JCR-UK: Manchester (UK) Jewish Community and Congregations (Synagogues)

A joint project of JGSGB and JewishGen

* * * * * * *

Jewish Community of Greater Manchester

City and Metropolitan County of Manchester

Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county established in 1974 in North West England, covers the City of Manchester and surrounding areas. In comprises ten metropolitan boroughs, namely the City of Manchester, the City of Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. In 1986, Greater Manchester lost its administrative powers becoming purely a ceremonial county. Accordingly, each of the metropolitan boroughs effectively became unitary authorities. The metropolitan county includes certain localities, such as Salford and Trafford that form a single conurbation along with Manchester, while others, such as Bolton, Rochdale and Wigan, are separate towns.

The Manchester Jewish Community

The Jewish Congregations in Greater Manchesterte
The following congregations are, or were, considered to be part of the Greater Manchester Jewish Community Community:
Adass Yeshurun Synagogue* Adath Israel Synagogue* Adath Yisroel (Adath Yeshurun) Synagogue◊ Agudas Yisroel Synagogue◊ Ainsworth Court Congregation◊ Austrian Synagogue Beis Yisroel Synagogue Berdichow Chevra Beth Aaron Synagogue◊ Beth Hamedrash Hagadol◊ Beth Israel Synagogue Beth Jacob Synagogue Bishop Street Synagogue^§ Bolton Hebrew Congregation^{(1,3,4,5,6,7)#} Brodyer Synagogue^§ Broughton Synagogue◊ Bury Hebrew Congregation* Central & North Manchester Synagogue◊⁽⁴⁾ Central Synagogue◊ Chaim V'Tikvah Independant Congregation^# Chaye Adam Synagogue◊ Cheetham Hebrew Congregation Cheshire Reform Congregation^(7)# Chevra Kadisha Synagogue Chevra Tehillim (New)◊ Chevra Tehillim (Old) Chevra Tillin Synagogue◊ Chevra Torah^§ Chorlton-on-Medlock Hebrew Congregation^§ Chorlton-on-Medlock Old Hebrew Congregation Claff Shool^§ Congregation of Spanish & Portuguese Jews^§ Courland Synagogue◊ Cracow Synagogue◊ Damesek Eliezer Synagogue Deansgate Congregation Fernie Street Great Synagogue◊ Fromsons Chevra Garden Street Congregation◊ Great and New Synagogue⁽⁵⁾ Great Synagogue◊⁽⁵⁾ Haim Berso Synagogue^§ Hale and District Hebrew Congregation^(7)# Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation* Hebrew Holy Law Synagogue◊ Hilliwell Street Congregation◊ Higher Broughton Synagogue◊ Higher Crumpsall and Higher Broughton Hebrew Congregation* Higher Crumpsall Hebrew Congregation◊ Higher Prestwich Hebrew Congregation* Hightown Synagogue◊ Hightown and Cracow Synagogue◊ Hightown Central Synagogue Hillel House Synagogue* Hillock Hebrew Congregation* Hilton Park Synagogue◊ Holy Law South Broughton Hebrew Congregation^(1,4,5) Holy Law & Beth Aaron Synagogue◊⁽¹⁾ Hulme Hebrew Congregation Kahal Chassidim Synagogue Kahal Chassidim Synagogue◊(until c-1935) Kehilas Kol Yaakov* Kourlander Synagogue^§ Kovno Synagogue◊ Linoth Hazedek Chevra Lower Broughton Synagogue Lubavitch Foundation* Machzikei Hadass Synagogue* Manchester Congregation of British Jews◊^(7)# Manchester Great New & Central Synagogue*⁽⁵⁾ Manchester Great and New Synagogue^◊⁽⁵⁾	Manchester Kolel* Manchester Liberal Jewish Community^# Manchester New Hebrew Cingregation or Synagogue (Miller's Lane)◊ Manchester Old Hebrew Congregation◊⁽⁵⁾ Manchester Reform Synagogue (Jackson's Row)^(7)# Manchester United Synagogue^◊⁽⁵⁾ Manchester's First Synagogues Menorah Synagogue^(7)# Miller's Lane Congregation◊ Moses Besso Synagogue Nefusot Yehudah Synagogue Ner Tamid Chevra New Kahal Chassidim Synagogue◊ New Roumanian Sephardi Synagogue◊ New Roumanian Synagogue◊ New Synagogue & Beit Hamedrash◊ New Synagogue, Kersal Branch Northenden and Gatley Hebrew Congregation North Manchester Reform Congregation^(7)# North Manchester Synagogue◊⁽⁴⁾ North Salford Synagogue* Nusach Arih Chevra Ohromayach Congregation* Ohr Yerushalayim* Oldham Synagogue^(1,4,4,6,7)# Ohel Torah Congregation* Oxford Road HebrewCongregation Pendleton Synagogue Polish Synagogue Prestwich Beth Hamedrash◊ Prestwich Hebrew Congregation* Ramsgate Street Synagogue^§ Reshet Congregaton* Roumanian Synagogue^§ Roumanian Beth El Synagogue Roumanian (Sephardi) Synagogue◊ Rydal Mount Synagogue◊ Sale and District Hebrew Congregation* Salford Synagogue Sedgley Park Hebrew Congregation◊ Sedgley Park Synagogue* Seleler Chevra◊ Sellel & Psalms Synagogue◊ Sephardi Communal Torah Centre Sephardi Congregation of South Manchester* Sephardic Synagogue Sha'are Hayim Synagogue^§ Sha'are Sedek Synagogue◊ Sha'are Shalom Synagogue^(7)# Sha'are Tephillah Synagogue^§ Shomrei Hadass Synagogue^§ Shomre Shabbas Synagogue Shotzer Beth Hamidrash Shudehill Congregation◊ Silleller Chevra^§ South Broughton Synagogue◊⁽³⁾ South Manchester Synagogue Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue* Stenecourt Synagogue^§ Strangeways Synagogue Stockport Hebrew Congregation^(3,6,7)# Talmud Torah Chinuch N'orim Synagogue* Talmud Torah Synagogue◊ Telzer and Kovno Synagogue Telzer Chevra◊ United Synagogue - Manchester* Volkervishker Chevra◊ Walkawishk Chevra◊ Warsaw Synagogue West Didsbury New Synagogue Whitefield Hebrew Congregation* Wigan Synagogue^{(1,3,4,5,6,7)#} Withington Congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue◊ Yeshurun Hebrew Congregation^(7)# Yesodei Hatorah Synagogue◊ Zerei Agudas Israel Synagogue Zichron Yitzchak Synagogue*

* Denotes active congregation.

^◊ A congregation that subsequently changed its name or merged into another congregation.

^§ Alternative name of congregation.

^# Pages recently fully reformatted, with expanded data.

⁽¹⁾ Community or congregation records (as listed) in All-UK Database.

⁽²⁾ Pages with their own searchable databases.

⁽³⁾ Pages with press reports on the community.

⁽⁴⁾ Pages with photographs.

⁽⁵⁾ Pages with articles and other contributed material.

⁽⁶⁾ Pages with browsable lists, other than ministers and/or officers

⁽⁷⁾ Pages listing ministers and/or officers.

Alternative Lists of Manchester Congregations
(Click below to view Manchester Congregations arranged as follows:)

For a Street Directory of all congregations in Manchester
For congregations listed according to Metropolitan Borough and Locality

Search the All-UK Database

The records in the database associated with Greater Manchester include:

Marriages
- Holy Law & Beth Aaron Synagogue 1901-1932 (568 records);
  South Broughton Synagogue 1920-1938 (494 records).
Burials
- WWII Civilian Casualties (20 records).
Census:
- Extracts for Manchester from 1871 census (3,233 records)
UK Jewish Communal Leaders Database - Manchester and Salford records:
- Jewish Directory for 1874 (records of 159 individuals);
- Jewish Year Book 1896/97 (records of 50 individuals); and
- JCR-UK Listings (records of 260 individuals - as of the March 2024 update)
1851 Anglo Jewry Database (as of the 2016 update):
- Individuals in the "1851" database who were living in:
  - Manchester during the 1770s (1 record), 1790s (3 records), 1800s (14 records), 1810s (25 records), 1820s (98 records), 1830s (179 records), 1840s (453 records), 1850s (1,139 records), 1860s (270 records), 1870s (208 records), 1880s (146 records), 1890s (43 records), 1900s (47 records) and 1910s (4 records);
  - Salford during the 1800s (1 record), 1840s (2 records), 1820s (1 record), 1830s (10 records), 1840s (37 records), 1850s (69 records), 1860s (14 records), 1870s (12 records), 1880s (11 records), 1890s (3 records), 1900s (7 records) and 1910s (3 records);
  - Bolton during the 1830s (2 records) and 1840s (5 records);
  - Oldham during the 1830s (1 record), 1880s (3 records) and 1890s (2 records);
  - Wigan during the 1790s (1 record), 1820s (2 records) and 1830s (9 records);
  - Stockport during the 1820s (1 record); and
  - Rochdale during the 1830s (1 record).
Other
- Salford Police Register of Aliens, 1916-1965, from Manchester Police Museum (14,364 records) - Introduction;
- Manchester Jewry - City Directories of Traders:
  1855 (143 records), 1888 (230 records), 1927 (560 records), 1934 (411 records), with Introduction & Explanation by Ann Rabinowitz.

On-line Articles and Other Material relating to the
Greater Manchester Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

The Rise of Provincial Jewry - Manchester by Cecil Roth, 1950. (Part of the Susser Archive.)
Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain - Papers for a conference at University College, London, convened by the Jewish Historical Society of England, prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975:
- Conference Paper on Manchester.
- Chief Rabbi's Questionnaire of 1845 - Manchester Congregational & Charitable Data and Manchester Educational Data. In addition, see Manchester data in the Board of Deputies Jewish Schools Return, dated 13 February 1853).
- Jewish Alien Paupers in Manchester - Digest of Reports from Jewish Boards of Guardians.
- Some Aspects of Jewish Philanthropy in the 19th Century: with Special Reference to the Manchester Jewish Board of Guardians - paper by Miriam Steiner.
- Zionism in Manchester, section of the paper 'Zionism in Provincial Britain', by Dr. S. Levenberg.
- A Note on Handling of Census Material, with particular emphasis on Manchester, by M. Glaskie
Manchester Synagogues' Marriage Register Data kindly indexed for JCR-UK by Tony Glasstone of the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society, with the co-operation of the Manchester Register Office.
Listing of Synagogue Records of Manchester Synagogues.
Jewish Listed Heritage Sites in Greater Manchester.
Manchester Bibliography and other sources.
"The Closed Cemeteries of Manchester" - page 1; page 2 (PDF files) - an article from Shemot, the journal of the Jewish Geneaogical of Great Britain, December 2004, Volume 12, No. 4, pp 28/9.

on third party websites

Jewish Encyclopaedia article on Manchester by Joseph Jacobs and Isidore Harris, c-1906.
The Manchester Jewish Museum (Website: http://www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com), which, since 1984, has been situated in the former Spanish and Portugues Synagogue at 190 Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester M8.
Manchester University - the Jewish and Hebrew Collections at the John Rylands Library and Manchester University Library includes many items of communal Jewish interest online including its 50 Jewish Objects section.
Jews associating with other Jews in Manchester: Creating community and accumulating social capital. A report of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research (JPR) of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, by Ernest Schlesinger, published 2003, available on the JPR website.
As London prices climb, Manchester beckons Jews from far and near, article on Jewish Telegraph website.

Other Manchester Jewish Institutions & Organisations
(that had been formed by 1900*)

For additional information see Manchester from "Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain"

Educational & Theological

Manchester Jews' School (founded 1838).

Other Institutions & Organisations

Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor of Manchester (founded 1867) for relief, general and medical; also granting loans without interest and apprenticing Jewish youths.
Manchester Hebrew Philanthropic and Loan Society (founded 1825) for giving weekly allowances to persons of the Jewish faith over the age of 60 years and the granting of loans without interest to respectable persons.
Manchester Hebrew Sick and Burial Benefit Society (founded 1860) for the relief of members during sickness and week of mourning; payment of funeral, etc.
Cracow Benevolent Society (founded by 1874).
Manchester Jewish Ladies' Visiting Committee (founded 1884) for visiting the poor and attending to their sanitary condition.
Visiting Committee of the Hebrew Congregations of Manchester and Liverpool (founded 1885) for the visitation of Jewish ministers to hospitals, prisons, workhouses, etc.,
Manchester Jewish Working Men's Club (founded 1887).
Manchester Shechita Board (founded 1890)
Manchester Naturalisation Society (founded by 1895) to assist aliens to become naturalised.
Literary and Debating Society (founded by 1896) in connection with the Jewish Working Men's Club.
Manchester Jewish Young Men's Club (founded by 1896)
Manchester Jewish Young Men's Religious Association (founded by 1900).
Polish Jews' Burial Society (founded by 1900).
Manchester Jewish Cricket Club (founded by 1900).
Manchester Jewish Tailors', Machinists', and Pressers' Trade Union (founded by 1900).
Manchester Jewish Master-Tailors Trade Protection Society (founded by 1900).

* As listed in the Jewish Directory of 1874 and the Jewish Year Books 1896 & 1900.

Greater Manchester Jewish Cemeteries Information

Listed below are the cemeteries used by the Manchester Jewish Community. Prior to the purchase of the first cemetery in 1794, Jews who died in Manchester were interred in the burial grounds in Liverpool.

Agecroft Jewish Cemetery, Langley Road, Pendlebury, Salford M27.
Blackley Jewish Cemetery, Rochdale Road, Blackley, M9 6FQ: Acquired about 1897 by the Central Synagogue and later also used by the North Manchester Synagogue. (The two synagogues merged in 1978.)
Bury Cemetery, Jewish Section, St Peters Road, Bury BL9.
Cheadle Jewish Cemetery.
Collyhurst Cemetery, Knightley Walk, Miles Platting, M40 8LF: 1844 to 1872. Used by breakaway Manchester New Synagogue from 1844 until 1851 and thereafter used by the Great Synagogue mainly for infant burials until 1872. Subsequently falling into total disrepair.
Crumpsall Jewish Cemetery, Crescent Road, M8 5UR: In use from 1880.
Dunham Lawn Cemetery - Jewish Section, Whitehouse Lane, Dunham-Massey, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 5RH. The ohel was built in 1997 and consecrated by Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sack.
Failworth Jewish Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Failworth M35 0SN: Acquired in 1919 by the Holy Law & Beth Aaron Synagogue.
Manchester Reform Jewish Old Cemetery, Whitefield, M45 7BY: 1856 to 1992. Acquired by the Manchester Congregation of British Jew .
Miles Platting Jewish Cemetery, Queens Road, Miles Platting: In use from c. 1850 to 1880.
Pendleton Jews' Burial Ground, Brindle Heath Road, Salford M6 7EE: Manchester's first Jewish cemetery in use from 1794 to 1840.
Jewish Section, Philips Park Cemetery, Riverpark Road, Eastlands, Manchester, M40 2XP: 1857 to 1953. Cemetery of the South Manchester Synagogue.
The cemetery is a Grade II Registered Park and Garden (number 1001634), designated on 12 July 2002. (View description on Historic England website.)
Prestwich Village Jews' Burial Ground, Bury New Road M25 1AF: Generally in use from 1841 to 1884, although last burial was in 1914. Shared by the Great Synagogue and the New Synagogue.
Rainsough Jewish Cemetery, Rainsough Brow, Butterstile Lane, Preswich M25 9UL: Acquired 1923 by the Central Synagogue and later also owed by Higher Broughton Synagogue. Cemetery now shares by almost some ten congregations.
Southern Cemetery, Jewish Section, Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury M21 7GL: Initially used, from 1892, by the Manchester Congregation of British Jews. Later shared with South Manchester Synagogue (from 1924) and the Sephardi community (from 1934) and Whitefield Synagogue (from 1957). Cemetery still currently in use. The Cemetery is a Grade II Registered Park and Garden (number 1001656), designated on 13 November 2002. View description on Historic England website.
Urmston Jewish Cemetery, Chapel Grove, M41 9BB: Dating from 1878. Acquired by the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue and shared from 1891 with the Manchester New Synagogue, with a separate Whitefield Synagogue Section from 1959.
The War Memorial Obelisk and Tablet at the cemetery is a Grade II Listed Building (number 1437788), designated on 7 September 2016. View description on Historic England website.
Whitefield Jewish Cemetery, Old Hall Lane, Whitefield, M45 7TN: Opened 1931 and still in use. Initially used by United Synagogue, Manchester. Later also by Higher Prestwich Hebrew Congregation (from 1957), Whitefield Synagogue (from 1974) and Ultra-Orthodox congregations.

(For additional information, see IAJGS Cemetery Project - Manchester)

Manchester & District Jewish Population Data (including Salford)
1851	2,000	(Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain)
1896	15,000	(The Jewish Year Book 1896/97)
1900	22,000	(The Jewish Year Book 1900/01)
1905	28,000	(The Jewish Year Book 1906)
1915	30,000	(The Jewish Year Book 1916)
1934	33,000	(The Jewish Year Book 19435)
1955	31,000	(The Jewish Year Book 1956)
1965	28,000	(The Jewish Year Book 1966)
1967	31,500	(The Jewish Year Book 1968)
1990	30,000	(The Jewish Year Book 1991)
1999	27,000	(The Jewish Year Book 2000)
2004	21,733	(The Jewish Year Book 2005)
2006	30,000	(The Jewish Year Book 2007)

Jewish Communities of England home page

Page created by John Berman: 2002
Congregations researched and page reformatted by David Shulman: November 2007
Page most recently amended: 4 August 2024

About JCR-UK | JCR-UK home page

Contact JCR-UK Webmaster
(Note: This is to contact JCR-UK, not the above Community)

Terms and Conditions, Licenses and Restrictions for the use of this website:

This website is owned by JewishGen and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. All material found herein is owned by or licensed to us. You may view, download, and print material from this site only for your own personal use. You may not post material from this site on another website without our consent. You may not transmit or distribute material from this website to others. You may not use this website or information found at this site for any commercial purpose.