A Ramble in East Anglia

<plain_text><page sequence="1">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. -+ By the Eev. HERMANN GOLLANCZ, M.A. I.?DISUSED JEWISH CEMETERIES. Not content with the monotony of an English seaside resort on the East Coast, I determined upon varying my summer holiday by visiting a few inland towns in the neighbourhood, chief among these being such as have some special interest for the Jew. The first town I visited was Ipswich. I could not help thinking of my first visit to Ipswich many years before, when, on a mission at the request of rela? tives, I was entrusted with the delicate task of helping to dissuade from his sad purpose a young co-religionist, once a devout and conforming member of our faith, who had suddenly resolved upon conversion. Several leading Jewish clergymen had at different times been asked to travel down from London for the same purpose, but all to no avail. Whether conviction or affection played the leading part in this case, I will not stop to enquire : suffice it to say, it ultimately proved to be another instance of cherchez la femme. But this en passant. On entering Ipswich, the ordinary tourist would most likely turn his immediate attention to such relics as are associated with the name of Cardinal Wolsey, who was born in Ipswich, with Gainsborough, who lived there and drew some of his finest landscapes from localities in the neighbourhood, or he would seek out the spots in which several scenes of Dickens' " Pickwick " are laid. He might be attracted to Sparrow's house in the old Butter Market, now called " The Ancient House," dated 1567, said to have been one of the hiding-places of King Charles II. after the Battle of Worcester, but now occupied by Messrs. Pawsey, Booksellers and Newsagents. I do not know</page><page sequence="2">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGELA. 107 whether it was the thought of the sorrowful episode to which I referred in my opening remarks, or whether it was an accident that attuned my mind on entering Ipswich to gloomy, or at least solemn associations, for the first place I resolved to visit was the Jewish burial-ground. Not the one in use, but a disused one. In the course of conversation in a railway carriage some weeks before with a resident of Ipswich, I was informed by him that there was an old Jewish burial-ground, quite out of sight, unknown to the majority of the residents, and rather difficult for a stranger to discover without a guide. To my cost I soon found out that this latter description was by no means exaggerated, for I asked residents and officials as to the locality of the cemetery, but none were able to afford any clue, until it struck me to make enquiries at an antiquarian bookseller's, which I noticed on passing had been established for over a century. Here I obtained the necessary information which brought me to the shop of Mr. Raphael, a native of Ipswich (his father, a Jew, had lived about fifty years in the same place), and he immediately, and with great courtesy, accompanied me to the disused cemetery of which I had been told, and of which he alone had the key. It is situate in St. Clement's parish, in an out-of-the-way corner of the town, apparently in a very poor and wretched part. In John Wodderspoon's Memorials of the Ancient Town of Ipswich (1850), of the 14 parishes mentioned by name on page 62, St. Clement was the second highest in 1801, having had a population of 1,584, while in 1841 it was the highest in point of population, viz., 5,793. Approaching the Jewish disused cemetery at Ipswich, I observed part of the outer wall almost falling to pieces ; while on entering I was pained to see this small G-od's Acre, once hallowed by the warm tears of loving relatives and friends, overgrown with long weeds, and made the dustbin of rubbish shot across the wall. My cicerone, on perceiving my sorrow and surprise, informed me that it was much worse some years ago, before he took charge of it, when the gates were open, and a camping ground made of it. As it is, the Mortuary House which was once attached to the cemetery was suffered to fall into such a state of neglect, that it was eventually claimed and is retained by a neighbour as his own property. The ground contains at present 33 tombstones, and there are evidently more graves than</page><page sequence="3">108 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. this number indicates. I will say, as regards the tombstones, that they are not in so bad a condition ; they stand erect, many having been raised of late years. Some are quite legible, others totally or partially defaced ; and there are some, as far as I deciphered them, about 90 years old. It may interest some of my hearers to learn that some of the inscriptions are punctuated, some are only in Hebrew, others in Hebrew and English. There are two or three stones referring to a family Hyam of Bury, Levi of Harwich, and some to the memory of Colchester people. The inscription on the first stone in the fourth row from the top, counting from the right hand as you enter, contains an extraordinary orthographical error, as in the phrase "Rachel weeping for her children," the Hebrew word for " weeping " is spelt nplD with a p, instead of J"D2D with a D. It struck me as peculiar that, according to the inscription on a certain tombstone, the burial of the deceased took place on the First Day of Passover. The design, too, on the tombstone of a Levite is rather interesting : it consists of three symbols, the ewer and basin, and in the centre, what appeared to me, the Ark with staves. On taking my leave, I could not help reflecting, that, if this con? dition of things be allowed to continue much longer, it will not be many years before we shall scarcely be able to recognise from the face of the stones, whether this disused cemetery at Ipswich is a Jewish burial ground or not. For the moment I will content myself with asking, can the state of affairs which I have depicted in connection with this disused cemetery be a source of pride or pleasure to the Anglo-Jewish community, and should the preservation of such sacred spots be left to the chance pity or piety of one or two individuals, none too wealthy, perchance even poor, belonging to the Jewish or the general community ? What is the age of this disjused cemetery at Ipswich ? From the title-deeds, ^hich were thought to be no longer in existence, but which I discovered in the possession of the Misses Levi, of Lacey Street, co-religionists, and which I have here this evening, we learn that the cemetery is just 99 years old, and that the lease being for 999 years from 1796 has just 900 years more to run. There are in all 10 deeds that I have seen referring to this enclosure, the earliest, which I have also here, dating back to September, 1764.</page><page sequence="4">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLTA. 109 The one in which we are most directly interested, and which is endorsed thus {vide Appendix I.) :? contains the names of the signatories to the contract, and introduces us to the leading men of the small Ipswich community of the day. It begins as follows :? " This Indenture, made the 6th day of May, in the 36th year of our Sovereign Lord George the Third ... in the year of our Lord, 1796, between Benjamin Blasby, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Bricklayer, and Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyem Hyems, Ansell Ansell, of Ipswich aforesaid, Artificers and Jews, Levi Alexander and Samuel Levi, of Colchester, in the County of Essex, Artificer, Trustees for and on behalf of the Society or Meeting of Jews, at Ipswich aforesaid, of the other part, Witnesseth, that in consideration of the sum of ?28 of lawful money of Great Britain, in hand well and truly paid by the said Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi," etc. (vide Appendix IL). This indenture is duly sealed and signed by the parties to the deed, and it may be of interest to know that Israel Abraham, one of the signatories, was grandfather to the Misses Levi, who hold the deeds at the present time. Of tho^e mentioned in the said document, despite the fact that many of the inscriptions on the tombstones of the cemetery are no longer legible, we are still able to trace the following names (vide Appendix III.) :? Lazarus Levi, No. 5, Row VI., died 5592, aged 86 years. Israel Abraham, No. 3, Row VIL, died 5602, aged 86 years. Ansell Ansell, No. 2, Row VIL, died 5594-5, aged 77 years. Levi Alexander, No. 3, Row III., died 5571, aged 63 years. Though not strictly within the limits of my paper, as regards the history of the Jews of Ipswich themselves in more recent times, it is strange how few are the references to their existence in the town a hundred years ago. I find in Clarke's History of Ipswich (1830) on pages 319 and 320, a reference to Jews, which it may not be uninter? esting to quote, and which, considering the comparative scarcity of the work, it is as well to preserve. He writes : " In Rope-lane, near this Mr. Benjamin Blasby to the Society of Jews. ! Dated 1796. Lease for 999 years,</page><page sequence="5">110 A RAMBLE TN EAST ANGLIA. spot (i.e., the House of Correction), on the 18th of August, 1792, the foundation of a building was laid for the purpose of a Jewish Syna? gogue, and which has been, ever since, appropriated to that purpose. It was built by the late Mr. John Cooding, and is now the property of a branch of his family, to whom a yearly rent of from eight to ten pounds is paid. It is a small structure, not calculated to hold more than a hundred persons, and is not kept in very excellent repair. The Jews are not numerous in Ipswich, and do not increase either in wealth or numbers, few or none of them having been engaged in the higher walks of mercantile transactions ; and we believe there are not more than 50 persons of that persuasion in the town. In the early part of the French Revolution, the Jews were unjustly suspected of being favourable to Republican opinions ; and on the 14th of September, 1793, a tablet was put up in the chapel, exhibiting in the Hebrew language, a form of prayer for the King and Royal Family, evincing their attachment to their sovereign, and their anxiety to be considered as peaceable and loyal subjects of the realm. But so strong was the prejudice against them, that they were frequently insulted and mal? treated in their progress to and from their place of worship ; and they at this time appealed to the magistrates for constables to protect them from the illiberal and disgraceful behaviour of the rabble." On page 320 we read ; " In December, 1808, two couples were married in Ipswich, according to the Jewish ceremonies, in the presence of almost all the Jews in the town and neighbourhood, and many other of the inhabitants. The following is the manner in which it was performed : The priest first gives a blessing over a glass of wine, and reads the marriage ceremony ; the bridegroom then puts a ring on the bride's finger, saying in Hebrew, 4 Behold, with this ring I consecrate thee, according to the rites of Moses and of Israel;' the Reader then reads over the certificate, and pronounces some prayers and benedic? tions ; the bridegroom and bride drink part of the wine, after which the bridegroom throws the glass on the ground, and stamps it to pieces. After the ceremony, there was an elegant dinner, and a ball in the evening. In this year 1808, died in this town Sarah Lyons, a Jewess, in possession of all her faculties at the advanced age of a hundred and five years. She had also a son and a daughter who both lived to be upwards of 90 years old, and all of them resided in St. Peter's Parish."</page><page sequence="6">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. Ill Taking it for granted that this centenarian, Sarah Lyons (or Lyon, according to the print which is here reproduced), was buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Ipswich, her tombstone would be that marked on the plan which I have prepared (vide Appendix III.) No. 7 in Row I., or No. 6 in Row III., for the year of her death, 1808, corresponds to 5568, Mks. Sarah Lyon, Agep 104 Yeabs. which is the date nDpn on the former tombstone, that of a female, the word nC^K, " woman" being yet legible. No. 6 in Row III. might answer, as far as the name Sarah is concerned, the writing though in a bad condition being clear enough to be deciphered as nK&gt;K, Sarah being the equivalent of m5?&gt;. Considering, however, that the former grave is that of a person who died but twelve years from the</page><page sequence="7">112 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. purchase of the cemetery, and is situated in the first row against the wall, I incline to the belief that this obliterated tombstone is the one erected to the memory of this remarkably longlived personage, Sarah Lyon. The next town I visited was Bury St. Edmunds. For obvious reasons, I defer to the second part of my paper my remarks on an object of great historical interest, especially to us Jews, existing in the town of Bury, and pass on to the experiences I gained, on my brief tour through East Anglia, of disused Jewish burial-grounds. I refer to those I visited in the city of Norwich. These seem to be quite forgotten, and the name of Norwich does not even figure in a valuable Tabulated Report of Disused Cemeteries, to which I shall refer later on, compiled in 1893. I repeat that I confined myself to the disused Jewish cemeteries, which were yet to be traced in the city. After a deal of enquiry, I ultimately obtained a clue to the existence of two such burial-places, but it turned out that only one was recognisable. One had, indeed, existed in Horns Lane, Burr Street, but all that was shown of it was the little yard or garden at the rear of a small house, No. 34. From a neighbour I obtained the information that about eight or ten years ago, some bones and skulls were turned up on this spot, and to the best of his belief were put back again into the same place. As an additional proof, he showed me a lump of oak, which came from this quondam Jewish burial-ground, and which he had laid by. It almost baffles conjecture to determine what this relic origi? nally represented. It was after much cross-questioning and driving about that I was able to find the whereabouts of, and gain admission to, the other disused cemetery of Norwich, which I was told was situated near St. Martin at Oak Church. It seemed at one time a hopeless task for one not acquainted with the bye-ways of this city to reach it at all, and after having found it out, the problem was?find the key. It was supposed to be in the hands of a Christian workman, who took charge of the place more through pity than for payment, and I succeeded in hunting up the workman's son, who, for a drive in my conveyance as a deposit and a small consideration, which I afterwards gave him, proved, though of rough exterior, an excellent guide in my perambulations through this not unimportant Jewish burial-ground. The old cemetery is situate in a turning in Quaker's Lane. There are</page><page sequence="8">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 113 about a dozen stones standing, two of the graves having the grass cut, the expense of which, 15s. a year, I was informed had been defrayed by two ladies, who, as relatives, were once in the habit of visiting the two graves, and whose names I need not here publish. I was told by the son of Plunket, the carpenter, that his father had charge of the place for the last 24 years, and that for the last eight years he had received no remuneration whatsoever, save the privilege of allowing his animal to graze ou part of the enclosure. From the authorities of the Norwich Hebrew Congregation, however, I subsequently learnt that they had paid or were paying 10s. per annum to have the small cemetery kept in proper order. Whether it is kept in proper repair is another question. The stones, which I hurriedly deciphered, were erected to the memory of the following persons :? Eliza, wife of Joel Fox, called urhnpl ODD " Warden of our Synagogue," who died 5609, aged 49 years. Louise, wife of Anthony White. Alcy, wife of Mosiac Bandon. Lewis Bandon, d. 5614. Harris Nathan, d. 5613. Esther, wife of David Cohen, of Yarmouth, d. 5604. Barnet Craucour, died Sep. 25th, 5595, aged 58. The last-named is described as the founder of the Jews' Syna? gogue in Norwich : almost the whole of the Hebrew inscription on his tombstone is eaten away. The name Joel Fox, referred to in the above-mentioned inscription as Warden of the Synagogue, occurs on a tablet affixed to the wall of the narrow vestibule of the present Norwich Synagogue. He is spoken of as having laid the first stone of the Synagogue on April 12th, 1848.1 1 This Synagogue was Erected 5608. The first stone was laid by Joel Fox, Esq., April 12th, 1848, In the presence of the other Trustees, Myer Levine, Esq., Moses Kisch, Esq., Maurice Joseph, Esq., and Congregation. John Bunn, Architect. VOL. II. I</page><page sequence="9">1U A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. Speaking of the Norwich Synagogue, it may be as well incident? ally to call attention to a rather interesting object hanging" against the western wall, viz., a board in antique frame containing in Hebrew the formula recited in the Selichoth, beginning h$ and ending with " The Thirteen Attributes of God." From the signature appended we learn that it was written by one Jacob Hamburger, Reader of the congregation at Lynn, and presented to the said con? gregation in the year 5547, i.e., 1787.1 It is scarcely within the right of anyone reading a paper before a Historical Society, to rely upon anything but the bare statement of facts, in his desire to call the attention of the community to what seems to him an act of culpable neglect on its part. Rhetorical displays are out of place, and are more suited to other assemblies and other occasions ; but I cannot help asking whether, amid all the interest which the Anglo^Jewish community evinces in the matter of synagogues and schools, those sacred spots which at times command, perhaps, more solemn associations than even these?whether it is right that they should be allowed to fall into decay and be brought to desecration, and that there should not be sufficient public spirit among the well-to-do congre? gations or individuals of Great Britain to subscribe enough to maintain such places in at least decent repair ? Rather than leave the disused Jewish cemeteries amongst us in the state in which some of them are found, though I do not view the alternative with favour, I hold it would be a more sacred act to hand them over to the municipal authorities, that they might deal with them as they should deem best, to convert them into a source of pleasure to the living, rather than to allow them to remain an indignity to both the living and the dead. On this subject a most interesting report was drawn up by my friend, Mr. Lewis Emanuel, the zealous Solicitor and Secretary of the London Committee of Deputies of the British Jews, to whom it was referred by a resolution of the Board, dated November 18th, 1891, to consider and report as to the care of disused Synagogues and Jewish burial-grounds in the United Kingdom. I have also in my possession 1 p \h pffp!? tind mm: runo 'n b^n jra6 h'yn p"pn "unuon apy* p"n</page><page sequence="10">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 115 from the same source?and it must have caused the compiler a consider? able amount of loving labour?a Tabulated Report1 as to the Provincial Jewish Cemeteries which are disused, or likely to become so. But, with the exception of promises for the maintenance of these places in proper order, to the extent of ?30 a year (which, by the way, is barely half the sum required), nothing sufficiently thorough-going has been done, once for all to wipe away this reproach from the Anglo-Jewish community. To take but one example. We have spoken of Ipswich. I notice in that Tabulated Report, dated January, 1893, that, as regards Ipswich, the cemetery was last repaired in 1887; and to say nothing of the ceme? tery itself, as I found it last summer, it is a sad commentary on the recent condition of the wall which enclosed it, when I remark, that I presume it was in consequence of my visit about a year ago that, nearly two months ago, I was communicated with, and appealed to in reference to this cemetery, as the wall had been blown down by the gale, and further inroads threatened this sacred spot. I am glad to hear that, during the last couple of weeks, certain repairs are being carried out in connection with this ground. I take Ipswich and Norwich as fair specimens of the careless and haphazard manner in which our disused burial-grounds have hitherto been dealt with, and I am convinced that the entire question calls for immediate attention. I would express the desire that the Report of the Board of Deputies on the subject were more widely circulated and known ; and that if we are not to have a separate and independent Society for Preserving the Burial-places and Memorials of the Dead,2 specially referring to Disused Cemeteries, this Board will see fit to regard itself as the proper body to deal efficiently with so important a communal question. But it should not be forgotten that for this purpose, an obligation rests with the members of the com 1 London Committee of Deputies of the British Jews. Tabulated Rep &gt;rt by the Solicitor and Secretary as to Provincial Jewish Cemeteries which are Disused or are likely to become so. Dated January 13th, 1893. 2 As regards Tombstones, T would suggest to the United Synagogue and the Communities throughout G-reat Britain, the advisability of making it imperative upon those who shall be considered responsible, to deposit among the archives of the Congregation a copy of the inscription on the Tombstone prior to its being "set." i 2</page><page sequence="11">116 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. munity themselves, who should be imbued with sufficient public spirit to provide the necessary funds for this branch of the Board's operations. It seems to me that it is pre-eminently the duty of a Jewish Historical Society, to rouse public opinion in a matter of such importance, affecting the fair name of the entire Jewish community of Great Britain. II.?MOYSE'S HALL, BURY ST. EDMUNDS. In opening the second part of my paper, I must remark that I wish to bring under your notice two objects of special interest to us English Jews, with one of which you are doubtless somewhat acquainted through the valuable volume edited by Mr. Joseph Jacobs, a Vice-President of this Sqciety, the other (as far as I know) not quite so familiar to my hearers. Both, however, are connected with the presence of our ances? tors in this country in the pre-expulsion period. I have now to do, not with disused cemeteries, but with historic edifices or their remains. The town of Bury St. Edmunds, or as it was formerly called, Edmundsbury (from Edmund, last of the Kings of East Anglia), presents many points of interest to the general visitor. Chief among these are the Abbey Gate, the principal entrance to the monastery ; the Norman Tower, erected about 1090, as the principal entrance to the Cemetery of St. Edmund ; and the enclosure, which contains ihe site of the famous High Altar, at which Cardinal Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, on November 20th, 1214, met the twenty-five barons, who decided to enforce the observance of the Magna Charta. But, undoubtedly for the Jewish antiquarian, Moystfs Hall has a peculiar attraction transcending all such associations. Externally it presents no longer the appearance it has in the engraving contained in Mr. Jacobs' u Jews of Angevin England," prepared from a sketch in the British Museum taken one hundred years ago: though, considering all circumstances, it is in a remarkable state of preservation. Here we undoubtedly have a bit of Old Jewry?one of the very few remains in architecture of the pre-expulsion period. It is generally regarded as a fine specimen of a building of the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century, and one of the most interesting in the town. Local tradi? tion has stamped it as the 44 Jews' House," or the 44 Jews' Synagogue," it</page><page sequence="12">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLTA. 117 having been known, we are told, among its original possessors, as " the Synagogue of Moses," Moyse's, i.e., Moses Hall. I was particularly struck with the remarkable appearance of the interior, access to which I obtained through the kindness of Mr. Vale Richardson, Jeweller, in Abbeygate Street, who has possession of the key. I must confess that, on two occasions, several hours very soon slipped away in my enthusiastic admiration of this substantially built structure of mediaeval English Jewry with its arches and vaulted roof. What a pity, I thought, that this, one out of only three " Jews' Houses," yet extant, should be allowed to be cut up, and perhaps disfigured, beyond recognition! Why had we Jews no Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, as our fellow-citizens have ? For, as it is, one portion of Moyse's Hail is already being used by the Great Eastern Railway as a Parcel Receiving and Enquiry Office, and it seems somewhat incongruous to observe a black board, with an inscription to that effect, attached to the front. Another part of the original building is an annex of the Castle Hotel, to the left of the Great Eastern office, Which, by the way, has a cellar in two parts, one vaulted the other plain ; and there is no question that the forge which adjoius the building stands on part of the original site of Moses Hall. It is the stone arches, common to the different portions, which place it beyond a doubt that the Various parts are parts of one original struc? ture, though it should be observed that the western arch-ribs (as seen in the part occupied by the Great Eastern) are semi-circular, while in the other portions they are pointed. In what I shall call Moses Hall proper, i.e., the part within the present entrance on the south side of the building, there are to be seen seven complete arches supported on short pillars, having Norman capitals and bases, there being two such round pillars and two square pillars. I was strongly reminded of the plan of the old Synagogue at Worms on the Rhine, of the 11th century, with its columns and vaulted roof, to which this Moyse's Hall bears a striking resemblance. It seems quite possible that this building served the purpose of more than a mere dwelling-house, and that it was a Synagogue, or a combination of Synagogue and Holise of Learning. From this photograph of the interior, you will easily understand the style of the building internally. Our thanks are due to Mr. Span-ton, of Bury St. Edmunds, for the</page><page sequence="13">118 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. care and skill with which he has produced the several excellent views of Moyse's Hall, which I am able to show you this evening. As it stands at present, Moyse's Hall has a ground floor or basement and two upper floors, and it has doubtless undergone many changes in the Interior o*1 Moyse's Hall. (Present condition.') distribution of the internal space, owing to the successive uses to which it has been put in the course of centuries. In consequence of these alterations, it is impossible to determine, with any degree of accuracy, how the upper part originally looked. One of the latest objects which</page><page sequence="14">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 119 Moyse's Hall was made to serve was that of a police-station, and even more recently a sort of store-house ; but to be accurate, it is at present (at least the major part) not made use of at all, and it is not used now as a police-station. It has not been employed for this purpose since November 14th, 1892, when the police took up quarters in their new building. Strange to say, the apparently modern appearance of the upper floors does not affect the antique character of the main building. Moyse's Hall, South-East View. (From ancient Print.) In the upper, or first floor, there still remain two good transition Norman windows, each of two lights, square-headed and plain, under a round arch; while internally the masonry is not carried up all the way to the sill of the window, so that a bench of stone is formed on each side of it. To my imagination, this latter arrangement suggested the possibility of their having once been used as a sort of crow's-nest to look out on both</page><page sequence="15">120 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. the Butter and Corn Markets, when our ancestors, having been collected together in this sacred House of Refuge, were being persecuted by a howling mob outside. The exterior of the building, too, has undergone many changes. It is doubtful whether the entrance was really, as at Moyse's Hall, 1895. present, on the south side, which faces the junction of the Corn and Butter Markets, or whether it is not more likely that it was on the east side, facing the narrower portion of the Corn Market. We know that the present East Wall is no part of the old building, but dates back to</page><page sequence="16">A RAMBLE IN EAST A NOLI A. 121 only 1806. Both, in the illustration in Mr. Jacobs' book, which I take to be the east view, and in the older original drawing which J have seen in the Athenseum at Bury, and of which I have a photograph,1 there are several windows on this side^ whereas in the present structure there is only one very small window at the extreme end, not quite half-way up the wall. The present doors on the east side, of which there are two, afford no clue as to the position of the original entrance, no more than the present entrance on the south side, adapted as it was for the purposes of a police-station. Most probably, too, there were originally no windows on the groun-1 floor. The windows, be it also observed, in the first and second floors of that portion occupied by the Great Eastern are not original?-those on the second floor being quite modern, from the design of Gilbert Scott, while that on the first floor is of the Perpendicular style. The sculpture under this window is rather interesting, representing as it does the wolf guarding the crowned head of St. Edmund. From the different views which J have obtained of the exterior of the building, it will be observed what changes have been carried out in respect of the turret, the other drawings showing n&lt; ne whatever, while there is a marked difference between the one in Davy's dated 1827, and the one in the view of the present building, taken specially for this lecture, In the records of St. Edmund of East Anglia, King and Martyr, by J. R. Thompson (1891), I find in Part II., pp. 126-7, a reference to the martyrdom of the holy child Robert, to which allusion is made by Jocelin de Brakelond,2 it having been alleged that the Jews dwelling in Bury St. Edmunds had crucified the child in 1179. This incident may have been one of the causes of the expulsion of the Jews from 1 This book of original drawings and prints in the Library of the Athenasum, Bury St. Eimunds, contains, besides the pen and ink sketch to which I have referred, and of which I have a copy here, three other views of Moyse's Hall, viz. : by Davy, 1827 ; by J. Mathew, 1826 ; and by T. Higham, 1818. 2 Those interested in perusing Jocelin's chronicles will find them in the original Latin (under the heading Jocelini Cronica) in Memorials of St. Edmund's A bbey, edited by Thomas Arnold, M.A., Vol. I. (London : Eyre &amp; Spottiswoode, 1890). An English translation appears as "The Chronicles of Jocelin of Brakelond," in a work called Monastie and Social Life in the 12th Century, by T. E. Tomlins, 18 H.</page><page sequence="17">122 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. Bury St. Edmunds in 1190, the date assigned to that event. To follow the fate of Moyse's Hall after that event, we find the house mentioned in the will of Andreus Scarbot, 1474, as the "ten. Angnet' Regis, voeat'?Moysehall." In 1514, we are told, it was the residence of Richard Kyng, a benefactor to the town. About 1614 it was bought by the Guildhall Feoffees, and converted into a Workhouse and House of Correction. In 1721 it was a Hospital or Workhouse for 30 boys and girls ; later on, during the last century and the beginning of this century, it was used as the Town Bridewell, while about 40 years ago it was used, as we have before said, as a police-station. In 1858 it was repaired, principally by subscription, from designs of the late Gilbert Scott. The materials to hand are insufficient to determine the limits of the Jewry in Bury St. Edmunds, if ever there was one. I have heard it said that Chequer Square and Bridewell Lane, which adjoins it, in the vicinity of the splendid Norman Tower of the Abbey, indicate the site of the ancient Jewish quarter. Considering the close connection between the Abbot and the Jews of Bury in mediaeval times, and the number of synagogues which in modern times existed within almost a stone's throw from Bevis Marks, in the City of London, it may be worth noting on the authority of Samuel Tymm?, F.S.A., that the Abbot of the monastery of Edmondabury had also a palace in London, beside Christ Church, Aldgate, the site of which is indicated by the name of " Bevis Marks," which is a corruption of u Bury Marks." To those who, like myself, have been brought up in the City, and know its every nook and corner, this item of intelligence cannot but be of more than passing interest. III.?THE NORWICH JEWRY. When I began the second part of my paper, I remarked that there was one subject which I intended to bring before you, with which I thought my hearers were scarcely familiar. I refer to the Jewry of Norwich in mediaeval times. I wish it to be particularly understood that I do not intend, as it would be impossible in the limited time at my command, to deal with the Jews of Norwich, but simply to give</page><page sequence="18">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 123 a few topographical notes in connection with our ancestors in this ancient and most interesting city. A consideration of the individual Jews of Norwich is so vast a subject, that any partial and imperfect treatment of it by a chatty tou! ist might constitute him, instead of one of the yHD)) *DDn " Wise Men of Norwich," rather one belonging to the class, the opposite of '* wise." I should like to state at the outset, that the expression " The Jewry " need not imply that the Jews were not allowed to reside in other parts: in fact I have the support of so eminent an authority as the Rev. William Hudson, Hon. Secretary of the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, that the assumption is unfounded that the Jews were only allowed to live in the Jewry. No one can be in Norwich without having his attention called to what is known as the Musick House, the name supposed to be a cor? ruption of " Moses' House." It belonged originally, in the time of William Rufus, to Moses the Jew: he left it to his son, Abraham the Jew; and he to Isaac the Jew, his son, after whom it was called Isaac's Hall. In 1633 it was the City House of the Lord Chief Justice Coke. For this information we are indebted to the chief authority on the History of Norfolk,1 viz., Blomefield, the first edition of whose work appeared in 1736. It will be found in Vol. IV., p. 76 : while in Vol. III., p. 28, and Vol. IV., p. 184, will be found a reference to Jews "dwelling in a place called Abraham's Hawle (Abraham's Hall)," the passage in question referring to St. William of Norwich. I should like to throw in by way of suggestion, whether Murrell's Yard in King Street, which is one of the oldest, if not the oldest part of the city, is not connected with Morel, a name which frequently occurs in olden times as that of a co-religionist. But these are only the dwellings of individuals : let us pass them by with this brief allu? sion, and betake ourselves to the Market Place, on the way to the 1 Among other important books of reference we would mention : The Norfolk Antiquarian Miscellany, by Walter Rye, Vol. I., 1877 (chapters xxv., xxvi., treat of Norwich Jews.) The Streets and Lines of the City of Norwich, by John Kirkpatrick, 1889. The Publications of the Seiden Society, Vol. V., edited by W. Hudson, 1892. Gleanings among Castln and Convents of Norfolk, by H. Harrod, 1857. An Index to Norfolk Topography, by Walter Rye, 1881, is a very useful work.</page><page sequence="19">124 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLTA. Jewry proper. We cannot do better than take Blomefield as the basis of our search after the original limits of the Jewish Quarter of Norwich in the time of the Plantagenets, though it will be necessary to take his account with a certain reserve, for he has fallen into the same error into which, it appears, even recent writers have fallen. I would state once for all that the " Schola Judagorum," referred to in the early deeds, can scarcely mean anything else but " the Synagogue " (similai to our word Shool), and not " the School " belonging to the Jews. In interpreting the word " Schola" to mean " School," Blomefield, as others, evidently thought that the word Synagogue had been omitted, and he accordingly rendered the Latin expression by u Synagogue and School," instead of u Synagogue " alone. I do not wish to imply that a School was not attached to the Synagogue of these times; in all probability it was ; but we cannot infer the fact from the expression u Schola " employe 1 in the original documents. After this explanation, let us hear what are the boundaries of the ancient Jewry before the time of Edward I., according to Blomefield, Vol. IV., pp. 225, 226. I shall then endeavour to show you that, by means of these particulars, we are able to transplant ourselves more than six or seven centuries back in point of time, and ident fy precisely the area in which the greater portion of our ancestors in Norwich lived and moved about.1 " The New Synagogue and Schools of the Jews," says Blomefield, "to which there was an entrance from Hogg Hill2 on the east part, and another on the west, from the Haymarket, by the passage now into the Star-ya,r&amp;9 and the whole part of the market from Wastel-market aforesaid [correctly speaking, this should be Wastel gate3 : the Wastel-market was in quite a different direction], to the White Lion Lane, is called in old evidences Judaismus, Vicus de 1 Vide Kirkpatriek's Memoir, edited by W. Hudson, p. 29. 2 " The place called Hoghill is a Triangular void Ground which lyes with a descent towards the West. ... It was called the Hog market 1660, now commonly the Hoghill."?Kirkpatrick. 3 Wastelgate [this is not the street now called Westelgate] was so-called from Bakers there dwelling, who sold Wastels, which were White Loaves of the finest flour, as appears from the statute of Bread alid Ale. 51 Hen, 3, and in the 5 Hen. 4 I find it called Wastelgate alias Baxtergate, which last name is of the same import as Baker Street. It is now called Red Lion Lane, from an Inn there having the sign of the Red Linn."?Kirkpatrick. p. 15.</page><page sequence="20">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 125 Judaismo, or the Jewry; the new Synagogue was built in Henry IL's time, when the Jews removed and dwelt altogether here ; it had a burial place by it, and the School was at the south end of it, the house appropriated for the high priest, who was called the Bishop of the Jews, stood on the very place where now is Dr. Howman's house ; for in Edward I.'s time, Ursell, son of Isaac, the Bishop of the Jews at Norwich, sold it to John de Wroxham, and his executors in Edward I I.'s time sold it to John Pirmund.The house, now the Star, formerly belonged to Elias the Jew, and abutted east on the garden belonging to the Jews' school, and north on the entry to the Jews' synagogue. Elias, son of Elias, sold it to Jeffry de Gloucester the Jew, from whom it was seized by Edward I., and conveyed to Jeffery de Bungeye. In 1286, when King Edward I. banished all the Jews, this synagogue was destroyed, and the whole Jewry seized by the King ; but the reason we see nothing remaining of these places is, because the whole Jewry was burnt down, and then these were quite destroyed.1 "The north side of the Jewry was bounded by White Lion Lane, as it is now called, from the sign of the White Lion there, but was anciently known by all the following names : Sadlegate in Edward the First's time, in Edward the Second's time Lorimers' Row," and so on. For the sake of completeness, though not strictly referring to the Jewry with which we are dealing, I should add the following short passage occurring in Blomefield, IV., page 227 :? " The lane now called Dove Lane,2 from that sign there, was 1 Cf. Blomefield, III., p. 64. 2 Kirkpatrick has the following passage, pp. 48-9 : The other (lane) south into the Market Place is now called the Dove Lane, from the sign of the Dove at a tavern which is the N.E. corner house of the lane ; antiently it was called Hold thor, 14 Edw. I, and 1 and 14 Edw. II. ; in one deed in the 18 of Edw. 1st, it is called Le Smalegale. . . . Holdtor. . . . Oldtor. . . . Holdtore, Holter, St. John's Lane. . . . Concerning the reason of which name, I am of opinion that Hold thor is Old Thor, and we find in Mr. Stowe's Survey of London, the Jews of Norwich being accused of circumcising a Christian child, A.B. 1241, certain of them were hanged and their House called the Thor was destroyed. It is not improbable therefore that the Thor was their Synagogue and stood in this lane, so called from its Tower, which being thus destroyed, they afterwards built another in the South part of the market-place, but of this I find no mention in</page><page sequence="21">126 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. anciently called Hoi Tor lane from the old tor or tower, that stood at the south-west corner of it, which was built by the Jews in William Rufus's time for their Synagogue, and continued such till Henry the Second's time, when they built their neiv Synagogue." You will not be surprised to h ar that scarcely one of the names of streets or houses contained in the account given by Blomefield 150 years ago remain at the present day: yet by a careful comparison of the details of his account with the site indicated, I have been able to place beyond doubt the ancient Jewry of Norwich, and will now give you the names of the streets which bounded the Jewry of old, as they appear in the year 1895. What was Hogg Hill then is now called Orford Hill. The name Haymarket still remains. The Star Yard and its Inn no longer exist in name, the entrance to the former having but recently been replaced by Green's shop in the Haymarket, while in the rear of this establish? ment may still be seen part of the original yard, and the old Inn in a dilapidated condition. The Wastelgate is now called Red Lion Street, and White Lion Lane has been changed into White Lion Street. The site of Dr. Howman's or Sir Thomas Browne's1 house, which was the residence of the Rabbi, or, as Blomfield styles him, the high-priest and bishop of the Jews, is now occupied by the Savings' Bank, at the junction of Little Orford Street and the Haymarket. The house of Elias, the Jew, stood near to where Green's shop is at present. A glance at the accompanying plan which I have prepared will bring this out more clearly. As regards Dove Lane, in which the former Synagogue stood (the old deeds. It might be from some other ancient Tower which stood hereabouts, unless we should deduce the original much higher, and say it obtained that name from some Temple here in the Pagan Saxons time, erected to the honour of their G-od Thor, from whom the day of the week, which we call Thursday, was denominated." Regarding the etymology of Holtor, Mr. M. D. Davis once suggested that it might be a corruption of the Hebrew words " Ohel Torah," meaning u Tabernacle of the Law," a name supposed to have been given by the Norwich Jews to their synagogue on that spot. I am glad to be able to state that Mr. Davis has since repented of that derivation ; he now takes it to mean ancient wood or forest." 1 Sir Thomas Browne was bom October 19th, 1605, settled in Norwich, 1636, and died there October 19th, 1682.</page><page sequence="22">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 127 one built in William ll.'s time), this is now called Dove Street, on the side of the extensive premises of Messrs. Chamberlin, in the Market Place. THE JEWISH QUARTER, NORWICH. i- AS'ten&amp;x.rdj, tkg. Star Inn. 4 Cu.rdts Holste., 2?. 45 -3&gt;r. Monvuvr House., W M?&lt;Sf5 IBacK ** Co. * 5 I have come across a very curious and highly interesting corrobora* tion of the fact mentioned before with regard to the manner in which the house formerly belonging to Elias, the Jew, changed hands, and came into the possession of Jeffery de Bungeye. In his Gleanings</page><page sequence="23">128 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. among Castles and Convents of Norfolk, on page 132, Harrod repro? duces a most important entry of the 22od Edward I., which runs thus : " Peter de Bumpstede and Katherine his wife, conveyed to Nigel de Foxlee, merchant, the mediety of a house the said Peter had built upon land acquired of our Lord and King, some time of Elias, the son of Elias the Jew, between the entry to the Jews' school in St. Peter Mancroft, the land of Geoffrey de Bungay, north ; Richard le Boteman, south ; the King's Market, west, and also the piece of land to the east of it, formerly of the same Elias, extending in length from the said house to the cockey,1 and in breadth from land which was the orchard of the Jews' school, south, to the house of the said Geoffrey de Bungay." We have further references to the Norwich Jewry in what are technically called the Court Leet Rolls, which are still extant. In the Leet Roll of 128|, as reproduced in the publications of the Seldon Society (Yol. V., p. 10), there is the following statement : " They say also that John de Sculthorpe's daughter stole by night, at Hugh de Caister's house, a bucket and cord, and [? was going to] put them in the Jewry, and Ralph Bird and Luke de Brune met her going towards the Jewry and seized the cord and bucket out of her hands, and kept them in their possession until Hugh de Caister gave them threepence, and they said they found them in the Jewry, pawned there." On page 28 of the same publication, we read of the fining " of John the Pasty maker because he has sold meat which the Jews call trefa." We must understand that the offence was that the Christian had sold to Christians meat which the Jews did not consider fit for food according to their prescriptions. My friend, Mr. M. D. Davis (the pioneer and indefatigable explorer of this field of history amongst us) some time ago drew attention to a similar entry in the Leet Roll, which translated from the Latin runs thus : "Leet of Conisford,2 Berstreete, 1286 : The capital pledges declare that Roger of Lakenham has sold Jewish 1 This word means " stream," the great " cokeye " ran along the back of the Jewry. In the Hebrew deeds the word appears transliterated and is reproduced thus:?K"pip p1p2&gt; mn or T\Wp)p fcOp^H m or simply K^plp M. Some? times the word D*)T is added. 2 = K?nigsford, or road, the present King Street. In Shtar 63, p. 171, Volume by M. D. Davis, 1888, there is a signature tmaJWpD HSPD: for Berstreete, vide Shtar, 46, p. 112, and 53, p. 136.</page><page sequence="24">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA* 129 meat, namely, Tripha."1 In referring to Mr. Davis, I trust I may be pardoned if I make a slight digression in order to express the hope that this Society will not fail to avail itself of the vast store of materials, as yet unpublished, which he, during years of patient research, has collected. It is quite possible that, in their light, quite a different complexion will be given to points which, during the last few years, have been considered as determined and settled. In his Volume of Hebreiu Deeds of English Jews before 1280 (one of the publications of the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition) I find several references to the Synagogue of the Jewry of Norwich, to such streets as Mancroft, Sadlegate, and to such personages as I have referred to, viz., Elias and Ursel I. (For Synagogue, Shtar, 16, 40, 47, 56 ; for Ursell b. Isaac, 64, 89?--called Le Eveske), Elias is mentioned in Shtar 46 and 53, and his son Elias in Shtar 63, 64, 68, and 89?* Elias the elder is generally styled "the Star"; and as the " Star Inn" to which Blomefield refers is a very ancient hostelry, the question arises : Did the Inn receive its name from Elias "the Star," on the site of whose house this Inn was afterwards erected ? Secondly, is this Elias Cochab the same as Elias fil' Solomon (Shtar 3, 9, 10, 72), who, according to Zunz (Z. G. u, L., p. 49), was learned in astronomy ? If so, the alias Cochab, " Star " is not inappropriate. After what I have said before, it would seem scarcely necessary to adduce further evidence in support of the topography of the ancient Jewry of Norwich. Yet, however little further evidence is to be derived from the fact, I do not think that I should omit to refer to some remarkable underground Vaulted passages still existing within the limits we have indicated above. They are under the premises of Messrs. Back, wine merchants, of the Haymarket, the present owners of what is known locally as Curat's House. And here permit me to take the opportunity of expressing my warm thanks to Messrs. Back, father and son, for their courtesy in allowing mo to inspect these vaults on their premises, and for their general kindness in affording me the information I sought. The messuage of Messrs. Back has quite a history of its own. It has been in the family of the present owner for 1 Mr. Davis informs me that a person named John Bibol was fined about the same time in Hereford for a similar offence VOL. IT, lv</page><page sequence="25">130 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGL I A. seven generations, having previously been in the Downing family, the property having originally belonged to John Curat about the middle of the 15th century. It seems that, after the expulsion of the Jews in 1286, King Edward I. handed over the site of the Jewry to the Com? monalty or Corporation of the City of Norwich, from whom John Curat bought a site, upon which he built his house about 1460. This beautiful antique house still exists, and is occupied as a dwelling-house by Mr. Back, Jnnr. As regards the vaulted passages beneath the business part of the premises, the kind of brick and the style of the arches have long led antiquarians to believe that the cellars are remains of the former Jewry?in other words, that they existed in the time of the old Jewry. Some even go so far as to suppose them to be the remains of the Synagogue of the Jews of Norwich before their expulsion. I ought in fairness to say that, in the course of conversation, the Rev. Mr. Hudson, of Norwich, expressed to me his opinion that these vaulted cellars, of which there are others in Norwich, were used for domestic and not for religious purposes ; he thinks them scarcely earlier than the 14th century, and as the Jews were banished at the end of the 13th century, those in question attached to Curat's house cannot be the remains of the ancient Jewry. But I have another bit of information supplied to me by my friend, Mr. Philip Edward Back, which I should also not withhold, and that is, that at the end of last year, between my first and second visit, in digging out and enlarging their cellars, the present owners came not only upon a former crypt composed of similar arches, but also found quantities of pottery, probably Norman, in the rubbish that filled up the said crypt, amongst which was an earthenware jug, the design of which will probably fix its date at about 1250. I understand that there w^as a further important find on the floor of this crypt, viz., a layer of charcoal some four inches in thickness. If it be not unreasonable to conjecture from this layer of charcoal that the buildings which once existed over the same were destroyed by fire, then we have just come into possession of a remark? able confirmation of Blomefield's statement which we quoted before, to the effect that the whole Jewry, including the synagogue, was burnt down and quite destroyed. But to whatever opinion we may incline, whether we believe that the crypts themselves, the remains of which we see to-day, formed part of the ancient Jewry, and that, in spite of sub</page><page sequence="26">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGXIA. 131 sequent building operations, these old foundations were not demolished, or whether we hold that the crypts are a century or two later (for that is all that can be argued against the former supposition)* one thing is beyond the shadow of a doubt, namely, that the site in the Haymarkefc of Norwich, upon which these particular vaults stand, belonged, as we hope we have shown, to the Jewish Quarter before the expulsion of the Jews in the reign of Edward I. To enable you to have a view of them T have supplied myself With a photographic illustration, which I will now pass round for your inspection. Time will not permit me to take you on a further excursion in East Anglia, to such places as Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Colchester, and Clare, though the names and antiquities connected with them have an unbounded interest for the study of early Anglo-Jewish history. Lord Bacon, in his " Advancement of Learning," remarks i " Antiquities are history defaced, or remnants that have escaped the shipwreck of time, .... wrecks of history wherein the memory of things is almost lost; or such particulars as industrious persons, with exact and scrupulous diligence can anyway collect from genealogies . . . . inscriptions .... traditions .... fragments of private and public history, etc., by which means something is re? covered from the deluge of time. ... In this imperfect history no deficiency need be noted, it being of its own nature imperfect." I have quoted this passage for the purpose of emphasising the statement which I now make : that I advisedly did not style my paper " Jews of East Anglia," because I Was fully conscious of my own imperfections to deal with so vast and intricate a subject, and because I did not wish to give the impression that I intended it as a learned lecture. I intended it simply as a fairly popular description of a few days' ramble, spent in the desire to pick up a few pebbles of information among objects of no little interest, not alone to members of a Jewish Historical Society, but to members of the Jewish people in general. Nothing was further from my thoughts than the intention to compete in this depart? ment of enquiry with such men as Mr. M. D. Davis, Mr. Joseph Jacobs and Mr. Lucien Wolf ; nevertheless, I shall be pleased if, in the attempt to do my duty, I have succeeded in touching the historic sense of my audience, and evoking a stronger interest in the preservation of the disused burial-grounds of more modern times, or of the two or three k 2</page><page sequence="27">132 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. historic edifices which are yet left to us as monuments of our presence here in mediaeval times, so that they may in future be placed beyond the possibility of ultimate demolition and destruction. Why, for example, 1 ask in conclusion, should there not exist sufficient public spirit among the Jews of Great Britain of to-day to purchase and thus reclaim as their property, before it be too late, the handful of unique relics of Jewish interest extant in this country of the Pre-Expulsion period ? I shall be doubly pleased if, incidentally, I have been able to afford some slight entertainment or even instruction during the better part of an hour, to the members of this society and their friends, assembled on a Sunday evening in the Hall kindly lent for the purposes of these meetings by the Maccabasans. For kind permission to use the blocks of the illustrations occurring in this paper, we are indebted to the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, to whom we offer our best thanks.</page><page sequence="28">133 APPENDIX I. The endorsements on the remaining nine are as follows :? Mr. Robert King to Mr. John Rogers 27 Sep. 1764. Lease for year. 28 September, 1764. Mr. Robert King ) to &gt; Release. Mr. John Rogers 3 25 Aug. 1778. Mr. Rogers to Mr. Corn well. Attested Copy of Mortgage. 12 March, 1788. Mrs. Anna Rogers to Mr. Emerson Corn well. Attested Copy of Release of Equity of Redemption. Mr. B. Blasby to Mr. Hyam. 1794. Agreement. Dated 1796. Emerson Cornwell, Esq. to Mr. Wm. Hammond. Attested Copy of Lease for a year. Messrs. Cornwell &amp; Alexander to Mr. Blasby. 1796. Attested Copy of Bond of Indemnity. Dated 14 April, 1796. Emerson Cornwell, Esq. to Mr. Benjn. Blasby, Trustee. Attested Copy of Release and Assign? ment. Dated the 3rd April, 1841. Mr. Israel Abraham &amp; \ others / Appointment to Harris Isaacs &amp; others. of new Trustees APPENDIX II. Full texts of the Indentures endorsed:?27th Sept. 1764 (A); 1796, Lease for 999 years (B) ; 3rd April, 1841 (C) :? A. This Indenture made the twenty seventh day of September in the ffourth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord G-eorge the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain in ffranoe and Ireland, King Defender of the ffaith, etc. And</page><page sequence="29">134 a ramble in east anglia. in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty ffour Between Robert King of Ipswitch in the county of Suffolk?perukemaker of the one part and John Rogers of the same place G-entleman, of the other part Witnesseth that he the said Robert King in consideration of five shillings of Lawful money of G-reat Britain to him in hand paid by the said John Rogers at or before the Ensealing heroof of the Receipt wheroof is hereby acknowledged Hath Bargained, Sold, Demised and to ffarm Letten and by these presents Doth bargain, Sell, Demise and to farm Lett unto the said John Rogers All that part or parcell of Land lately inclosed with a Brick Wall situate lying and being in the parish of St. Clement in Ipswitch - - - - aforesaid containing in Length by the Rule ffifty ffoot and in Breadth thirty-six ffoot and abutt upon a Garden belonging to the Estate of John Clarke Ironmonger on the part of the West a Messuage or Tenement of the said Robert - - - King now unoccupied in part and a way leading thereto on the part of the East a Garden of John Gravenor Gentleman now in the occupation of Miles Rudland Surgeon on the part of the North and a way leading to the said Garden of the said John Clarke on the part of the South. And the Reversion and Reversions Remainder and Remainders thereof To Have and to Hold, the said peice (sic} of Inclosed Ground with the appurtenances unto the said John Rogers, his Executors, Administra? tors and Assigns from the Day next before the Day of the Date of these presents for and during and unto the full I)nd and Term or one whole year from the , . . next Ensueing and fully to be compleat and Ended Yielding and Paying therefore unto the said Robert King, his heirs, and assigns the rent of one pepper corn if the same shall be lawfully demanded To the intent that by Virtue of these presents and of the Statute for transferring,Uses into possession the said John R?ogers may be in the actual possession of all and every the said premises and thereby be the better enabled to accept and take a Grant, Release and con? firmation of the Reversion and Inheritance thereof to such uses and purposes as in such Release shall be declared Limitted or appointed. In Witness whereof the parties to these presents have hereunto - - - - interchangeably set their Hands and Seals the Day and Year first above written. Robebt O King. B. This Indenture made the Sixth day of May In the Thirty sixth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, By the Grace of God of Great Britain ffrance and Ireland King Defender of the ffaith and so forth, And in the year of our Lord One Thousand seven Hundred and Ninety six, Between Benjamin Blasby of Ipswich in the County of Suffolk Bricklayer of the one part and Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyem Hyems, Ansell Ansell of Ipswich aforesaid Artificers and Jews Levi Alexander and Samuel Levi of (Dolchester in the County of Essex Artificer Trustees for and on the Behalf of the</page><page sequence="30">A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 135 Society or Meetings of Jews at Ipswich aforesaid of the other part. Witnesseth that in consideration of the Sum of Twenty Eight pounds of Lawful Money of Great Britain in hand well and truly paid by the said Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyem Hyems, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander to the said Benjamin Bias by at or before the Sealings and delivery of these presents The Receipt whereof he the said Benjamin Blasby doth hereby acknowledge. He the said Benjamin Blasby Hath demised leased and to farm letten or and by these presents Doth demise lease and to farm lett unto the said Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyem Hyems, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander and their successors for the time being All That piece or parcel of Land Inclosed with a Brick Wall situate lying and being in the Parish of St. Clement in Ipswich aforesaid containing in length by the Rule ffifty ffeet and in Breadth Thirty Six ffeet now or late in the Occupa? tion of Simon Hyem and others all Ways Passages priviledges and Appurtenances to the same Belonging or Appertaining. And the Reversion and Reversions Remainder and Remainders Rents Issues and profits thereof and of every part and parcel thereof To Ham and to Hold the said piece or parcel of Land Heredita? ments and premises unto the said Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyem Hyems, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander and their Successors for the time being from the day next before the day of the date hereof for the full End and Term of Nine Hundred and ninety nine years from thence next ensuing and fully to be compleat and ended Yielding and Paying therefore yearly and every year during the said Term the Rent of one pepper corn upon the ffeast day of Saint Michael the Archangel if the same shall be Lawfully demanded. Nevertheless upon the Trusts and to and for the intents and pur? poses and subject to the powers provisoes and Declarations herein after declared of and concerning the same (that is to say) In Trust for the Benefit of the said Society of Jews at Ipswich aforesaid and to appropriate the same as a Burying place for the members of the said Society for the time being and other the purposes of the same Society as the Major part in number of the Trustees of the said Society for the time being shall direct or appoint. Provided always and it is herein declared and agreed that as often as the said Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyem Hyems, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander or the future Trustees of the said Society shall by death absence or otherwise be reduced to the number of three acting Trustees resident in Ipswich or the neighbourhood thereof it shall and may be Lawful to and for members of the said Society or meeting of Jews at Ipswich aforesaid for the time being at a meeting to be held for that purpose to nominate substitute and appoint any other person or persons (members of the said Society) to be Trustees in the place and stead of the said present or any succeeding or other Trustee or Trustees who shall die or go to reside out of the neighbourhood of Ipswich aforesaid. And that every such New Trustee or Trustees shall and may in all things lett and assist in the management carrying on and Execution of the</page><page sequence="31">136 a ramble in east anglia. Trusts to which he or they shall be so appointed as fully and Effectually to all intents and purposes as if he or they had been Originally by these presents named a Trustee or Trustees. And the said Benjamin Blasby doth hereby for himself his heirs Executors Administrators and Assignes covenant promise and agree to and with the said Simon Hyem, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyem Hyems, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander and their Successors for the time being that they shall and may peaceably and quietly have hold use occupy possess and enjoy the said piece or parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and receive the Rents Issues and profits thereof during the said Term hereby demised without any Eviction Molestation or Interruption of him the said Benjamin Blasby his Heirs or Assignes or any other persons Claiming or to Claim By or from or under him them or any of them. In Witness whereof the said parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written. Benjamin o Blasby, ^ of q mark Simon C Hyam. Joseph Levi. Levi Alexander o Levy. hyam q hyam&lt; The of x o Mark Samuel o Levi. Israel Abraham m, w ? ^ . The x of u Mark. Lazarus Levi. C. This Indenture made the third day of April in the year One thousand eight hundred and fortyone Between Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi and Hyam Hyams all of Ipswich in the county of Suffolk Artificers and Jews (surviving trustees for and on behalf of the Society or Meeting of Jews at Ipswich aforesaid and also Harris Isaacs (Rabbi of the said Society) and Samuel Samuel, Michael Levi and Moss Moses of Ipswich aforesaid Artificers and Jqws Members of the said Society) of the one part and the said Michael Levi, Moses Levi, Samuel Samuel, Moss Moses, Lawrence Hyam, the said Harris Isaacs, Abraham Asher Levi, Moses Samuel, Moses Hyam, Wolf Samuel, Isaac Levi, the elder, Isaac Levi, the younger, Lewis Samuel, Samuel Samuel, the younger, Mier Levi, Simon Hyman, David Ansell and Philip Moses all of Ipswich aforesaid Artificers and Jews (Members of the said Society) of the other parfc Whereas by Indenture bearing date the sixth day of May One thousand seven hundred and ninefcysix and made between Benjamin Blasby then of Ipswich aforesaid Bricklayer of the one part and Simon Hyam, Lazarus Levi, the said Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi and Hyam Hyams and also Ansell Ansell then of Ipswich aforesaid Artificers and Jews and Levi Alexander and Samuel Levi (therein described to be Trustees for and on behalf of the said Society or Meeting of Jews at Ipswich aforesaid) of the other part. It is witnessed that in consideration of the sum of thirty eight pounds</page><page sequence="32">A II AM ULK IN EAST ANGLTA. 137 paid by the said Simon Hyam, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyam Hyams, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander to the said Benjamin Blasby He the said Benjamin Blasby did devise and lease unto the said Simon Hyam, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyam Hyams, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander and their successors for the time being All that piece or parcel of land inclosed with a brick wall situate lying and being in the parish of St. Clement in Ipswich aforesaid containing in length by the rule fifty feet and in breadth thirty six feet then or then late in the occupation of Simon Hyman and others and all ways paths passages privileges and appur? tenances to the same belonging or appertaining To hold the said piece or parcel of Land Hereditaments and Premises unto the said Simon Hyam, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, Hyam Hyams, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander and their successors for the time being from the date of the now reciting Indenture for the term of Nine hundred and ninety nine years thence next ensuing at a pepper corn rent Upon the Trusts and for the Intents and purposes and subject to the powers provisoes and declarations thereinafter de? clared of the same (that is to say) In trust for the benefit of the said Society of Jews at Ipswich aforesaid and to appropriate the same as a Burying place for the Members of the said Society for the time being and other the purposes of the same Society as the major part in number of the Trustees of the said Society for the time being should direct or appoint In which said Indenture is contained a proviso whereby it is provided declared and agreed that as often as the said Simon Hyam, Lazarus Levi, Israel Abraham. Joseph Levi, Hyam Hyams, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander or the future Trustees of the said Society should by death absence or otherwise be reduced to the number of three acting Trustees resident in Ipswich or the neighbourhood thereof it should be lawful for the members of the said Society or Meeting of Jews at Ipswich afore? said for the time being at a Meeting to be held for that purpose to nominate substitute and appoint any other person or persons (Members of the said Society) to be Trustees in the place and stead of the then present or any succeeding or other Trustee or Trustees who should die or go to reside out of the neighbour? hood of Ipswich aforesaid and that every such new Trustee or Trustees should in all things act and assist in the management carrying on and the execution of the Trusts to which he or they should be so appointed as fully and effectively to all intents and purposes as if he or they had been originally by the now reciting Indenture named a Trustee or Trustees And Whereas the said Simon Hyam, Lazarus Levi, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander have severally departed this life leaving the said Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi and Hyam Hyams them surviving And Whereas a Meeting of the Members of the said Society was this day held in pursuance of the power contained in the herein? before recited Indenture for the purpose of appointing New Trustees in the place and stead of the said several Trustees who have departed this life Now this Indenture Witnesseth that by virtue and in pursuance and performance of the power of authority to them reserved or given by the hereinbefore recited Inden</page><page sequence="33">138 a ramble in east anglia. fcure and of every other power or authority enabling them in that behalf they the said Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi and Hyam Hyams (as such surviving Trustees as aforesaid) and also Harris Isaacs, Samuel Samuel, Michael Levi and Moss Moses (Members of the said Society and present at the said Meeting) Have nominated substituted and appointed and by these presents Do nominate substi? tute and appoint the said Michael Levi, Moses Levi, Moses Samuel, Samuel Samuel, the elder, Moss Moses, Lawrance Hyam, Harris Isaacs, Abraham Asher Levi, Wolf Samuel, Moses Hyam, Samuel Samuel, the younger, Isaac Levi, the elder, Isaac Levi, the younger, Lewis Samuel, Mier Levi, Simon Hyam, David Ansell and Philip Moses to be Trustees in the place and stead of the said Simon Hyam, Lazarus Levi, Ansell Ansell, Samuel Levi and Levi Alexander, who have severally departed this life to act with the said Israel Abraham, Joseph Levi, and Hyam Hyams in the Trusts mentioned and declared in and by the said here? inbefore recited Indenture. In Witness whereof the said parties to those presents have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written. DiTOK in O Moses O Hyam. The Mark of X O Joseph Levi. Simon O Hyam. The Mark and Signature of O Hyam Hyam Moses O Levy. H pnv* mnD p H. O Isaacs WT\ ^ Isaac O Levi. Saml. O Samuel. APPENDIX III. Jewish Cemetery, St. Clement's, Ipswich. Roughly speaking, the following are the particulars gathered from the inscriptions on those Tombstones which are at all legible. There are eight rows of Tombstones. Counting from the top of the Cemetery, and beginning from the right hand? In Row I., on Stone 3, we read the words: rtfpn t\)w 5, ? ? nopn iw nbwn -o hmvv ? ? 7, ? ? nDpn or nopn ? * * nm ? iL, ? i, ? ? p nes&gt;D ? D*rr?Nn nhy nvn) onia |sw pwy 'i dv -wdbj March 13th, 5606. ? ?2, ? ? Elizabeth Rebecca, daughter of Moses Levi of Ipswich. May 20?5609. ? ? 3, ? ? Morris Levy, son of Lazarus Levy of London. Died Jany. 8th, 5610, aged 32.</page><page sequence="34">A BAMBJLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 139 In Row III., on Stone 1, we read the words : DWn myDa lil^k ^1 im na in^k i^n nosn 'n wa immo^ nap:n TDpn iwa Aged 22 months. ? ? 3, ,, ,, Levi Alexander, late of Colchester, D. Feb. 10th, 5571. Aged 63 years. 5. ? ? dudm T^n ana nvhw rwiDKa vn vw omaa apy* 'a D?nn Dy *i!?n tkd 'na nDKi ion tea a^nom nypn n:^ 6, ? ? *)te (?) t|DV na rwna nx&gt; nw? ? iv. ? l, ? ? nrap na ten y^ nona ^&gt;ip jubo maa te (sic) npao ten Aged 64 years. 3, ? ? ?nw apy* na prn* -ra? b?k ispn Aet. 23. ? ? 4, ? ? Aged 83 years. ? 5, ? ? Aged 76 years. ? V. ? 2, ? ? TODJ^NpD ? vi. ? i, ? ? nteprwnaapy* I. M. of Jacob Levy of Harwich, Died Aug. 6th, 1829 Aged 57 years. 3, ? ? fcvpftnjp ? ? 4, ? ? Rachel, relict of Jacob Levy, late of Harwich. Kipn ? 5, ? ? DHDna^nana^? nte pnv na nrjnw rrn aipri Aged 86 years.</page><page sequence="35">140 A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. In Row VII., on Stone 1, we read the words: Joseph Hyam, beloved son of Hannah and H. Hyam of Colchester. D. 5597. Aged 45 years. 2, ? ? r\wn no ^bok n^k nvpn or mpr\ 77 years old. 3, ? ? orro? h*r\w nw vwi IP* Israel Abraham. Obit 12 Feb. 5602. Aged 86 years. ?VIII. ? 1, ? Julia, daughter of Lawrence and Caroline Hyam of Bury. D. May 30th, 5600. Aged 5 years and one month. ? ? 2, ,. ? I. M. of Rachel, beloved daughter of Lawrence and Caroline Hyam of Bury. B, June 19?5600. Aged 3 years and 4 months.</page></plain_text>