Jews began to settle in Devon from about 1730 and continued to arrive for the next 70 or 80 years.¹ In the main they came from Germany, either directly or through Amsterdam, though there was a small number who originated in Poland.² Their education was limited to a study of Hebrew and post-Biblical works, the Talmud in particular. For the most part they were barely acquainted with any European language and were unable to write in the Roman alphabet. Long centuries of persecution amid grinding poverty had sharpened their minds and strengthened their will to survive. Debarred by lack of educational facilities from the professions and by lack of capital from trading on a grand scale, they made their livings from petty peddling, second-hand goods and cheap jewellery.

When such a Jew arrived in England he was immediately identifiable by his hirsute appearance.³ The biblical command, 'Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard' (Leviticus, 19, 27) was commonly interpreted by Polish and German Jews to mean that beards were left untrimmed and sidelocks were left to grow in a characteristic style. The exposure of women's hair, too, was governed by Jewish law. Unmarried girls could display their hair but after marriage this was not allowed. In Oriental countries, married Jewesses covered their heads with a kerchief, but in Eastern Europe they often wore wigs, either with or without an additional covering.⁴  Not one of the more than twenty known portraits of eighteenth and nineteenth century Jewish women in Devon depicts them wearing wigs, but it is reasonable to assume that only 'emancipated' women would have had their portraits painted.  Coupled with his unkempt appearance, the Jewish male newcomer would also be recognisable by the foreign style of his clothes. One such arrival, who subsequently travelled extensively in Devon, described the clothes he wore when he arrived at Gravesend in 1821 at the age of fourteen

A pair of German boots to the knees and a large black tassel to each of the tops, a pair of nankeen small clothes, black silk waistcoat, lead coloured nankeen longcoat down to my heels without any laps or opening behind, and a hat with a small crown and wide brim.⁵

Although he had no luggage with him, and at that age could hardly have been adorned with a beard, his appearance was sufficiently distinctive to attract a crowd of 'hundreds of boys' who followed him, mocking and jeering, all the way from Gravesend to Duke's Place, City of London, where the main synagogue was situated.

Most Jewish men from Eastern Europe wore a Kaftan, a long flowing coat once part of the national Polish costume but from the eighteenth century restricted to Jewish use, possibly because of some natural tendency to conservatism in dress. Some kept their style of dress because their livelihood was to some extent dependent on a Jewish appearance. Thus it was obviously to the advantage of the old clothes man, a predominantly Jewish occupation in the eighteenth century, to look the part. He walked the streets with a pile of hats perched upon his head and capacious garments hung from his shoulders, over which a bag was slung. Equally recognisable was the Jewish pedlar with his broad brimmed hat and pedlar's tray with its assorted bric-a-brac.⁶ Contemporary prints all portray a similar type of appearance and it should not be thought that this was merely a caricature. That the type was familiar in Devon is clear from an account by a French privateer captain who was imprisoned at Millbay prison, Plymouth, in 1807. He escaped from the prison 'disguised as an old Jew man with his bag over his shoulder'.⁷

After his general appearance the next most noticeable foreign feature was the immigrant's speech. English as spoken by a foreign born Jew conformed to a regular pattern. He pronounced 'w' as 'v', 'b' as 'p' and 'th' as 'd', as the following lines of the old clothes man indicate:

She sold me some pargains and gave me some meat,

Vich though it was trypher I couldn't but eat,

Den to give her a kiss, dears, I thought it no sin… ⁸

Manasseh Lopes, according to a scurrilous handbill which circulated in Plymouth in 1805, spoke in a similar way: 'Vel ma deare, vat isht you vant vid me?' ⁹

The immigrant rarely became sufficiently proficient in English to forsake Yiddish, his native jargon. The minutes of the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation's meetings continued to be written in Yiddish until 1834, by which time more than half of the adult males of the Congregation had been born in England.¹⁰  If the minutes were written in Yiddish it is reasonable to suppose that the proceedings were conducted in that language. Men who were literate in Hebrew and who could write in a fluent and educated script were unable to sign even their names in English characters. Thus Moses Jacob, a watch maker in Redruth, signs his will which was made out in English, presumably by a notary, with his Jewish name - his forename followed by his father's forename in Hebrew characters.¹¹ Yet he had been a substantial shopkeeper in Redruth for forty years or more.¹²  The signatures of Benjamin Levy provide an interesting example of Anglicisation in the making. He was born in Hamelburg, Germany, in 1766. He landed in London in 1782 and spent the next four years at Arundel. He came to Plymouth in 1786 at the age of twenty and set up as an optician. In 1811 a lease was granted to him for a shop in Southside Street, Plymouth, for a consideration of £300.¹³  This lease he signed 'B. Levy' and underneath that, in Hebrew, Bunem. It is not easy to understand why he signed in Hebrew characters when he had already signed in English. Perhaps he had been able to sign earlier leases only with his Hebrew name, and later, when he had learnt to write in English, it was felt advisable to preserve the continuity of his identity. Whatever the true explanation, this is a clear example of the transitional stage in the process of acquiring literacy in English. Another interesting document, a will, was written entirely in Yiddish in Hebrew characters by the testator himself who signed with his Hebrew name and also his English name.¹⁴  He was Moses Mordecai of Exeter who died in 1808 after he had been a silversmith there for at least twenty years.

There is some evidence to show the way in which the first generation British born immigrant spoke, at least when he was ill-educated and wrote according to the phonetics of his speech. It is a letter written by Aaron Nathan who was born in Plymouth in 1789. He fell on hard times when he was 38 years old, and his touching letter of appeal illustrates the degree of literacy which he attained without formal instruction in secular subjects and, to some extent, the way in which he pronounced his words:

Mr Alexander Samuels

Sir,

On the 3rd of August last I wrote to the former officers of the Congeratation of my Circumstances and that I was sorry to inform them that I stood in the gratest of want of beaing assisted by them, to which I never have had any reply - Mr Harris on the last Holladays Handed my wife a half Sovering Stating that Mr N. Joseph Sent that I no not if that Sum was from is privite Purse, or if it was from the Congaratatons money - be that as it will I now have to Inform you beaing on of the helders that I am Drove to the last Extramity, without a farthin in the world having disposed of Everything I could make money of, so as my wife and Sevon Children Should not starve. I am now forced to apply to you to me call [i.e. Kohol, the governing body of the Congregation] and Congaratation in my behalf so as to Grant me Somthing In moderatation So as to help my famly and to send me a trifle before the meet for I can assure you I have not a thing to fetch me a farthin.

Your Ansur as Soon as Posable will oblige

your obdt and Humble St.

Aron Nathan

17 Pearl Street, Stonehouse.

Thursday December 1827 ¹⁵

The writing of other Jews suggested that this was not typical; for example, the work of Henry Ezekiel, a gentleman of leisure, born in Exeter in 1773, the son of a merchant, and brother of an 'eminent engraver, miniature painter, and optician. 

In 1817, Ezekiel transcribed a Hebrew Almanac with the intention of publishing it. From his dedicatory preface it is clear that he was quite capable of expressing himself lucidly and it is therefore interesting to note that he lapsed into Hebrew to express technical terms for which he might have used a vernacular phrase:

To the Revd Salomon Hirchel, Chief Rabbi of the German and Polish Jews in England.

Revd and Learned Sir,

In dedicating these few pages to you I trust I shall not be thought presumptuous, my only motive being that this book might be found useful particularly to those of our Community that reside and travel beyond Seas and who cannot afford to purchase an annual Luach (Calendar). It was by chance I met with this little Book, printed entirely in English, entitled A Portuguese Jew's Calendar… ¹⁶

Sometimes a Jew could speak English perfectly well but he adapted his speech to suit his needs. Thus Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote:

The other day I was floored by a Jew. He passed me several times crying for old clothes in the most nasal and extraordinary tone I ever heard. At last I was so provoked, that I said to him, 'Pray, why can't you say "old clothes" in a plainway as I do now?' The Jew stopped, and looking very gravely at me, said in a clear and even fine accent, 'Sir, I can say "old clothes" as well as you can: but if you had to say so ten times a minute, for an hour together you would say Ogh Clo as I do now', and so he marched off. I was so confounded with the justice of his retort, that I followed and gave him a shilling, the only one I had.¹⁷

The immigrant Jew was also made conspicuous by his name. Names like Cohen, Levi or Levy, indicated to the man in the street that the one who bore it was Jewish, even if in all other respects there was nothing to indicate the person's origins. Other names which were commonly borne by German Jews were Aarons, Abrahams, Benjamin, Ezekiel, Isaacs, Israel, Jacobs, Joseph, Mordecai, Moses, Nathan, Raphael, Samuel and Solomon. These names occurred either as the fore- or surname.

Changing simple Biblical names, which were already in general use, simply because they helped to identify a person as a Jew, clearly indicates a conscious effort to assimilate. This was not necessarily so in the case of a man who was called Bischofswerder or Mandowsky or Stadthagen, where the change was desirable on utilitarian grounds. Surnames changed more slowly than fore-names, for whereas the latter are often used at will, and are in any case subject to the whim of one's friends, the change of surname betokens a far more deliberate step. Nevertheless, the Jews of the south-west, as in the rest of England, soon began to anglicize or to camouflage even their surnames. This was done in a variety of ways:

(a) Where a name had a meaning in its original language it was often translated into English. Thus Isaac Karmey, synagogue teacher in Plymouth 1857, became Isaac Stone;¹⁸ Elimelech Hichtenfeld became King Field.¹⁹ When xenophobic passions ran high a Jew with a foreign sounding name might keep it in private life, but trade under its translation. Such a one was Ephraim Holcenberg who traded as 'Woodhills'.

(b) Often a well known name, either locally or nationally, was adopted because of its similarity to the original. In this way Raussman became Roseman, Durckheim became Dirk and the praenomen Lemmle became Lemon. Jews whose patronymic was Jonah became first Jonas, then Jones or Johnson.²⁰ A Jewish family in Plymouth started off life as Katzenellenbogen, modified this whilst still abroad to Katenelson, and arrived in England before the Crimean war with the patriotic name of Nelson. It was not always the Jew who was responsible for anglicising his name; it has been suggested that some wonderful innovations were due to the lack of familiarity with foreign names on the part of immigration officers. It is said that a New York 'Yankele', diminutive of Jacob, was renamed John Kelly whilst a local tradition current in Plymouth asserts that a newcomer who had already determined on a new name for himself promptly forgot it when asked for it by the immigration officer and exclaimed, 'Shon Fergessen' (I have forgotten) and was entered as Sean Ferguson. There is perhaps a grain of truth in such stories, but most are no doubt apocryphal.

(c) Surnames were modified by aphesis. In this way the synagogue cantor Abrahams became a well known operatic star Braham and a Plymouth Aaron became Aron.

(d) Although in the twentieth century, Jews frequently modify their surnames by a transposition of letters, Levine becoming Elvin, or even leVine, no examples of this method of name changing have been noted in the west country.

(e) Lack of familiarity with English spelling on the part of the immigrant, or inability to understand his poor pronunciation on the part of the listener, often led to a name appearing in several different forms. Thus Burstein in 1851 was Bernstein in 1858 and Burenstein in 1866. A certain man joined the Exeter Hebrew Congregation in 1830 and the folio for his account is headed '--- Luvis'. In 1833 his folio was headed '--- Lewis', which the following year is amplified to 'J. Lewis'. In 1837 he metamorphoses into 'Lewis Schultz' and in that name he leased a shop in Fore Street Hill in 1838. In the censuses of 1851 and 1861 he is called 'Lewis Schultz' but in 1861 he also signed a document as 'Lewis Salz'. His name finally achieved a stabilized form on the tombstone which marks his last resting place and there it appears as 'Louis Schultz'. This type of confusion is typical amongst Jewish immigrants' names.

Fore-names were anglicised even more quickly than surnames. Israel Silverstone who came to Exeter from Poland about 1830 called his first children by traditional Jewish names - Bella, Sara, Rebecca, Isaac - but after ten years of residence come Clara, Maurice, John, Selina and Fanny. The children of Jackson Marks who were born in Poland were called Myer and Leah, those born in Plymouth were called Mathilda, Henry and Julia. The following short list of Hebrew names illustrates the way in which the changes took place in Devon:

Hebrew name English equivalent or derivative

Alexander Sender

Aryeh (usually used with Judah, q.v.)

Asher Lemon or Angel (from the hypocoristic Lemmle or Anshel)

Avigdor Figdor and Victor

Baruch Barrow and Barnett, Benedict

Benjamin (often used with Ze'ev, q.v.) (Jacob compared Benjamin to a wolf (Genesis 49,27))

Bilah Betsy

Eliezer Lazarus and then Lawrence

Elijah Elias

Gershon George

Hayyim Hyman then Harry

Hirsch Harris then Henry [Hirsch is the Yiddish for the Hebrew Zvi, a hart]

Isaiah Josiah

Issacher (often used with Hebrew Dov = a bear (Jacob compared Issacher to an ass which 'bears' a burden (Genesis 49,14) Barnett, Barent, and later Bernard

Jonah Jonas, Jones and possibly Johnson

Judah Lion, Lippa (hypocoristic), Lewis, Louis. Lewis led back to Levi in eighteenth century. Lion led to Lyonell then Lionel (Jacob compared Judah to a lion (Genesis 49,9)

Meir Myer

Menachem Emanuel

Michael Mitchell (as a surname)

Mordecai Mark, Marcus

Moses More, Morris, Maurice

Nachman Newman

Raphael Ralph

Simcha Bunam  or Joyful (translation) (Bunam was a medieval French form for bon homme, itself a translation of the Hebrew)

Ze'ev Wolf (translation) then William

Zvi See Hirsch, supra

Another distinguishing feature of Jewish settlement in Devon and Cornwall, and not restricted to those counties, was the limited range of business activities. In the main, Jews dealt in second-hand goods and the lines traditionally associated with pawnbroking. They were not without skill in the ancillary trades and appear as engravers silversmiths and watch and clockmakers. The following table, extracted from Woollcombe's Picture of Plymouth, 1812, illustrates the types of occupation followed by Jews in Plymouth.

Trade	Jew	Non Jew
Slopseller	1	None
Merchant	2	1
Jeweller	1	2
Navy Agent	2	None
Broker	1	None
Salesman	1	11
Dealer in Naval Stoles	1	2
Silversmith	7	5
Umbrella Maker	1	2
Straw Hat Maker	1	None

All the above categories, with the exception of the last two, really mean the same thing, a general dealer's shop with perhaps an emphasis on silverware or naval stores. This is clear from the fact that half of these traders were licensed Naval agents.²¹ The twenty Jews listed in the Exeter Pocket Journal, 1825 have a slightly wider range of occupations. There was a feather dresser, a shoe and patten warehouseman, a quill and pen manufacturer and an optician amongst the pawnbrokers, slopsellers, jewellers, silversmiths and clothesmen, who all amounted to very much the same thing. At the end of the century the picture given in Eyre's Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport directory, 1896, was hardly changed:

Trade	Jew	Non Jew
Clothier and outfitters	5	46
Pawnbrokers	8	41
Watchmaker and jewellers	3	80
Furniture dealers	12	58
Teachers of languages	1	2
Tobacconist	3	100
Commercial travellers	1	100
Cycle agent, roller skate and cycle manufacturer	1	10
Electro-plater	1	2
Loan office	1	8

The final factor and perhaps the most basic in differentiating the Jew from his fellow citizens was his religion. So long as the Jew subscribed to the tenets of his faith and put them into practice he could not but help live apart in his own little 'ghetto', though great efforts were made not to offend outside society. Observance of the Jewish religion necessarily restricts free social intercourse between Jew and Gentile. The most limiting factor is adherence to dietary laws. According to a strict interpretation of these, a Jew cannot, under normal circumstances, eat at the house of a non-Jew. It is not therefore surprising to find that Jewish salesmen travelling in Devon in the eighteenth century made special provision for themselves. Some inns kept special utensils in a locked cupboard which Jewish pedlars used. The Jews used to write their names with chalk in Hebrew across the face of the saucepans when they had finished with then so that those who came afterwards would know by whom the pan had last been used. A Moroccan Jew who was a Turkish rhubarb seller told Mayhew that about 1820 he stayed at a lodging house in Taunton which catered particularly for Jews. His account is rather charming:

When I go across de countree of England, I never live in no lodging houses - always in de public, because you see I do business dere; de missus perhaps dere buy my spices of me. I lodge once in Taunton, at a house where a woman keep a lodging house for de Jewish people wat go about wid de gold tings 'jewellery'. ²²

Another feature of the Jewish religion which tended to set its adherents apart was Sabbath observance. Two aspects of this were evident to the general public. First, that Jews did not trade on Saturday. H. Miles Brown, writing in 1961 of Emanuel Cohen in Redruth, notes that 'local tradition says he was a practising Jew, and could be seen waiting for sunset on Friday and Saturday evening to close and open the shop'.²³ It must have made a very powerful impression for the tradition to be extant over a century later. The second aspect which was widely noticed was the law which forbade a Jew to light a fire on the Sabbath day. A Jewish family would often employ a Gentile to tend its fires and put on, or turn off, lights. So common was this practice that there was a popular term for such a person - a Jews' Poker.²⁴ Jacob Fredman of Plymouth needed to have his fire attended to and called in a passer by, who, with some amusement, helped him out. It was, as one of Fredman's descendants is rather snobbishly pleased to remember, the then Commander-in-Chief at Mount Wise, father of the late Queen Marie of Rumania.²⁵

The social acclimatization of Jews in Devon, as in the rest of the country, was accompanied by, or was caused by, a breakdown of the differentiating factors. Undoubtedly, the first stage in merging with the indigenous population was for the men to remove the beard or at least trim it in accord with the fashion of the time, for women to abandon the use of the wig ²⁶ and for both to acquire English style clothing.²⁷ A Jew from Eastern Europe, who for the first time exchanged the kaftan for modern dress, looked upon this act as of epoch making importance; it signifies as much to him as conversion does to a Western Jew.'²⁸ There was little enough that an immigrant could do about his own pronunciation of English, but if he was anxious for his son to make his way in the world he could have him educated. This meant either a private tutor, if the family was sufficiently wealthy, or sending the child to a school which would accept Jewish pupils. In the case of Solomn Hart of Plymouth, this meant that he had to go to a school in Exeter and later to one in Plymouth kept by a Unitarian minister.²⁹ There was no Jewish school in Plymouth which taught secular subjects until the Jacob Nathan School was founded in 1869.

Nonetheless, to judge from the evidence which has survived, many Devon and Cornish Jews gained a high degree of literacy, culture and knowledge. Lazarus Cohen invented agricultural implements,³⁰ Israel Joseph Solomon patented an improved magnesium flash for photographers,³¹ Alexander Alexander patented a new form of eye shade.³²  Henry Joseph wrote with some learning about fossils.³³ Solomon Ezekiel founded a Literary Society in Penzance where he gave lectures which he printed.³⁴  Israel Solomon wrote an account of his family, a much quoted source for studies of eighteenth century Jewish life in Devon and Cornwall.³⁵ Solomon Joseph kept an interesting ship-board diary of his journey to Australia in 1859.³⁶ Then there were a number of artists who achieved much distinction and who were in close touch with their contemporaries. There was Samuel Hart, an engraver and close friend of that poor tortured soul Haydon.³⁷  Solomon Hart, Samuel's son, was one of the fashionable painters of his day, and eventually the librarian of the Royal Academy.³⁸  The brothers Daniell ³⁹ as well as Ezekiel A. Ezekiel ⁴⁰ were noted miniaturists. British birth, British education and rising standards of prosperity, coupled with a growing degree of tolerance on the part of the British public, enabled Jews to play a fuller part in public life. The first Jew to hold elected public office in England was Phineas Levy, who became a Commissioner for Devonport in 1829.⁴¹  Charles Marks was elected an Assessor for Plymouth in 1846⁴² and then comes a long line of men who were active in the town life of Plymouth. William Woolf was Guardian of the Poor in 1855⁴³ and Israel Roseman acted in the same capacity for Stonehouse in the 1870s.⁴⁴ Alderman Eliezer Emdon became a Councillor in 1872 in the place of his father.⁴⁵  A. E. Lyons was chairman of the Stonehouse local board until he left for London to study for the Bar in 1890.⁴⁶

Coupled with this breakout from the invisible ghetto was a breakdown in religious observance. By 1860 it was difficult to obtain a quorum for weekday services in Plymouth and even Sabbath attendance was sparse.⁴⁷  Jews began to open their shops earlier and earlier on a Saturday as most workers were paid Saturday night and their hours of work gradually shortened.⁴⁸  There is evidence to suggest that there was a weakening in the observance of the dietary laws whilst away from home.⁴⁹ Marriage with Gentiles became more common as the nineteenth century progressed. Sometimes Gentile women became converts.⁵⁰  On the other hand conversions to Christianity, never very numerous, declined after the 1830s.⁵¹ Apparently as Christian society was prepared to accept Jews qua Jews they felt less inclined to abandon totally their own religion. A small social elite paved the way for their less well-endowed brethren, both in Devon as well as in the country as a whole. In Devon there was the aristocratic family of Lousada at Peake House, Sidmouth. Emanuel Lousada, High Sheriff of Devon in 1842, was probably the first provincial Jewish Sheriff.⁵²   Sir Morris and Lady Ximenes stayed at Sidmouth in 1819.⁵³   Then there were the extremely talented and well connected Gompertz brothers, Isaac and Barent, who settled in Teignmouth. The latter's tombstone in Exeter Jewish cemetery had a long inscription from Isaac's poetical work, Devon. Such as these smoothed the path and set the example.

The German Jews who came to Devon and Cornwall from 1740 until 1820, their children and grandchildren, successfully integrated themselves into the prevailing environment as far as it lay in their power to do so. By 1880, the once flourishing and comparatively important communities of Penzance, Falmouth and Exeter, were no more, and though a Jewish congregation continued in Plymouth, it was no longer composed of the original settlers or their descendants but of newcomers from Eastern Europe. Through conversion and intermarriage, and flight on the part of those who feared these eventualities, the Jewish community of Devon, as of Cornwall, had assimilated itself out of existence.

Notes

¹  There was a medieval Jewish community in Exeter from about 1180 until 1290 (see M. Adler, 'The medieval Jews of Exeter', Transactions of the Devonshire Association, LXIII (1931), 221-40). Immigration during the eighteenth century was not restricted and until the 1760s the poor could travel free of charge on the mail packets.

²  V.D. Lipman, 'Plymouth aliens list', Miscellanies Jewish Historical Society of England, VI (l962) 187-4, subsequently referred to as AL together with the number of the list'.

³  For illustrations of these see Alfred Rubens, AngloJewish portraits (London, 1935), pp.48, 50. Professor E. B. Trease has drawn the writer's attention to eighteenth century inventories of herbalists which refer to Jew's Ear, Auricularia auricula-judae, a fungus similar in appearance to the characteristic side locks.

⁴  See article on 'Wig' in Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, 1901), XII, 519.

⁵  Samuel Harris, The conversion of Shemoel Hirsch (Liverpool, 1833), p. 24.

⁶  A. Ruppin, The Jews of today, p .148 quoted in Abraham Cohen, An Anglo-Jewish scrapbook (London, 1943), p.254.

⁷ Francis Abell, Prisoners of war in Britain 1756 to 1815 (London, 1914), p.223.

⁸ The universal songster (1825), I, 408.

⁹ Plymouth City Library Archives, w. 362, p.37

¹⁰ County Record Office, Truro; the will was proved 8 June 1807.

¹¹ H. Miles Brown, Cornish clocks and clockmakers (Dawlish, 1961), p.70

¹² AL no. 4 3

¹³ Plymouth City Library Archives, Worth, Box 2, Miscellaneous deeds.

¹⁴ Prerogative Court of Canterbury 298, Loveday.

¹⁵ Letter in writer's collection.

¹⁶ Photostat of original in writer's collection.

¹⁷ Quoted in Cohen, Anglo-Jewish scrapbook, p.236.

¹⁸ Letter to writer from Stone's grand-daughter.

¹⁹ Melech (Hebrew) = king; feld (German) = field.

²⁰ There was a well known Jewish family called Johnson in Devon (see Cataloue of an Exhibition of Jewish art and history (195), item 443),
but there is no evidence to suggest that their name was derived from an original Jonas.

²¹ The Navy List, 1814. N.B. The identification of Jews by name only from an unclassified list is clearly open to error, though cross checking is frequently possible

  ²² Henry Mayhew, London labour and the London poor (London, 1851), I, 452. Turkish rhubarb was used as a mild laxative.

  ²³ Miles Brown, Cornish clocks and clockmakers, p. 70.

  ²⁴ E. Partridge, A dictionary of slang and unconventional English (1938), p.438.

  ²⁵ Letter to the writer from Mrs H. Conick, 29 September 1962 .

 ²⁶ Jewish Encyclopaedia, XII,519.

 ²⁷ See, for example, the portraits of middle-class nineteenth century Jews at the Jewish Museum, London.

²⁸ Cohen, Anglo-Jewish scrapbook, p.254.

²⁹ Solomon A. Hart, Reminiscences, ed. A. Brodie (London, 1882),p.7.

³⁰ He kept a shoe and patten warehouse and wrote New system of astronomy (London, 1825) and Sacred truths (Exeter, 1808).

³¹ 24 June 1865, No.1695 at Patent Office, London.

³² Alexander Alexander, Observations on the preservation of ht (Exeter, 1837),p.36. He also wrote A treatise on the nature of vision (London, 1833).

³³ Henry Joseph, An account of the extraordinary discovery of fossiI remains at Oreston in January 1859 (London, Plymouth,

³⁴ Jewish Encyclopaedia, V, 318.

³⁵ Israel J. Solomon, Records of my family (privately printed, New York, 1887). He patented the magnesium flash (see note 3, above).

³⁶ Original in possession of Wilfred Jessup, Chicago.

³⁷ Diary of B. R. Haydon, ed. W. B. Pope (Harvard, 1963), p. 216.

³⁸ See note 4, p.65.

³⁹ Transactions of Jewish Historical Society, XVIII (1940), 105.

⁴⁰ See Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, 18 December 1806, for his obituary.

⁴¹ Brindly's Plymouth directory, p.199.

⁴² Voice of Jacob, 13 March 1846.

⁴³ Jewish Chronicle, 20 May 1859.

⁴⁴ Information from his family.

⁴⁵ Jewish Chronicle, 2 March 1900.

⁴⁶ Jewish Chronicle, 7 November 1890.

⁴⁷ 1851 Religious Census Returns and unpublished Minutes of Plymouth Hebrew Congregation's Hand in Hand Society, p.26.

⁴⁸  Mayhew, London labour, I, 53.

⁴⁹ Plymouth Hebrew Congregation's account book, 1821, p.17 and see note 1, p.54.

⁵⁰ See Hebrew Congregation's Marriage Registers, passim.

⁵¹ The writer has not noted any instances of Jews being converted to Christianity in Devon or Cornwall after 1830; some fourteen cases have been noted in the previous one hundred years.

⁵² Voice of Jacob, 18 February 1842.

⁵³ Western Luminary, 5 January 1819

 

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