Romford and District Affiliated Synagogue

Romford, Essex

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Town of Romford

The relatively large town of Romford is situated in the east of the Greater London area, close to the boundary with Essex. It today forms the northern part of the London Borough of Havering, created on 1 April 1965. Previously, Romford was a municipal borough, incorporated as a borough in 1937, in the county of Essex and prior to then, an urban district from the 1890s.

The Jewish Community

The first known organised Jewish congregation in Romford dates from the period between the two World Wars, although individual Jews would have lived in the town for some years prior to then.

Romford Synagogue
courtesy Steven Jaffe, 2025

Congregation Data

Name:

Romford & District Affiliated Synagogue⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

Former Names:

Romford Hebrew Congregation⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

Romford & District Hebrew Congregation^(iv)

Romford & District Synagogue^(v)

Address:

25 Eastern Road, Romford, Essex RM1 3NH, which was the congregation's address from at least 1948.^(ix) A new building was consecrated on 20 May 1956. In 2000 the building was refurbished and rededicated at a service attended by Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks.^(x)

Previously (in at least the late 1930s), the address was Synagogue Hall, Palm Road, Romford, Essex,^(xi) and prior to then (from at least 1935 until about 1938), 39 Eastern Road, Romford, Essex.^(xii)

The congregation held its first meeting in 1929 in a house formerly used as a cats' and dogs' home, although it is uncertain what address this was.^(xiii)

Date Formed:

1929^(xv)

Current Status:

Believed active^(xvi)

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Affiliation:

The congregation is an affiliated synagogue of the United Synagogue, which, according to the authorised history of the organisation, it joined in 1948 as an affiliated synagogue.^(xvii) However, according to listings in Jewish Year Books prior to World War II, the congregation was already an affiliate of United Synagogue from about 1938.^(xviii) Such affiliation (or possibly even the congregation itself) does not appear to have been maintained beyond the War (and probably during it), and the congregation was not listed again until the Jewish Year Book 1949, where it was once again shown as an affiliate of United Synagogue.

Prior to affiliation to the United Synagogue, the congregation was independent.^(xix)

Merged Congregations:

In 1998/9 the Elm Park Affiliated Synagogue was merged with the congregation and the memorials and other artefacts of the former were transferred to the congregation.^(xx)

In 2014/15, the remaining members of Barking and Becontree Synagogue and Harold Hill and District Affiliated Synagogue transferred their membership to the congregation, on the closure of their respective synagogues.^(xxi)

Website:

None

Ministers:
(To view a short profile of a minister whose name appears in blue - hold the cursor over his name.)

Rev. Samuel Woolf Magnus, BA - from 1935 until 1936^(xxv)

Rev. B.D. Klein, MA - from about 1937 until about 1938^(xxvi)

Rev. Aaron Shapiro, BA - from about 1938 until about 1939^(xxvii)

Rev. Samuel Morris Bromberger - from 1939 until 1940^(xxviii)

Rev. Leslie Mockton - dates uncertain, probably early 1950s^(xxix)

Rev. Saul Beck - from about 1954 until about 1981^(xxxii)

Rev. Shlomo Kreiman - from 1981 until 1983^(xxxiii)

Rev. Ian Bennett - in and about 2000^(xxxiv)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Lee Sunderland - from about 2001 until 2024^(xxxv)

Lay Officers:

All data on lay officers has been extracted from listings in Jewish Year Books.^(xl)

Presidents/Chairmen

1935-1938 - M. Masal, president

1938-1940 - M. Masal, chairman

1940-1948 - no data

1948-1949 - A. Ashley, chairman

1949-1953 - no data

1953-1955 - M. Masal, life president

from 1955 - no data

Vice Chairmen

1948-1949 - A. Lieberman & M. Masal

from 1949 - no data

Financial Representatives

1938-1940 - Dr. V. Feldman

1940-1949 - - no data

1948-1951 - L. Barak^(xli)

1951-1955 - L. Brenner

1955-1956 - Aaron Mintz

from 1956 - no data

Wardens

1938-1940 - M. Geewater

1940-1949 - - no data

1949-1953 - A. Ashley & M. Masal

1953-1954 - A. Ashley

1954-1956 - A. Ashley & I. Goldberg

from 1956 - no data

Secretaries & Hon Secretaries

1936-1940 - H. Geewater

1940-1948 - - no data

1948-1953 - H. Geewater

1953-1958 - I. Chaplin

1958-1971 - A. Silverstone

1971-1973 - V. Arbiter

1973-1979 - J.R. Rose

1979-1988 - S.M. Robinson

1988-1991 - H. Lexton

Membership Data:

United Synagogue (male seat-holders)^(xlv)

1950

1960

1970

83

146

142

National Reports & Surveys^(xlvi)

1977 - 142 male (or household) members and 38 female members

1983 - 166 male (or household) members and 30 female members

1990 - 152 household members

1996 - 204 members (comprising 183 households, 5 individual male and 16 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having 100 to 199 members (by household)

2016 - listed as having 200 to 299 members (by household)

Charitable Status:

Romford and District Synagogue is a registered charity (registered charity no. 1121253), registered on 17 October 2007.^(xlvii)

Registration District (BMD):

Havering from 1 April 1965^(xlviii) - Link to Register Office website

Worship Registration:

The synagogue in 125 Eastern Road (ground floor) is registered as a Place of Worship - Worship Register Number 62543 - under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855.^(xlix)

Cemetery
Information:

For United Synagogue cemeteries, see Cemeteries of the United Synagogue.

Notable Local Jewish Connections

Belinda Magnus OBE DL (born in 1953 in Romford), is a singer, actress and writer better known as Pauline Black. Her mother was a teenage Jewish woman and father was from Nigeria, but she was adopted as a child and only discovered her Jewish roots aged 42.
Charlotte Nicholls (born in 1991 in Romford), elected Labour MP for Warrington North in 2019, had converted to Reform Judaism in 2014.
Louis Sinclair (1861-1928) (born Schlesinger) was Conservative MP for Romford from 1897 until 1906.

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.
(ii) This is the name listed in Jewish Year Books since 1962. ↵
(iii) The congregation was listed under this name in its first listing in the Jewish Year Books (1936) through 1938, during which period it was listed as an independent congregation, and in the editions from 1949 through 1953. ↵
(iv) The congregation appeared under this name in Jewish Year Books 1939 and 1940. ↵
(v) The congregation appeared under this name in Jewish Year Books 1954 through 1961. ↵
(vi) to (viii) Reserved.
(ix) This was the address listed in Jewish Year Books from 1948. ↵
(x) Jewish Chronicle article of 30 June 2000 on the rededication of the synagogue (extract reproduced here). ↵
(xi) Address listed in Jewish Year Books 1939 and 1940. ↵
(xii) Address listed in Jewish Year Books from first appearance (1936) through 1938. ↵
(xiii) Jewish Chronicle article of 30 June 2000 (extract reproduced here). ↵
(xiv) Reserved.
(xv) This is the year given in Jewish Year Books from 1956 and in the Jewish Chronicle article of 30 June 2000. However, Jewish Year Books from 1949 through 1955 gave the year as 1933. In addition, following World War II, the congregation was unlisted in Jewish Year Books until 1949, and this could possibly reflect a period when the congregation had ceased to be active. ↵
(xvi) Although the congregation does not have an active website and, as of September 2025, it was no longer listed on the United Synagogue website and the last posting on its Facebook page was in 2019, the Charities Commission registration shows it as still current as of 31 December 2024. ↵
(xvii) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 222. This date is also given in the Jewish Chronicle article of 30 June 2000 (extract reproduced here). ↵
(xviii) Listings in Jewish Year Books 1939 and 1940. Publication then ceased during the war years 1941 to 1945. ↵
(xix) Listed as such in Jewish Year Books 1936 (its first listing) through 1938. ↵
(xx) Jewish Chronicle article of 30 June 2000 (extract reproduced here). ↵
(xxi) Annual Reports of the congregation to the Charities Commission, including the report for the year ended 31 December 2025, refer to the transfer of membership from these two synagogues. ↵
(xxii) to (xxiv)
(xxv) Jewish Chronicle reports place Rev. S W Magnus in Romford during this period. His obituary states he served the congregation for about a year. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1936 and 1937. ↵
(xxvi) Based upon Rev. B.D. Klein's listing as minister of the congregation in the Jewish Year Book from 1938. ↵
(xxvii) Jewish Chronicle reports place Rev. A. Shapiro in Romford during these years. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1939 and 1940. ↵
(xxviii) Jewish Chronicle reports. Rev. Bromberger was not listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books. ↵
(xxix) Jewish Chronicle obituary 14 August 2020. Rev. Mockton was not listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books. ↵
(xxx) and (xxxi)
(xxxii) Jewish Chronicle death notice described Rev. Beck as former minister at Romford for 27 years, succeeded by Rev. Kreiman in 1981. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1954 (there had been no minister listed for the congregation since World War II) through 1981. ↵
(xxxiii) In a letter to the Jewish Chronicle on 4 April 1986, Rev. Kreiman stated: "As the last occupant of the pulpit at Romford Synagogue, which I vacated in August 1983,....". The Jewish Chronicle of 10 June 1994 referred to Mr Kreiman, a former United Synagogue minister (he was at Romford from 1981 to 1983). He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1982 through 1985. ↵
(xxxiv) Rev. Bennett was minister at the time of the synagogue's 70th anniversary celebrations in 2000 as reported in the Jewish Chronicle on 30 June 2000. ↵
(xxxv) All media reports indicate that Rev. (Rabbi) Sunderland served the congregation for over 20 years (although he was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books only in 2004, 2005 and from 2013 until the last edition (2015), but this is believed to have been an error). His death in office was reported in the Romford Recorder on 3 June 2024. J.R. Rose (not Rev.) was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 2006 until the last edition (2015), jointly with Rabbi I. Sunderland from 2013 through 2015. However, we are advised by a member of the congregation, that J.R. Rose is probably Jack Rose, who was not a minister, but held various lay roles in the synagogue over the years. ↵
(xxxvi) to (xxxix)
(xl) Where a person is first listed in a 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 (which was generally towards the end of the year prior to year appearing the the title of the year book) and that he continued in office until the commencement of office of his successor, unless the office was vacant (e.g. if he is listed in Jewish Year Books 1948 through 1951, it is assumed that he commenced office in 1947 and continued in office until 1951). However, it should be noted that this is only an assumption and accordingly his actual years of office may differ slightly from those shown here. There were no Jewish Year Book listings of officers (other than secretary) subsequent to 1956. ↵
(xli) Listed as Treasurer. ↵
(xlii) to (xliv)
(xlv) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 218/9. ↵
(xlvi) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the various reports. ↵
(xlvii) Charities Commission website, accessed August 2025. Clicking on the charity number of this will take you to the charity's registration on the Charities Commission website. ↵
(xlviii) The former Registration District was Romford, from 1 July 1837 until 1 April 1965. All registers would now be held by the current register office. ↵
(xlix) Page 660 of the 2010 List of Places of Worship ↵

Extracted from Newspaper Article
relating to the congregation

The Jewish Chronicle, 30 June 2000, article by Ruth Rothenberg
THE REDEDICATION of Romford Synagogue has been held, as a joint celebration of the Essex synagogue's 70th anniversary and of its merger with the Elm Park Synagogue, which closed nearly two years ago.
"There has always been a close link between the two communities - which were geographically quite close, and we held our first joint service on Rosh Hashanah, 1998," explained Romford chairman David Vroobel. He said it had been decided to delay the formal celebration of the merger until the expanded community's refurbishment programme was complete.
Romford Hebrew Congregation held its first meeting in 1929 in a house formerly used as a cats' and dogs' home, and became affiliated to the United Synagogue in 1948. Its present building started life as a dance academy.
Elm Park Hebrew Congregation began meeting in private homes at the start of the Second World War. It also affiliated to the US in 1948, and built a synagogue two years later.
The rededication service was attended by Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks, who voiced particular pleasure at the merger of the congregations. "In a period where Jews are so often dividing, it is wonderful that you are banding together," he told the 150-strong congregation. After the service, he visited the synagogue's memorabilia room - which tells the story of the local Jewish community from 1929 onwards.
US president Peter Sheldon and honorary officers from neighbouring US congregations, at Harold Hill and Newbury Park, also attended, alongside local civic dignitaries including the mayor of Havering, Councillor Brian Eagling, and local MPs Eileen Gordon and Keith Darvill. In his address, Mr Vroobel voiced pride in the fact that last year, Romford had been the United Synagogue's fastest growing community.

List of United Synagogue Congregations

Jewish Congregations in the London Borough of Havering

Jewish Congregations in Greater London

Greater London home page

Page created: 18 November 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 31 August 2025
Page most recently amended: 14 September 2025

Research by David Shulman, assisted by Steven Jolles (rabbinic profiles and notable connections)
Formatting by David Shulman

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