the former

Marlow Hebrew Congregation

& Jewish Community

Buckinghamshire

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

Town of Marlow

The south Buckinghamshire town of Marlow (previously known as Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow), with a population of about 14,000, is located on the northern bank of the River Thames, facing the county of Berkshire on the southern bank. It is some 33 miles west of central London, about 4 miles south-west of High Wycombe and 5 miles north-west of Maidenhead.

Great Marlow urban district was created in 1896 and renamed Marlow urban district in 1897. In 1974, it was merged with the municipal borough of High Wycombe and Wycombe rural district, to form the local government district of Wycombe in the county of Buckinghamshire. On 1 April 2020 Wycombe district was merged with all other local authorities in Buckinghamshire, other than Milton Keynes, to form the unitary authority of the Buckinghamshire Council.

Marlow Jewish Community

A small Jewish community developed in Marlow during World War II, comprised largely of evacuees from heavily populated areas, but it appears to have become defunct sometime prior to the end of the War.

Congregation Data
Name:	Marlow Hebrew Congregation
Date Founded:	By 1941⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾
Status:	Closed after 1942^(iv)
Ritual:	Orthodox - Ashkenazi
Minister:	Rev. Eliezer Jacob (Jack) Ferber - from September 1941 until 1942^(vii)
Registration District (BMDs):	Buckinghamshire, since 1 July 2007.^(viii) - Link to Register Office Website
Cemetery:	There is no Jewish cemetery in Marlow.

Notable Jewish Connections to Marlow

Heston Blumenthal, star chef and owner of The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire (voted Best Restaurant in the World in 2005), lived in Marlow until about 2017. Blumenthal's father is Jewish and his mother converted to Judaism.

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) and (ii) Reserved.
(iii) Mentioned in Jewish Chronicle report of 12 September 1941. ↵
(iv) Rev. Ferber left Marlow in 1942. ↵
(v) and (vii) Reserved.
(vii) Appointment reported in Jewish Chronicle of 12 September 1941 and he moved to Cheltenham in 1942 ↵
(viii) Previous Registration Districts: Wycombe (from 1 July 1837 to 1 November 1998); Chiltern Hills (from 1 November 1998 to 1 July 2007).
Any registers would now be held by the current register office. ↵

World War II Evacuee Communities

Jewish Congregations in Buckinghamshire

Jewish Communities of England home page

Page created: 10 November 2021
Page most recently amended: 10 September 2023

Research by Steven Jaffe
Formatting by David Shulman

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