the former

High Wycombe Hebrew Congregation

High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

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

Town of High Wycombe

High Wycombe, is a town in Buckinghamshire in south central England about 25 miles west of London, with a population of about 120,000.

In 1974 the municipal borough of High Wycombe was merged with adjoining areas to form the local government District of Wycombe, which on 1 April 2020 was merged with all other local authorities in Buckinghamshire, other than Milton Keynes, to form the unitary authority of the Buckinghamshire Council.

High Wycombe Jewish Community

High Wycombe had a small Jewish community established primarily by evacuees from London during World War II. In recent years, the community has dwindled and the (United Synagogue) congregation was disbanded in about 2011.

Congregation Data

Name:

High Wycombe Hebrew Congregation⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

Alternative Names:

High Wycombe Affiliated Synagogue and High Wycombe & District Synagogue⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

Developed From:

High Wycombe United Synagogue Membership Group^(iv)

Address:

Newland, High Wycombe, from about 1958 until about 1963^(v) - thereafter, the congregation's address was not listed.

Previously the congregation was at 7/8 Queen Square, High Wycombe, from about 1946.^(vi)

Formation:

The congregation was formally established in about 1948, having developed from the High Wycombe United Synagogue Membership Group,^(ix) which had been formed by evacuees from heavily populated areas of Central & Eastern London during WWII.

Closure:

The congregation closed in about 2011.^(x)

Affiliation:

The congregation was an affiliated synagogue of the United Synagogue from 1948.^(xi)

Ritual:

Ashkenazi - Orthodox

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

Rabbi Morris Swift - minister to the Membership Group in World War II until 1945^(xiv)

Rev. J. Mayer - minister from about 1946 until about 1948^(xv)

Rev. H. Freed - temporary minister from about 1948 until about 1950^(xvi)

Rev. Mordechai Miloslawer - minister from about 1950 until about 1954^(xvii)

Lay Officers:

The data below has been extracted from Jewish Year Books.^(xx)

Presidents

1946-1947 - H.L. Langham

1947-1950 - S.M. Marks

Chairmen

1950-1953 - S.M. Marks

1953-1956 - J. Silverstone

Vice Presidents

1946-1947 - M. Freed

1947-1948 - H. Brudney

1948-1949 - B.A. Sunray

1949-1951 - H. Brudney

Vice Chairman

1951-1952 - C.B. Simon

Wardens

1945-1946 - S.M. Feldman & - A. Gaber

1946-1949 - A. Gaber & - J. Margolin

1949-1953 - A. Gaber & - A. Butcher

1953-1955 - B.A. Sunray

Treasurers or Financial Representatives

1945-1946 - P. Keen

1946-1948 - H. Brudney

1948-1950, 1950-1954 - J. Elman

1954-1955 - M.C. Rose

Secretaries

1945-1949 - Miss D. Beverley

1950-1953 - Mrs. H. Myers

1953-2003 - Mrs. R. Weiss

2003-2011 - A. Abrams

Membership Data:

Male Seatholders^(xxi)

1948

1950

1960

1970

68

57

30

42

National Reports & Surveys^(xxii)

1977 - 41 male (or household) members and 9 female members.

1983 - 36 male (or household) members and 12 female members.

1990 - 40 members (comprising 39 households and 1 individual female member)

1996 - 33 members (comprising 16 households, 5 individual male and 12 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having under 50 members (by household)

Registration District (BMDs):

Buckinghamshire (since 1 July 2007)^(xxiii) - Link to Register Office Website.

Cemetery Details

There is no Jewish cemetery in High Wycombe, nor elsewhere in Buckinghamshire.

However, see Cemeteries of the United Synagogue.

Online Articles and Other Material relating to relating to
the High Wycombe Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

Medieval Wycombe Community.

Other High Wycombe Jewish Institutions & Organisations

High Wycombe Jewish Ladies Guild - founded by 1948^(xxvii)
High Wycombe Women's Zionist Society - founded in 1945^(xxviii)

High Wycombe Jewish Population Data
1947	200	(The Jewish Year Book 1948)
1957	120	(The Jewish Year Book 1958)
1963	about 60	(The Jewish Year Book 1964)
1985	about 50	(The Jewish Year Book 1986)
1986	about 38	(The Jewish Year Book 1987)
1988	about 30	(The Jewish Year Book 1989)
1990	100	(The Jewish Year Book 1991)
1997	35	(The Jewish Year Book 1998)

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.
(ii) The congregation was generally listed under this name in Jewish Year Books. ↵
(iii) The congregation was from time to time known or listed in Jewish Year Books under these names. ↵
(iv) Listed in the Jewish Year Book 1945/6, the first to be published since the war-time cessation of publication in 1940. ↵
(v) This was the address listed in Jewish Year Books 1959 through 1963. Subsequently no address was listed. ↵
(vi) This was actually the address listed in Jewish Year Books 1951 through 1957. 7/8a Queen Street was listed in the editions 1948 through 1950 and 7 Queen Street was listed in the 1947 edition. ↵
(vii) and (viii) Reserved.
(ix) Listed in the Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵
(x) The congregation's last listing was in the Jewish Year Book 2011. ↵
(xi) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), p.222. ↵
(xii) and (xiii) Reserved.
(xiv) Jewish Chronicle obituary of 23 September 1983. Rabbi M. Swift was listed as visiting minister of the congregation in the Jewish Year Books 1945/6. ↵
(xv) Rev. J. Mayer was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1947 and 1948. ↵
(xvi) Rev. H. Freed was listed as temporary minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1949 and 1950. ↵
(xvii) Rev. Miloslawer was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1951 through 1954. ↵
(xviii) and (xix) Reserved.
(xx) The group/congregation was first listed in the Jewish Year Book 1945/6 (the first following the war time cessation of publication). Where a person is first listed in a Jewish Year Book as holding a particular office, it is generally assumed that his or her term of office commenced in the year of publication of the relevant year book. Year books were published according to the calendar year, being published generally towards the end of the year prior to the year appearing in the title of the year book. For example, if an officer is listed in Jewish Year Books 1964 through 1966, it is assumed that he or she commenced office in 1963 and continued in office until 1966. However, it should be noted that this is only an assumption and, accordingly, his or her actual years of office may differ from those shown here. The year books generally ceased listing lay officers, other than the secretary, from 1956. ↵
(xxi) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pp.218/9. ↵
(xxii) Report on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by 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 report. ↵
(xxiii) Previous Registration Districts: Wycombe (from 1 July 1837 to 1 November 1998) and Chiltern Hill (from 1 November 1998 to 1 July 2007). Any registers would be held by the current register office ↵
(xxiv) to (xxvi) Reserved.
(xxvii) Listed in Jewish Year Books 1948 through 1957. ↵
(xxviii) Listed in the Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵

List of United Synagogue Congregations (and Membership Groups)

World War II Evacuee Communities

Jewish Congregations in Buckinghamshire

Jewish Communities of England homepage

Page created: 15 March 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 22 January 2023
Page most recently amended: 10 September 2023

Research and formatting by David Shulman

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