921-1927 - E. Peters 1927-1929 - T. Peters 1929-1930 - M. Blank 1930-1934 - M. Blank, Jnr. 1934-1935 - B. Clare 1935-1938 - C. Levene 1938-1939 - H. Cohen 1939-1940 - C. Levene 1940-1945 - no data 1945-1947 - J. Blasberg 1947-1948 - C. Cohen 1948-1950 - S. Cohen 1950-1952 - I. Van Clare 1952-1960 - Dr. J.B. Lester 1960-1961 - B. Hyman 1961-1962 - H.L. Freeman 1962-1964 - I.S. Normie 1964-1966 - R. Baker
Registration District:	Stockport, since 1 July 1837 - Link to Register Office website.
Cemetery Information:	See Cemetery Information on the Greater Manchester Jewish Community homepage.

Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Stockport Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

Press Reports about the Stockport Jewish Community 1891-1925, compiled by Harold Pollins.
Stockport Bibliography

Notable Former Residents of Stockport with Jewish Connections

Joseph "Joe" Berger (1911-1972) was the first Jewish mayor of Stockport, in 1967-68. He was a former president of the congregation.
Harry Bernstein (1910-2011), Jewish American writer, was born in Stockport. In his later years, he wrote a four volume autobiography, the first of which, The Invisible Wall, was a memoir about his Jewish childhood in Stockport and was published when he was 96. The fourth volume was published posthumously. (Article on his centenary by Bruce Frankel.)
Nicholas "Nick" Cohen, author, journalist, political commentator and columnist for a number of newspapers, including the Jewish Chronicle, whose father was Jewish, was born in Stockport in 1961.
Nicholas Frankau, actor, of German Jewish descent, was born in Stockport in 1954. He is best known for his part in the British television sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!. In the 1980s, he taught for a time at the Jewish Free School in London. (IMDb profile.)

Other Stockport Jewish Institutions & Organisations

Educational & Theological

Hebrew & Religious Classes (founded by 1914, at which time it had 40 boy and 15 girl pupils)

Other Institutions & Organisations

Benevolent Society (founded by 1916)
Chevra Kadisha (founded 1910)
Social and Literary Society (founded by 1925)
Zionist Society (founded by 1913)

Stockport Jewish Population Data
1906	200	(The Jewish Year Book 1906/7)
1910	275	(The Jewish Year Book 1911)
1914	280	(The Jewish Year Book 1915)
1945	350	(The Jewish Year Book 1945/6)
1950	400	(The Jewish Year Book 1951)
1956	220	(The Jewish Year Book 1957)

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Jewish Chronicle report of 22 September 1905 and the address listed in Jewish Year Books from 1906/7. ↵
(ii) Jewish Chronicle reports of 23 October 1904 and 22 September 1905. ↵
(iii) Jewish Year Books 1904/5 and 1905/6. ↵
(iv) Jewish Chronicle report of 1 January 1904 ↵
(v) Jewish Chronicle report of 10 June 1904 ↵
(vi) Jewish Chronicle report of 14 October 1904 ↵
(vii) Jewish Chronicle report of 2 October 1891 ↵
(viii) The address was not mentioned in any known press report. It was identified by Claire Hilton in The Stockport Jewish Community (1999) as "a small grey stone building in Dodge Hill above the railway tunnel which opened into Tiviot Dale railway station". Its present location can be viewed on Google maps ↵
(viii) Jewish Chronicle report of 17 December 1965. ↵
(x) Reserved.
(xi) Based upon a Jewish Chronicle report of 1 January 1904 and Rev. Speakmaster's listing as reader of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1904/5 through 1909. He was however referred to as ba'al tokeah elsewhere in 1905. ↵
(xii) In a Jewish Chronicle report of 3 January 1908 Rev. Dove is referred to as teacher at Stockport. Although he is listed as minister (and shochet) of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1910 through 1925, his Jewish Chronicle obituary of 2 July 1943 reported that he moved to Manchester in 1918, although he could still have retained some relationship with Stockport after such move. ↵
(xiii) Also spelled Ehrlich. Stockport Jewish Community by Claire Hilton (1999), p. 31 and Jewish Chronicle report of 24 December 1920. ↵
(xiv) Rev. Ordman was listed as minister and shochet of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1926 and 1927. His appointment (as chazan and shochet) is confirmed by a Jewish Chronicle report of 25 July 1924 and his subsequent move to Edinburgh by a report of 4 March 1927. ↵
(xv) Based upon Rev. Abraham's listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1928 through 1934, although the earliest known Jewish Chronicle report of him at Stockport was on 5 October 1928 and the latest on 26 March 1933. ↵
(xvi) Jewish Chronicle report of 10 November 1933 refers to Rev. Freedman's appointment in Stockport and his subsequent appointment in Bristol dates from 1944. He is listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1935 until publication ceased in World War II. ↵
(xvii) and (xviii) Reserved.
(xix) Jewish Chronicle report of 14 January 1944 refers to Rev. Barron's move from Darlington to Stockport and report of 18 April 1952 refers to his move from Stockport to Cork. He is listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from the first publication following World War II (1945/6) through 1952. ↵
(xx) Jewish Chronicle report of 4 September 1953 refers to Rev. Groundland's appointment as minister and shochet in Stockport and report of 4 October 1957 refers to his induction in Edinburgh. He is listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1954 through 1957. ↵
(xxi) Based upon Jewish Chronicle reports of 1959 and 1961 and Rev. Lerner's listing as the minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1960 and 1961. ↵
(xxii) Jewish Chronicle report of 5 January 1962 refers to Rev. Kurnoff's appointment as minister in Stockport and report of 13 November 1964 refers to his appointment in Sale . He is not listed as minister of the congregation in any Jewish Year Book. ↵
(xxiii) and (xxv) Reserved.
(xxvi) Jewish Chronicle report of 15 May 1903. ↵
(xxvii) Jewish Chronicle report of 2 January 1920, which refers to Rev. Samet as being "late of Stockport". ↵
(xxviii) to (xxxii) Reserved.
(xxxiii) The annual election of officers (1891 to 1894 and in 1901) was reported by the Jewish Chronicle on 2 October 1891, 11 November 1892, 27 October 1893, 23 November 1894 and 18 October 1901, respectively. ↵
(xxxiv) Where a person is first listed in a Jewish Year Book as holding a particular office, it has been assumed that his term of office commenced in the year of publication of the relevant year book and that he continued in office until the commencement of office of his successor, unless the office was vacant. Initially year books corresponded to the Hebrew year, and thus ran roughly from autumn of one year - the year of publication - until autumn of the next year. From 1909, year books were published according to the Gregorian year, being published generally towards the end of the year prior to the year appearing the title of the year book. For example, if an officer is listed in Jewish Year Books 1935 through 1938, it is assumed that he commenced office in 1934 and continued in office until 1938. However, it should be noted that this is only an assumption and, accordingly, his actual years of office may differ somewhat from those shown here. Jewish Year Books were not published during World War II subsequent to 1940, nor was there any listings of lay officers (other than secretary) subsequent to 1956. ↵

Greater Manchester Jewish Community home page

Jewish Congregations in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport

Street Directory of Jewish Congregations in Greater Manchester

Jewish Communities of England homepage

Page created: 23 August 2005
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 8 April 2021
Latest revision or update: 7 April 2024

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