the former

Boston Hebrew Congregation

& Jewish Community

Boston, Lincolnshire

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

Town of Boston (Lincs.)

The town and small port of Boston, situated on the east coast of England, forms the main town of the Borough and district of Boston in the county of Lincolnshire. The present local authority was formed in 1974, when the former borough of Boston was merged with Boston Rural District. Until 1974, Boston was in the administrative county of Holland, one of the three Parts into which Lincolnshire was then divided.

Boston Jewish Community

A Jewish community had first existed from some time at the end of the eighteen century or early nineteenth century, but the congregation was disbanded in the first part of the nineteenth century. The congregation was subsequently revived at the end of the nineteenth century but disappeared in the early part of the twentieth century.

Congregation Data
Name:	Boston Hebrew Congregation
Address:	No information as to the address of any of the synagogues or places of worship.
Foundation:	There were three separate congregations in the town at different times:⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ A congregation initially existed in the early nineteenth century (by at least 1812⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾) but was disbanded by at least the 1840's. The congregation was later revived in July 1892 "after a lapse of nearly a century"^(iv) but again disbanded by early 1895.^(v) The congregation was revived again in the late 1890s.^(vi)
Current Status:	Finally closed, early twentieth century.^(vii)
Ritual:	Ashkenazi Orthodox.
Affiliation:	The congregation was unaffiliated but would have been under the aegis of the Chief Rabbi.
Ministers / Readers: (To view a short profile of a minister or reader whose name appears in blue- hold the cursor over his name.)	Early nineteenth century congregation No ministers or readers known. Early 1890s congregation Rev. Solomon Wolman - from about 1892 until 1893^(viii) Rev. S. Rudnitzky - about 1894^(ix) Late 1890s/early twentieth century congregation Mr. T. Hoppenstad, lay reader, from Leeds - conducted New Year services from at least 1900 to 1905^(x) Rev. Solomon Chaitowitz - from 1906 until 1908^(xi) Rev. S. Michaelson - in 1908^(xii)
Lay Officers:	Early nineteenth century congregation No officers known
	Early 1890s congregation (congregation defunct by 1895) Presidents George Fitelson - from 1892 to about 1894^(xvi) Abraham Canin - from 1894^(xvii) Treasurers Wolf Robinson - 1892^(xviii) Max Goldstein - from 1892 to 1893^(xix) Abraham Canin - from 1893 to 1894^(xx) Wolf Robinson - from 1894^(xxi) Hon. Secretaries Max Goldstein - from 1892 to 1893^(xxii) Abraham Canin - from 1893 to 1894^(xxiii) M. Marks - from 1894^(xxiv)	Late 1890s/early twentieth century congregation Presidents Solomon Barnett - about 1904^(xxviii) E. Perper - from at least 1907^(xxix) Treasurers & Hon. Secretaries J. Levinson - at least 1907 to about 1908^(xxx) Henry Jackson - from about 1908^(xxxi)
Registration District (BMD):	Lincolnshire (since 1 February 2002)^(xxxii) - Link to Register Office Website.
Cemetery Data:	There is no Jewish cemetery in Boston.

Rev. Solomon Wolman, the Congregation's first known minister.
Courtesy © Danny Ginsbury and Gary Weinstein.

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The records in the database associated with Boston include:

1851 Anglo Jewry Database (updated 2016)

Individuals in the 1851 Anglo Jewry Database who were living in Boston during the 1800s (3 records), 1810s (9 records); 1820s (6 records), 1830s (9 records), 1840s (10 records), 1850s (11 records), 1860s (4 records), 1870s (5 records), 1880s (2 records), 1890s (2 records) and 1900s (1 record).

Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Boston Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

The Jews of Boston, Lincolnshire by Harold Pollins, 2010 (Article initially published in The Jewish Journal of Sociology, volume LII, pp. 57-68) with Addendum, 2011 (The Jewish Journal of Sociology, volume LIII, pp. 81-82);
The Rise of Provincial Jewry - Boston by Cecil Roth, 1950. Available on JCR-UK as part of the Susser Archive;
Press Reports about the Boston Jewish Community 1847 - 1925;
Reference to Boston in papers on Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain, compiled by Professor Aubrey Newman;.
Bibliography and other sources

Boston Jewish Population Data

See Jewish Population figures (1841-1911) in Harold Pollins :The Jews of Boston"

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved .
(ii) See article on the Jews of Boston, by Harold Pollins. ↵
(iii) The Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury of 31 January 1812 reported on a wedding that took place on 29 January 1812 "at the Jewish Synagogue in Boston" and Cecil Roth refers to a wedding in Boston in 1822. ↵
(iv) Jewish Chronicle report of 8 July 1892. ↵
(v) Board of Deputies report of 17 May 1895. ↵
(vi) The Jewish Chronicle of 28 September 1900 reported New Year services "as usual" in Boston. The congregation was not listed in Jewish Year Books until 1907/8. ↵
(vii) The last reference to the congregation in the press was the Jewish Chronicle report of 18 September 1908. Although the Jewish Year Books continued to list the congregation until 1929, there was no change in the listed data for the twenty year period from 1909 through 1929, and it is believed that the publishers, receiving no returns from the congregation, merely reproduced the previous year's data, notwithstanding the fact that the congregation had long become defunct. ↵
(viii) Jewish Chronicle reports of 8 July 1892 and 29 September 1893 place Rev. Wolman or Woolman in Boston, Lincs. ↵
(ix) Jewish Chronicle of 30 March 1894 reported that Rev. Rudnitzky lectured in Boston, Lincolnshire. It is unclear whether he did so as a visiting or resident minister.. ↵
(x) Jewish Chronicle reports of 28 September 1900, 16 September1904 and 13 October 1905 refer to Mr. Hoppenstadt conducting services. ↵
(xi) Rev. Chaitowitz is listed as reader of the congregation in the Jewish Year Book 1907/8. His obituary of 20 May 1966 stated he served in Boston from 1906 to 1910. A son was born in Boston in 1906. However, as his successor appears to have been in post in Boston in 1908 he is likely to have left no later than that year. ↵
(xii) Although Rev. Michaelson was listed as reader of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1909 through 1929, this was clearly an error (see note (vii) above) and the Jewish Chronicle of 13 November 1908 reported on his leaving the congregation for Dunfermline. ↵
(xiii) to (xv) Reserved.
(xvi) Jewish Chronicle reports of 7 August 1892 and 14 October 1892. ↵
(xvii) The Jewish Chronicle report of 30 March 1894. ↵
(xviii) Jewish Chronicle report of 14 October 1892. ↵
(xix) Jewish Chronicle report of 14 October 1892. ↵
(xx) The Jewish Chronicle report of 31 March 1893. ↵
(xxi) The Jewish Chronicle report of 30 March 1894. ↵
(xxii) Jewish Chronicle reports of 14 October 1892 and 25 November 1892 (referred to as Marks Goldstein). ↵
(xxiii) The Jewish Chronicle report of 31 March 1893. ↵
(xxiv) The Jewish Chronicle report of 30 March 1894. ↵
(xxv) to (xxvii) Reserved.
(xxviii) The Jewish Chronicle report of 16 September 1904 and Pollins's History. ↵
(xxix) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1907/8 (as Mr. Peper) and from 1909 through 1929, which end date is clearly an error (see note (vii) above). He is not mentioned by Harold Pollins in his History. ↵
(xxx) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1907/8. Mr. Levinson is not mentioned by Harold Pollins in his History. ↵
(xxxi) Listed in Jewish Year Books from 1909 through 1929, which end date is clearly an error (see note (vii) above). He is referred to as secretary in the Jewish Chronicle report of 18 September 1908. ↵
(xxxii) Previous registration district: Boston - 1 July 1837 to 1 February 2002. Any registers would now be held by the current register office. ↵

Jewish Congregations in Lincolnshire

Jewish Communities of England home page

Page created: 21 August 2005
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 28 July 2021
Page recently amended: 22 September 2023

Research bu Harold Pollins and David Shulman
Formatting by David Shulman

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