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JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
Town of Whitehaven
The town of Whitehaven (population approximately 25,000), is a small port on the coast of North West England.
It was a municipal borough in the then county of Cumberland, until 1974, when it was merged with neighbouring districts
to form the local government district of Copeland, within the newly created county of Cumbria
Whitehaven Jewish Community
Although there are instances Jews living in Whitehaven from the latter part of
the eighteenth century, it was not until 1874 that a congregation was
established. However there is very available information about this
congregation. The nearest eastablished Jewish community was (until the 1970s) in
Barrow-in-Furness, some 45 miles
to the south. In 1944, it was reported that a barmitzvah ceremony had taken place in Whitehaven,
but this was probably by a family evacuated to the town during World War II.(ii)
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Congregation Data |
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Name: |
Whitehaven Synagogue |
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Formation: |
1874(iii) |
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Date Closed: |
Not known |
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Ritual: |
Ashkenazi Orthodox (Lithuanian) |
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Affiliation: |
None known. |
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Minister:
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There is no knowledge of the congregation ever employing a resident minister or reader, either full or part time.
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Membership Data: |
1874 - 11 seatholders (four married and seven single)(iv) |
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Registration District (BMDs): |
Cumbria, since 1
December 2011(v) -
Link to Register Office Website |
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Cemetery Details |
There is no Jewish cemetery in Whitehaven. |
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Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Whitehaven Jewish Community
on JCR-UK
on third party websites
Notable Jewish Connections with Whitehaven
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Frank Schon, Baron Schon of Whitehaven, Kt (1912–1995) was an industrialist and life peer, who served as Chairman of the National Research Development Corporation
between 1969 and 1979. In March 1939, ten days after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, Schon escaped to Britain with his wife.
He moved to Whitehaven and established Marchon Products, a chemicals firm, which became a leading supplier of detergent base.
In 2016 a blue plaque was placed by the Association of Jewish Refugees to mark the family home at Whitehaven.(viii)
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Sir Nicholas Thomas "Miki" Sekers MBE (born Miklós Szekeres, 1910–1972) was an industrialist who, with his cousin, Tomi de Gara, came to England from Hungary in 1937,
and founded Sekers Fabrics at Hensingham, Whitehaven in 1938. He became a major employer and patron of the arts.(ix)
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Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above) |
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Jewish Congregations in
Cumbria
Jewish Communities of England homepage
Page created: 24 February 2013
Data significantly expanded and notes first added:
30 July 2021
Latest revision or update: 6 August 2021
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