The first Jewish wedding in Oxford, in 1844, between Nathan Jacobs and Hannah Wolf, created a great deal of interest. In addition to its novelty in the city, it took place soon after the fire in St Ebbe’s in which the bridegroom’s father and sister were killed. Thus the wedding was reported in numerous newspapers, from The Times, to long reports in local ones, such as the Oxford Journal, the Oxford Chronicle & Reading Gazette, and the Oxford University & City Herald. The reports were very similar and may have been based on one reporter or perhaps been copied. But there is an intriguing extra piece in the report in the Oxford University & City Herald.

The wedding took place on Wednesday 28 August 1844. ‘On the Tuesday evening’, went the report, ‘the bride went into the bath, accompanied by her female friends, who made a great noise, - that being part of the ceremonial.’ One wonders what is meant by ‘the bath’. Was it a mikveh, a ritual bath? Was it in Oxford? If so, where was it and how long did it survive?

I have seen no other reference to its existence; indeed, David Lewis, in his The Jews of Oxford (at page 36) refers to Hermann Adler writing to the congregation in the 1880s about a mikveh. Obviously there wasn’t one and the congregation replied to Adler, explaining the expense and their lack of funds. The possibility that there was a mikveh in the very early days of the modern community, and for such a small one, is certainly worth remarking.