Jewry of South-West England and Some of its Australian Connections

<plain_text><page sequence="1">Jewry of South-West England and some of its Australian Connections* Dr. ANTHONY P.JOSEPH The programme of the current session of the Jewish Historical Society of England is largely commemorative of the centenary of the foundation of the United Synagogue. In my talk this evening, however, I would like to start by reminding you of an event that took place a century earlier. I am referring to Captain Cook's landing in 1770 at Botany Bay on the coast of New South Wales and his claim thereupon of the whole of the eastern seaboard of Australia as a Colony of the British Crown. This bicentenary has been commemorated in a number of ways and among them the Australian Jewish Historical Society has organised a very successful exhibi? tion in Sydney depicting the history of Aus? tralian Jewry and the contribution that Jews have made to the general growth and develop? ment of Australia. Widespread Ramifications This evening I am going to illustrate that theme by sketching the story of a large Jewish family, predominantly Anglo-Jewish and to some extent typical, with particular reference to its members who have settled in the anti? podes. I have traced the ramifications of about 3,000 persons of this family in a very large num? ber of its branches over some ten generations. Its genealogical complexity is considerable. Within the embrace of this family are rep? resentatives of all walks of Anglo-Jewry, all shades of belief and opinion; and the various shifts of settlement of the members of the family, both within and outside the British Isles, accurately reflect the way in which Anglo Jewry as a whole has moved over the past two centuries. Thus the founders of the family hailed from the Continent and settled at first in London but soon moved to the West Country ports for reasons that will be given in due course and have in fact been discussed before this Society previously. (See footnotes 6 and 7.) After a period of flourishing in Devon and Cornwall the communities in this part of England declined and our family dispersed widely to many parts of the world but pre? dominantly to the nation's capital, the rapidly developing and expanding industrial Midlands, and to the equally rapidly developing and expanding countries of the British Empire as it then was. It is of course with the Australian share in this family movement that we are mostly concerned this evening but a similar story could be told and indeed will be briefly mentioned for Canada, New Zealand, or South Africa. In a lecture before this Society given by the late B. B. Benas in 19371 the cause of genealogy and Anglo-Jewish genealogy in particular was ably pleaded. He felt that our Society had a particular duty to uphold this field of study and it is my pleasure this evening to respond with enthusiasm to his appeal, which was in fact given to you in the year of my own birth. Jews Among Convicts The history of Australian Jewry dates back to 1788, when the first fleet of English convicts, sentenced for their crimes to transportation to the new Colony, arrived at Botany Bay. There were at least twelve Jewish convicts among the wretched transportees, though not, as has been jocularly suggested, in order to guarantee at least a minyan, since four of their number were female.2 It must have been no laughing * Paper delivered to the Jewish Historical Society of England on 18 November 1970. 1 *A plea for a genealogical and historiographical section of the Jewish Historical Society of England', Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England [hereafter referred to as Trans.JHSE], Vol. XIV, p. 81. 2 See the Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society [hereafter referred to as JAJHS]y Vol. VI, 24</page><page sequence="2">Jewry of South-West England and its Australian Connections 25 matter to have been a convict transported on this or many subsequent fleets of prisoners. Apart from the whole question of the justice of the sentences meted out for in many cases the most trivial of offences, the conditions of the voyage for the convicts were grim in the extreme and life on arrival in Australia harsh and cheerless. Of sickness and misery there was an abundance, many convicts perished on their journey across the world, and those who arrived at Botany Bay had a desperate struggle for sheer physical survival. There was a high mortality rate in these early days and we have a record of the death of a Jewish convict in 1790 when one Solomon Bocharach was buried in the Colony's communal graveyard. The Protestant minister who conducted the funeral noted that Bocharach was 'a dissenting Jew' but nonetheless required him to be buried identically to his fellow-convicts who expired on the shores of the new Colony.3 Emancipist and Free Settlers Between 1788 and 1821 the entire Jewish population of Australia consisted of transported convicts either serving their sentences or pardoned and freed, living as emancipist settlers in the Colony. At any one time there were never more than a few score Jews, 'ill versed in the faith of their fathers yet moved by inherited piety',4 communal organisation was non-existent, and Jewish identification tenuous at best. Male Jewish transportees outnumbered females by about ten to one and it is therefore hardly surprising that nearly every Australian Jew of this period married out of the faith. What is surprising is that much later as Jewish numbers increased and com? munal organisation became established so many of these early arrivals still wished to Pt. 1, p. 51; Dr. Bergman writes: 'at least a dozen and maybe more. Their names: Henry Abrahams, Esther Abrahams, Aaron Davis, Samuel Davis, James Davis, Sarah Davis, John Harris, Frances Hart, David Jacobs, Joseph Levy, Amelia Levy, Jacob Messiah.' identify themselves as Jews and desired that their children should be recognised as such too. This issue created many problems and was the source of much bitterness between the eman? cipist settlers and the later free settlers. The latter group brought with them the authority of the London religious leadership, whose attitude towards marriages outside the faith and proselytisation was rigid and uncom? promising. Furthermore, the free settlers had difficulty in understanding the hardships their sentenced brethren had endured over so many years. The free settlers were economically better endowed, more flexible in mental ability, more relaxed and less defensive about their position in society, and they easily assumed the authority of leadership and arrogated unto themselves the right to dis? pense judgment and dictate conditions. Al? though a Jewish burial society was founded by convicts in 1820, it was soon disbanded and all subsequent communal organisation and leader? ship was initiated by the free settlers. Authority of London Rabbinate The first regular Jewish services were organ? ised by P. J. Cohen in 1828. The free settlers were remarkably insensitive to the feelings of the emancipists and failed to credit the latter with their obvious desire to be acknowledged as Jews notwithstanding the question of their wives and children. Bitter acrimonious dispute occurred between the two groups, which was only partly soothed by the arrival in 1830 of Dayan Aaron Levy, a member of the London Beth Din. It was his aim to reconcile the two groups as far as possible and his suggestion, which was adopted, was to found an Australian congregation based upon the London tradition. Most of the Jews in Australia at that time, whether convicted or free settlers, had had experience at some time of belonging to a British congregation, and the authority of the London rabbinate was thus adopted. Indeed, for many years all the Australian congregations that became founded in many parts of the continent based themselves upon the traditions of the London Ashkenazi Chief Rabbinate. In the 1890s the Sephardim established their 3 'Sydney's earliest burial grounds', Journal of the Society of Australian Genealogists, 'Descent', Vol. 4, Pt. 3, p. 108. 4 A Jubilee History of Sydney's Great Synagogue, 1928, p. 3.</page><page sequence="3">26 Dr. Anthony P. Joseph first congregation and later Reform and Liberal congregations appeared. Among the Jewish convicts, in 1815, arrived Solomon Levey, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation for a minor offence which it is more than likely he did not even commit. He was soon pardoned and became a very important influence in the commercial and banking life of the expanding Colony. In his letters home he wrote enthusiastically about the prospects for settlers in Australia and, influenced by these letters, his brother Barnett Levey arrived in 1821. Barnett Levey was the first Jewish free settler to arrive in Australia but others soon followed him. During the following twenty years the number of Jewish and non-Jewish free settlers rose steadily, whereas the number of either group of con? victs declined. Barnett Levey remained in Australia until his death, enjoying a colourful albeit not completely successful career as an entrepreneur of various kinds. He built the first theatre in Australia, a windmill, and a skyscraper in defiance of Governor Darling (with whom he quarrelled a great deal), and crossed swords with a number of prominent members of the Colony administration. Encouraging Emigrants Meanwhile his emancipist brother Solomon returned to England in 1826 and, in partner? ship with Thomas Peel (a relative of Sir Robert Peel), he set about raising money for the Colony and encouraging potential emigrants to settle there. At that time the Colony of New South Wales consisted of the whole of the eastern side of Australia including what is now Victoria and Queensland. Levey wished to see the development of this vast area but also campaigned for settlement in the name of the British Crown to be made on the western shores, and in 1829 this happened. A Jew was in fact present among the first colonisers of Western Australia, but the start of Jewish life properly there did not take place until some fifty years later. The conditions of life in Britain in the 1820s were not very good for many people. Poverty and economic hardship were widespread and for the Jews there were the additional burdens of non-emancipation. It is true that the climate of religious toleration in England was in advance of that in many parts of Europe at the time and it is also true that the civil disabilities of being Jewish in England were not too irksome. Yet they existed, only later to be removed by Parliament granting full civil rights (after a number of struggles), and the glowing prospects that Levey and men like him depicted of a life in Australia developing virgin territory must have had a great appeal to many people. In the Colony of New South Wales, furthermore, all free settlers enjoyed equal civil status and the rights of citizenship without reservation. There was no period during which the Jews found it necessary to do battle for their rights and indeed it would appear that even antisemitic prejudice, although no doubt nurtured by some, was minimal in the young Australian colonies. In the case of South Australia it would have been particularly remarkable had such prejudice gained any ground, since among the commissioners appointed to advise William IV on the question of establishing a colony there was Jacob Barrow Montefiore (1803-1892), a cousin of Sir Moses Montefiore and himself an early settler in the area. Among the early Jewish free settlers in Australia was Walter Jacob Levi, who reached New South Wales in 182 75 and died there, regrettably untimely, just less than twelve months later. Levi represents the first contact between the Jewish communities of South West England and Australia in that he married Rebecca, the daughter of Lemon Hart (1768 1845), of Penzance. Levi had spent a number of years in the West Indies, where he amassed a considerable private fortune by growing cotton and similar crops. He formed the opinion that the climate and soil of New South Wales would be suitable for cotton-growing and he felt furthermore that such an industry would benefit greatly the economy of the expanding Colony. He was bitterly disappointed to find that he had been misinformed about the properties of the Australian soil, at least in 5 'Walter J. Levi and Governor Ralph Darling'. JAJHS, Vol. 6, Pt. 8, p. 461.</page><page sequence="4">A Samuel Rose Simon ,* Moses 1742 1832 1757 1838 Sarah Jacob Simon 1778 1846 4T Jacob 1774 1853 Esther Henry Jacob m* Harris 1784- ' 1787 1871 3 1872 T Moss m Prances Jacob j * Emanuel 1812-60 1812-75 Isaac m Sophia Amelia m Henry Jacob |* Lazarus Jacob i* Joseph 1820-88 1811-91 IJ1806-81 Leah Myer 18A?-1933 1... J Julia Sole Joseph |" Blai 1809-58 1801 r~TT Alexander Emily Joseph Barnet Isabelle Julius m Isabelle E] i" Jacob Jacob ?' Joseph Joseph 1841 -1903 1 856-1937 I 1851 -1913 1 833 -1 907 George Jacob 1877-1943 -Z I Phoebe Anna Green Jacob. 1880-1971 1879-1935 1 V Ernest Halsted Blanckensee Blanckensee * Benjamin Ha 1839-1912 1850-1912 1861- 1? George Joseph 1875-1955 Alexander Jacob 1916 Bea'trice Stanley Halsted m* Harris 1912 Beatrice Pord 1892-1968 Irma Benjamin 1878-1952 i Irene Mark Joseph .* Schultz 1913 1902</page><page sequence="5">Rebecca Hart Isaac Jacobs Esther Henry Jacob ?* Harris 1784- J, 1787 1871 Frederi Jacobs B 1872 7 ph -81 Julia Solomon Joseph I* Blanckensee 1809-58 1801-64 i n Eliza Woolf 1808-50 abelle Julius m Isabelle Elizabeth Aaron anckensee Blanckensee * Benjamin Hart I* Blanckensee 39-1912 1850-1912 1861 - 1840-1920 1840-1902 Sarah ffi Raphael m Joseph |* Harris 1836-1923 1835-1911 Beatrice * Pord 1892-1968 T, Irma Harry Herbert Clara v Charles m Beatrice Benjamin m* Blanckensee Harris m\ Eppenheim Lang , * Harris 1872-1949 -1950 1878-1952 1885-1969 1867 1943 Irene Mark Joseph .* Schultz 1913 1902 1872 1952 Hannah Henry Joseph n# Nathan Charlotte Erne^s Gaines m* (Simp 1854 v Frederick Eileen Lang mi* Van Noorden 1902- 1904-1973 Maud Peter * Kerr Simpson 1879 1962 1879 Rosemary Lang 1940 Cyril Kerr-Smiley 1906 H K 1:</page><page sequence="6">Benjamin Woolf Eliezer Hart 1757-1?06 Rebecca Woolf /IX -/Tv Ale; Mos 171 Rebecca Hart Isaac Jacobs Mary Solomon Frederick Jacobs Lemon Hart 1768-1848 Eddie Hart Hyman Woolf Hart 7 17*8-1874 Walter Rebecca Levi Jacob -1828 1 781-1853 Lemon Judith Woolf Jacob 1783-1848 1768-1848 Joseph J oseph Moses Jacob 1733-1807 Isaac Joseph -1830 Flora Jacob 1790-1874 ?4v Eliza Woolf 1808-50 Abraham Joseph 1799-1868 T Raphael m Harris 1835-1911 Hannah Henry Rose Leon Eliza Joseph * Nathan Joseph Solomon Joseph 1829-87] 1811-79 1850 1924 Eleazar Emdon I84I-19OO Henry Joseph 1832-88 Beatrice Harris 1872 1952 B i Eileen Bi* Van Noorden 1904-1973 nary m. Charlotte Ernest Solomon Gaines ,* (Simpson) 1 Rebecca Lyons 1844-85 1854-1946 Albert Joseph 1875 1947 Maud Simpson 1879 1962 Peter Kerr-Smiley 1879-1943 Cyril Kerr-Smiley 1906 _ Agnes ?? _ Ernest Simpson 18 1897-1958 Wallis Warfield Duke of Windsor 1895-1974 Lilian Carter Ab Je 18 1 Harold Joseph 1913 Clare l'Jackman I1911' Cameron Aaron Solomon He 0tor Kerr-Smiley m" 1?7- l</page><page sequence="7">Alexander Moses 1715-91 Phoebe Elias -1803 Joseph mr Joseph m' Moses Jaoob 1733-1807 Sarah Moses 1748 1833 Hannah _ Israel Moses 1758 Levy -1823 Barnet Esther Levy ]' Elias 1731-91 C /ft 18481768-1848 j V B 1 . ? ' B &lt;Sb C Judith Isaac Flora Barnett Samuel Sarah Zipporah m Abraham Hannah m Abraham Jacob m! Joseph Jacob m] Simmons Jacob m* Levy Benjamin j'Levy Levy ' " " 1784-1860 1777- .! 1781- 1784 1860 B 1868 1861 ~1 Bella Woolf 1817 81 1779 1834 Joseph -1827 v Henry Rebecca Joseph j * Lyons 1832-88 1844-85 Solomon Joseph 1834-1900 v Caroline Cohen 1844-1921 C I i Markes C Moses m Rose Levy Simmons 1 * Aaron 1812-77 1817 Asher Bessie Levy i * Simmons 1852- I 1857-1927 1924 1 Albert m Lilian Joseph I* Carter 1875 1947 i m 1 Abraham Mai da Hannah Octave Mark m Ada 1 Duke of Windsor 1895-1974 Joseph m* Barnett Joseph m# Levy 1868 1912 Harold Joseph 1*3 m Clare i'Jackman 1885 1966 1872 1940 1870 1949 Levy 1879 1960 Kerslake Sidney m Eleanor Madge Joseph *Koppelman Levy (Bill 1897 Jessop) 1963 1912 Jean Edgar , ' 1924-53 I Adolph Benn 'Gentilli Levy 1890- 190O 1974 Stephen Susan Gentilli * Cullen 1923</page><page sequence="8">Jewry of South-West England and its Australian Connections 27 the parts of Australia at that time colonised and being developed, and that he had made a considerable error of judgment. Levi had arranged for his wife and young family to follow him to Australia, but after his death they returned to England, where his widow married her first cousin, Frederick Jacobs, also from Penzance. Famous Rum Importer Levi's father-in-law, Lemon Hart, was one of the central figures of the Penzance com? munity. He was a successful supplier of spirits, with a large contract for the Navy, and he has given his name to the firm he founded which survives to this day as a well-known rum importing house. His family connections were somewhat inbred, almost to the point of incest. His uncle, Hyman Woolf, married his own niece (Lemon Hart's sister), Eddie Hart, and their son, Lemon Woolf (1783-1848), was thus at one and the same time Lemon Hart's nephew and his cousin. The two men, Lemon Hart and Lemon Woolf, were business partners in the spirit-supplying firm. Lemon Woolf married Rebecca Jacob (1781-1853), from Falmouth, and they have become the ancestors of a family now widely disseminated and among whom are many Australian descendants. Before proceeding to a detailed discussion of them, however, it will be useful to outline some of the genealogical connections of their ancestry through the family of Rebecca (Jacob) Woolf. She was one of the twelve children of Moses Jacob (1733-1807) by his wife, Sarah Moses (1748-1833), a daughter of Zender Moses (c. 1715-1791), of Falmouth. This Zender is credited with being the founder of the Falmouth Jewish community and both the story of his life and that of the Falmouth Jewish community and both the story of his life and that of the Falmouth Jews have been ably told before this Society by one of his descendants, Mr. Alex Jacob.6 Briefly, in recapitulation, it may be said that Zender Moses organised the members of the Falmouth community by advancing them goods on credit which they then peddled in the surrounding countryside. His one stipulation was that they had to return to Falmouth in good time to observe the Sabbath with him and all together. In practice they recompensed one of their number for the loss of a day's trading and this person returned to Falmouth a day early to prepare the food for his coreligionists, who then arrived in time for the Sabbath itself. After it was over, the pedlars settled with Zender for their previous week's goods and obtained a fresh supply from him to take out on their rounds again. Horse-riding Honeymoon Over the years several of these hawkers married Zender's daughters and other relatives. One such person, known variously as Isachar Baer, Bernard Beer, and Father Jewell,7 was originally an immigrant to London from Ehrenbreitstein. Like many other Jewish arrivals in the capital at that time, Baer found it difficult to get employment. The Guilds which controlled the retail trade rarely admitted Jews to their numbers, thus denying them that opportunity. Strict observance of the Sabbath (Saturday) frequently made the practice of a skill or trade difficult, as in Baer's case (that of a soap boiler). In the circumstances many Jews soon became nearly destitute and were driven to an alarming degree to crime and vagrancy in their desperation. Moving to the provinces frequently offered a solution to the problem and Baer was perhaps more willing than many to take this step, since he was by then married to Zender Moses' niece and had the prospect of assistance in Falmouth. He had married Esther Elias (c. 1740-c. 1780), the daughter of Elias Elias, who had become a prosperous clothing contractor in London to the Army. Isachar and Esther Baer spent their honeymoon journeying on horseback to Fal? mouth, where Zender Moses duly set up his new nephew as a pedlar, as he did for the other Jewish settlers in Cornwall. Zender also made Isachar adopt a more specifically Jewish 6'The Jews of Falmouth, 1740-1860,' Trans. JHSE, Vol. XVII, p. 63. 7 'The Josephs of Cornwall', a paper read before the Jewish Historical Society of England by Major William Schonfield, 1938.</page><page sequence="9">28 Dr. Anthony P. Joseph patronymic and he took the name of Barnet Levy, which will be used from henceforth. The Elias family, from which Esther came, is worth a brief notice. A brother is said to have entered service with the East India Company and to have ended his days as Governor of the island of St. Helena. Another brother, Hart Elias, had had a good education and succeeded his father in the clothing business. However, he fancied himself in politics and had neither the aptitude nor the ability for commerce. Under his management the business soon declined. For economic necessity he then came to Falmouth to act as tutor to his nephews and nieces (Barnet and Esther Levy's growing family), finally marrying the eldest, Sheba Levy. Being vain and lacking judgment, he was persuaded by his infatuated niece and wife to return to London and try his luck in politics, at which he was no more successful than he had been in business. Sheba Elias, no doubt influenced in her youth by the stories her uncle had told her, was convinced the streets of London were paved with gold. Her disillusion and confrontation with reality were inevitable and they returned again to the West sadder but wiser. A description of Hart Elias denouncing the despotism of the Castlereagh administration was published in New York in 1887 by Israel Solomons (a great-nephew of Hart Elias) in a monograph on the family.8 Consanguineous Marriages The families of the direct descendants of Zender Moses and those of the direct descend? ants of his niece, Esther Levy, multiplied and flourished. At first settled in Cornwall, the expanding branches of the family have spread gradually and have by now become distributed to every part of the globe, including the anti? podes. Over several of the earlier generations members of these families married each other, producing a very complex genealogical situa? tion in which increasingly interrelated cousins contracted ever more consanguineous unions. It is a popular impression that the fertility of such marriages is often impaired but this is in no way borne out by the records of reproduc? tion here. The question of consanguineity and its relationship to fertility has been studied by Professor Darlington and an analysis of the numbers of descendants in this family formed part of his investigation. His conclusion was that in communities where inbreeding has become common, such as Jewish minorities anxious to maintain their cultural identity, fertility in cousin marriages adapts and is not impaired unduly. By contrast, if families not accustomed to such marriages take them up their fertility is indeed frequently depressed.9 Prolific Family With this background I shall now return to a more detailed examination of some of the prolific descendants of Zender Moses. I shall continue my analysis of them with a considera? tion of the issue of his granddaughter Rebecca (Jacob) Woolf. She had eight children, of whom four survived infancy: Eliza Woolf (1808-1850), Rose Woolf, Amelia Woolf, and Bella Woolf (1817-1881). Eliza Woolf married Abraham Joseph (1799-1868), of Plymouth, a grandson of another Abraham Joseph (1731 1794), whose obituary notice in the Gentleman's Magazine quaintly describes him as a 'slop dealer, a Jew who would have done credit to any persuasion such was his honour'.10 This Abraham Joseph senior held a Royal Warrant to supply the Navy in Plymouth, as his con? temporary kinsman, Lemon Hart, did in Penzance. His son, Joseph Joseph (father of Abraham Joseph, who married Eliza Woolf), succeeded him as a holder of the Royal Warrant to supply the Navy but lost the privilege after being adjudicated a bankrupt in 1821. Abraham (junior) and Eliza Joseph had a large family, including Hyman Joseph, Hannah Joseph, who married Henry Nathan, Rose Joseph (1829-1887), who married Leon Solomon (1811-1879), of Dawlish, Henry Joseph (1832-1888), who married Rebecca Lyons (1844-1884), Solomon Joseph (1834 8 'Records of my family', published privately by Israel Solomon, New York, 1887. 9 'Cousin marriage and the evolution of the breeding system in man', Heredity, Vol. 14, p. 297. 10 The Gentleman"s Magazine, 1794, p. 1156.</page><page sequence="10">B Flora Jaoob Baraet Simmons Judith Jacob Isaao Joseph v A Abraham Simmons 1831-1908 Leah Rose Abraham Isaac m Phoebe Joseph ?* Davidson Davidson ' Joseph Rose Barman Bernstein . * Simmons _ 1872-1946 f 1864-1925 1825-1918 Amelia Isaac m* Davidson 1830-90 1 Simmons Laraert Rosetta Goldsmid Davidson 1860-1944 1 861-1954 D f Harry Florence Cohen , Goldsmid 1884- 1886 Arabella Meyer Joseph I * Stadthagen 1804-62 1802-64 Bamet Selina Bamett 1827-1901 Stadthagen 1835 Rebecca Arthur 7' Bamett Charles Bamett</page><page sequence="11">Judith m Isaac Jacob | * Joseph Arabella Meyer * Stadthagen 1802-64 T Joseph 1804-62 Joseph J oseph 1802 it Seiina *tt | * Stadthagen -1901 1835 Fanny Solomon 1815 Solomon Joseph 1837-1939 I Amy Marks Gertrude Mark Joseph /* Nathan 1846-1935 jrthur tarnett r 1846 1936 Julia Joseph 1850 1930 Ann Darling m* Frank Nathan 1875-1962 Ethel Delissa 1877 1973 Montague Delissa 1844-1914 Arthur Bensusan 1869-1959 Florence m Sol Joseph 1' Bar 1856-1945 f Anthony Barnett Michael m Sylvia Beecham 1 * Nathan</page><page sequence="12">Alexander ffl Phoebe Moses |* T Hannah Isaac Moses m* Levy -4v Florence Solomon Joseph ?' Barnett 1856-1 945 r Anthony Barnett I Esther Henry Jaoob "i Harris r Samuel Sarah Jacob m* Levy i *? Samuel Elizabeth Harris m* Levey 1825-64 1829-92 Benjamin Catherine Solomon Selig m* Jacob Levy 1814-72 | 1820 Henry Harris Hannah Solomon Lesser Jacobs 4 * 1851 1911 ^ Isabelle Harris 1861-1951 Phineas Kate Selig B# Mendelson 1856-1941 V Joseph Levy 1834-99 Isabelle Harris Sir Harry Moxham Edith Emil Levy ?" Van Noorden 1869-1936 1869-1933 V Frederick Lang Eileen Van Noorden Lord Adele Rosenheim Rosenheia P.R.C.P. V A</page><page sequence="13">Elias m Elias I * Moses Hannah Isaac Moses i* Levy Joseph Joseph Barnet Levy Esther Elias Samuel Sarah Jacob ?* Levy Lyon Judith Joseph .* Levy A A C ^ Hannah _ Abraham 1775 1825 1774 1846 Levy Joseph -1827 V A &amp; C Benjamin Catherine Solomon m Arabella Selig m* Jacob Levy i * Joseph 1814-72 1820- I 1806-97 V C T Kate Moses Joseph m* Cohen 1803-97 Le Fhineas Kate Selig m* Mendelson Levy 951 1856-1941 1834-99 1 1 1 Joseph Maria r 1799 1879 Davy 1841-1917 Rev, Simeon T Nathan Mathilda Singer Levy , * Cohen 1833-1919 Edith Emil Mabel m Samuel Levy ?" Van Noorden Levy ,* Singer 1869-1936 1869-1933 1874-1946 1872-1949 Charles Singer Lucy Septimus Levy ?" Marks 1?&amp; Eileen Van Noorden Lord Adele Eric Rosenheim Rosenheim m* Van Noorden P.R.C.P. V A Rodolph Phyllis Megroz , Marks 1902 1892-1968 r 1906 Monica Anthony Megroz m* Taylor 1927</page><page sequence="14">Jewry of South-West England and its Australian Connections 29 1900), who married Caroline Cohen (1844 1921), Sarah Joseph (1836-1923), who married the Rev. Raphael Harris (1835-1911), of the Bayswater Synagogue, and Eliza Joseph (1850 1924), who married Eleazar Emdon (1841 1900), the first Jewish Alderman in Devonport. Era of the Goldrush Four of these children later left England and it is a matter for some speculation as to why they all did so. There are several possible reasons but among them must be counted disagreement between Abraham Joseph and his children over a number of matters. Abraham Joseph was not the easiest of fathers and records survive of quarrels he had with his son Solomon. With the birth of the tenth and youngest child (Eliza), Abraham Joseph's wife died in parturition and Abraham subsequently re? married (this time to his first cousin Rosa Joseph). No doubt the demands made upon him by his second family gave him less time for his first and did not help his relationship with it. The eldest son, Hyman Joseph, moved to New Zealand, where it is said his descendants still live.11 Hannah and Henry Nathan left at the same time for South Africa and shortly afterwards the two younger sons, Henry Joseph and Solomon Joseph, decided to settle in Australia. They arrived in Victoria in the 1850s with the goldrush in full spate, joining many other immigrants, both Jewish and non Jewish, attracted by the same prospects. However, the two brothers were not typical of the Jewish arrivals of this period. Mostly the Jews did not perform the actual gold digging or even handle the metal directly. In the main they were involved in the provision of entertainment, hotel accommodation, and supply services to the diggers. Henry Joseph, however, became a gold assayer, a technical expert, and travelled widely in Australia. He died in Gympie, Queensland, leaving three sons, who later all married out of the faith but did not sever every connection with their people. Two of them are buried in the Jewish cemetery of the small Brisbane community and the third, who was only a child at the time 11JAJHS, Vol. 6, Pt. 6, p. 320. of his father's death, was adopted and brought up by his uncle Solomon Joseph, whose journalistic successor he became. This youngest son, Albert Joseph (1875-1947), was interested particularly in education and there is a Chair endowed in his memory at the New England University, Armidale, New South Wales. Solomon Joseph took up journalism shortly after his arrival in Australia and at first he devoted himself specifically to Jewish journal? ism. He edited a paper in Melbourne called The Australian Israelite, which was warmly welcomed by the then Chief Rabbi, Hermann Adler. However, this paper failed for lack of financial support and ceased publication after interminable parochial political wranglings. After this, Solomon Joseph, with the help of his wife's family, bought a paper in Tam worth, New South Wales, where he then settled for the rest of his life. He had married Caroline Cohen, who came from an enterprising and vigorous Jewish family of some interest. Her grandfather, Emanuel Hyman Cohen, was the founder of the Brighton Jewish community and her uncle was Levy Emanuel Cohen, a Brighton journalist of considerable ability. Among her brothers were Nathan Cohen (1842-1910) and Judge Henry Emanuel Cohen (1840-1912), the former a Mayor of Tamworth and the latter one of the most prominent legal personalities in New South Wales. It may be of some interest to students of longevity to note that Nathan Cohen's daughter, Ida Cohen, only died earlier this year [1970] at the age of 102. Solomon Joseph's newspaper in Tamworth is run today by his great-nephew, Harold Joseph (son of Albert Joseph), and there are no likely successors to him from the family. Contributors to Development Solomon and Caroline Joseph had a large family, of whom Hannah Joseph (1872-1940) married Octave Levy (1870-1949), the eighth son of the Hon. L. W. Levy, M.L.C. (1815 1885). This Levy family is very much inter? twined with the history of Australian Jewry and has also made large contributions to general Australian development. Among its</page><page sequence="15">30 Dr. Anthony P. Joseph members are the brothers Barnet and Solomon Levey already mentioned and its genealogy is linked in innumerable different ways with that of the family of Burnett and Sierlah Cohen, who may be regarded as the arch ancestors of Australian Jewry even as Levi Barent Cohen is of Anglo-Jewry. Octave and Hannah Levy's son is Benn Levy*, the play? wright, and one of their grandsons, Stephen Gentilli, is married to a further descendant of Burnett and Sierlah Cohen. Hannah Levy's nephew is Mr. Bill Jessop, of New Jersey, U.S.A., to whom I am much indebted for many of the genealogies I have studied and for much helpful advice in disentangling so many of the complicated ramifications. An? other member of the Levy family in England is Mr. E. J. B. Rose, the Director of the Institute of Race Relations. Of those of Abraham and Eliza Joseph's children who remained in England there are two daughters with Australian connections: Rose Solomon and Sarah Harris. Leon and Rose Solomon are said to have had twenty three children, although by no means all of them survived to maturity.12 One son changed his name to Simpson and became the father of Ernest Simpson (1897-1958), who married Wallis Warfield (now the Duchess of Windsor). Ernest Simpson's nephew, Lt.-Col. Cyril Kerr Smiley, is known to me and he informs me that his own son, Hector Kerr-Smiley, has recently gone to work in Northern Australia. He has also related to me an interesting story concerning a son of Ernest Simpson's by his third marriage. This person, only a quarter Jewish by ancestry, has now changed his name to Aaron Solomon, had himself con? verted to Judaism, and lives on a kibbutz in Israel. Hobart's Synagogue Of the Rev. Raphael and Sarah Harris's family, their daughter, Beatrice Harris (1872 1952), married Charles Lang, and their grand? daughter, Rosemary Lang, has now settled in Hobart, Tasmania, in which town the synagogue, dating from 1844, is now the oldest standing of any such place of Jewish worship that has been in continuous use in Australia. Rosemary Lang descends through her mother, Eileen (nee Van Noorden), from Barnet and Esther Levy: Eileen Van Noorden was a granddaughter of Arabella Levy (the daughter of Lyon and Judith Joseph). The Rev. Raphael and Sarah Harris's grandson, Stanley Harris, married his kinswoman, Beatrice Halsted, of the Hallenstein family. This and the closely allied family of Michaelis have played an important part in Australian Jewry and have linked with many other major Australian Jewish families. Connections with New Zealand Eliza (Woolf) Joseph's sister, Bella Woolf, married her kinsman, Markes Levy (1812? 1877), a grandson of Barnet and Esther (Elias) Levy, and a clockmaker in Plymouth. Markes and Bella Levy had a large family, including Ellen Levy, who married Frank Lyons (1845 1922) (a Warden of the Hampstead Synagogue), Asher Levy (1852-1924), who married his cousin Bessie Simmons, Abraham Levy, who married Caroline Emdon (Eleazar Emdon's sister), and Bernard Levy, who married Fanny Isaacs. Among the descendants of Frank and Ellen Lyons are Austen Albu, M.P.,* the War? burg publishing family, and a grandson, Geoffrey Hillier-Holt (1893-1951), who mar? ried Vera Samuel (a granddaughter of Sir Saul Samuel, 1820-1900, one of the foremost men in Australia, a leading politician, the first Australian Jewish baronet, and sometime Agent General in London for New South Wales). Vera Samuel's father, Edward Samuel (1862-1937), married Rachel Cohen, who was a daughter of Abraham Cohen and Leah (nee Mandelson), both families related to Burnett and Sierlah Cohen already mentioned. Asher and Bessie Levy's son, Mark Levy (1879? 1960), emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand, where his descendants live today. Another recent settler in Wellington is Valerie (Levy) Minn, wife of Professor Gayford Minn, and a * Mr. Albu ceased to be an M.P. in February 1974. * Benn Levy died on 7 December 1973, aged 73. 12 Personal communication from Mr. Bill Jessop, New Jersey, U.S.A.</page><page sequence="16">Jewry of South-West England and its Australian Connections 31 granddaughter of Abraham and Caroline Levy. Lastly, for the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that Sidney Levy, son of Bernard and Fanny Levy, has settled in Melbourne. In the Capital Cities Modern Australian Jewry lives almost exclusively in the State capitals, predominantly Melbourne and Sydney, between which it is roughly evenly divided. Communities exist in the other States' capital cities and in some of the larger towns but less than 15 % of the total of Australian Jewry live there. However, it was not always like this and in every State there are traces of Jewish communities that flourished formerly in smaller country towns. The congregations of the capital cities (except Brisbane and Perth) became established and consolidated between 1830 and 1850 and then, with the goldrush, communities sprang up in many smaller places. These latter had their heyday in the 1850s and 1860s, after which they mostly declined but at varying rates. Where there are Jews still to be found in such areas it is as a result of independent fresh movements to them in modern times. Despite the fact that the Jews have never numbered more than 0-57% of the total Australian population at any time, their contribution to the nation's development and welfare has been out of all proportion to their numerical strength. In areas of rapid local development, such as the goldrush towns of the 1850s and 1860s, many Jews have played prominent parts and have taken a leading role in the civic life of the towns. Although Solomon and Henry Joseph were not typical of the Jews who arrived in the goldrush period, many of their cousins who came at the same time were very much so. For Solomon and Henry Joseph's grandmother, Rebecca (Jacob) Woolf, had eleven brothers and sisters, of whom five have been ancestors of antipodean settlers. The youngest sister, Flora Jacob (1790-1874), married Rabbi Barnett Asher Simmons (1784-1860) and joined her sister by settling in Penzance. Rabbi Simmons ministered to the Penzance commun ity over many years but he was a fiery and quick-tempered man and his incumbency was broken a number of times by quarrels with the congregation.13 Barnett and Flora Simmons had a large family, descendants of whom are now liberally scattered in many parts of England (a substantial contingent living in Birmingham), in Australia, in New Zealand, and in South Africa. Their family included a daughter who married J. B. Rintel (the predominant mohel of his time in the West Country), Moses Simmons (the father of Bessie Simmons, who married her cousin Asher Levy, as mentioned earlier), Abraham Simmons (1831-1908), who married Leah Alman, and Amelia Simmons (1825-1918), who married her cousin Isaac Davidson (1830 1890). Abraham and Leah Simmons settled in Ballarat, Victoria, during the goldrush, where they took a leading part in civic affairs and those of Jewish development. The marriage of their son, Hyman Simmons (1864-1925), to Rose Bernstein in 1890 was the first between a Ballarat-born Jewish couple. Widespread Connections The eldest sister of Rebecca Woolf and Flora Simmons was Judith Jacob (1768-1849), who married Isaac Joseph. Their family consisted of two daughters, Rosa and Phoebe, who married two brothers, respectively Abra? ham and Isaac Davidson, another daughter, Arabella Joseph (1802-1864), who married the Rev. Meyer Stadthagen (1804-1862), Reader to the Plymouth Synagogue, and a son, Joseph Joseph, who married Fanny Solomon, a relative of Lemon Hart's wife. Abraham and Rosa Davidson's son, another Isaac Davidson, in fact married his cousin Amelia Simmons (as has been mentioned). The Davidson pairs and their Simmons cousins emigrated to Victoria at the time of the goldrush but Isaac and Amelia Davidson later left the area and settled in Sydney, where many of their numerous descendants now live. One of their granddaughters, Florence Goldsmid, married !3 Extract from Jewish Chronicle supplement, May 1933, 'Penzance, decline and fall of an Anglo Jewish community'.</page><page sequence="17">32 Dr. Anthony P. Joseph Harry Cohen, another descendent of Burnett and Sierlah Cohen, and returned to Melbourne. Remarkable Longevity Joseph and Fanny Joseph had a large family in Plymouth and decided to follow the example of their sisters and close cousins by moving to Melbourne at the time of the goldrush. Among their children were Phoebe Joseph, who married a Van Nirop, Solomon Joseph (1837? 1939), who married Amy Marks, Gertrude Joseph (1846-1935), who married Mark Nathan (1846-1936), Julia Joseph (1850 1930), who married Montague de Lissa (1844 1914), and Florence Joseph (1851-1946), who married Solomon Barnett. The chief characteristics of this family have been remark? able longevity (several nonagenarians have appeared in each generation and Solomon Joseph just mentioned died at the age of 102) and a desire to get off the beaten track and break new ground. Several members of this family roamed the South Pacific islands as traders or mineral prospectors and rarely have any two generations remained settled in the same area. The descendants have now spread around Australia, migrated to Canada and several parts of South America, and in some cases returned to England. Mark and Gertrude Nathan's granddaughter is married to a nephew of Sir Thomas Beecham; Solomon and Florence Barnett's grandson is Professor Anthony Barnett, of Glasgow University; many other relatives have displayed more than average artistic or intellectual talent. Among Montague and Julia de Lissa's large family is Mrs. Ethel Bensusan, still very much alert and active at the age of nearly 94. She is the oldest living graduate of Sydney University and in fact she was the eleventh female student to be admitted to the University. Recently the Women's College of the University has done her the honour of naming a suite of rooms after her.* Moves to New Zealand Meyer and Arabella Stadthagen remained in Plymouth while all Arabella Stadthagen's brothers and sisters left for Australia. The Stadthagens had four daughters, all of whom married and produced large families but the descendants of whom for the most part have remained in England. A few have settled in America and parts of Africa but I know of one line only which is said to have settled in Aus? tralia and no trace of this line has yet been discovered.14 However, the spiritual influence of the Rev. Mr. Stadthagen himself upon Australia may perhaps have been greater than those of his issue. A pupil of his was the Rev. Benjamin Aaron Selig (1814-1872), who was married to Arabella Stadthagen's cousin, Catherine Jacob (a daughter of Samuel Jacob (1777-1860), of Falmouth). It will be remem? bered that Arabella Stadthagen and Catherine Selig were also nieces of Flora Simmons and it is thus not too surprising that the Rev. Benjamin Selig went to Penzance and studied with Rabbi Simmons there. While at Penzance he received and accepted a call to a congrega? tion in Melbourne and from there moved late in life to the new Canterbury Hebrew Congregation established at Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand. After Benjamin Selig's death his widow returned to Melbourne with her family, but one son, Phineas Selig (1856-1941), stayed in New Zealand. Like his cousin Solomon Joseph in Tamworth, Phineas Selig took up journalism but he became a prominent sports writer at first and later a newspaper proprietor. He became the proprietor of the Christchurch Press and the first President of the New Zealand Newspaper Proprietors' Association. Many Selig relatives still live in Australia and New Zealand but not all of them are associated with the Jewish community. Prominent Families Another sister of Rebecca (Jacob) Woolf was Esther Jacob (1784-1871), who married Henry Harris (1787-1872). They settled in Truro and had a large family, descendants of whom are now dispersed in many countries, 14 Personal communications from Mr. Lucien Isaacs, London, and Mr. David Pappe, Chicago. * Mrs. Bensusan died on 15 October 1973, aged 96.</page><page sequence="18">c Elias '* Elias Hart Elias Sheva Levy -1850 Lyon Joseph Hannah Joseph Moses Levin Judith Levy Mathilda Benjamin Moseley m* Joseph J -1876 I 1791-1877 Louis Levy Isobel Levin 1839 1926 Frederick Isaac 1827-1915 Amy Levy 1861 1888 1 ,1 Sarah Levin 1838 1915 Barnet Betsy Joseph 1 * Jacob 1801-80 I 1801-89 r Barn Jose Robert Joseph 1845 1902 Clara Mier Marks 1836 58 Joseph 1829-96 Isobel Isaac 1865 1946 Ernest Jes3el 1858 1914 Rebecca Joseph 1835 1919 Rachel Joseph 1831 -91 13 Edward Higham I'? Emmie Isaac 866 970 Alexander v r Lionel Levin Joeeph 1828-91 1826 1905 Edward Beatrice V Adelaide Harry i 1?1 r rrv V Lionel! ^ Fl Joseph 1868 1953 Poland Harris 1871 1947 Joseph 1873 1946 LioneM Levin 1 1862 1933 &gt; Selina Henry Moss j* Joseph 1965 1895 1938 Arthur Joseph 1 1905 1974 Margaret Montague Eva Hooker m# Joseph m* Hartstein 1926-62 Edna Gleiberman 1911-66 ll Fl Jo 18 Amelia Oswald Anthony Jane Joseph m 1937 1; MindelsLsohn 938</page><page sequence="19">Elias Elias Es the Elias Ahraham Joseph Hannah Levy met b Betsy seph j * Jacob 01-80 I 1801-89 Barnet Fanny Joseph | ' Moses ecca eph 5 19 Rachel m. Alexander r. Bella Woolf Joseph 1831 -91 Levin 1828-91 Lionel Joseph 1826 1905 Katie Joseph 1842 1912 l Abrl Markes Levy Rebecca Jo; Levy m* Ml 1824-73 18' 1 Abraham Levy m' Adelaide Harry Harris j* Joseph 1871- 1873 I 1 i o rrv V Lionel*! y Flore 1947 1946 Lioneil m* Levin 1 1862- - 1933 ) Arthur Edna m. - . a Joseph Florence J oseph 1872 1953 William Schonfield 1869-1946 Caroline Fanny Bernard 'Emdon Isaacs m# Levy T Percy Levy 1 1882-1968 1905 1974 Crleiberman 1911-66 Amelia Oswald r Mill i cent Leon Sidney Levy Frank ] Lyons a* 1 1845 1922 Beatrioe Lyons 1879 1965 Hugh Schonfield 1901 _ Helen Gayford M Valerie m' ^ Minn m* ' ? r Cohn Levy Rose Au Marks , Al 1905-56 19 Anthony Joseph 1937 I' Jane MindelsLsohn 938</page><page sequence="20">Esther Barnet Elias m* Levy T Abraham Levy T Zipporah Benjamin Markes Levy Rebecca m Joseph Levy ,* Michaels 1824-73 1813-88 Frederick Levy 1817-70 Bernard Levy T Frank Ellen Lyons * 1845 1922 Rosa Myers 1826-90 Sir Saul Samuel 1820 1900 Abraham Cohen 1820-1901 Levy Abraham Levy v Leah Mandelson Caroline Levy 1820-84 Henr Nath 1817 9 Edward m Rachel Samuel i* Cohen 1862 1937 Sidney Levy Beatrioe Ferdinand y Hillier Florence Lyons mf Albu Holt * Lyons 1879- | 1861-1930 1873-1952 1965 I 1958 Phoebe Cohen 1861 1943 Louis Nathan 1850 1918 John Mathil Moss m* Nathan 1851-1 Laura Nathan 1886 A. E. Mortimer Woolf 1957 1884-15 Rose Austin Marie Marks , Albu m' Jahoda 1905-56 I 1903 May Holt 1901 Frederick " Warburg 1898 T Geoffrey Holt (Hillier-Holt) 1891-1953 Vera Samuel 1893</page><page sequence="21">Betsy Solomon Levy a# Solomon 1754 1819 1757 1832 Joel Levy 1831 Lbraham ohen 820-1901 IT Leah Mandel3on Caroline Levy 1820-84 Henry Nathan 1817 95 Rachel Joseph -1830 Julia Mayer v Israel Levy |* Blanckensee Solomon 1801-57 j 1807-85 1803 Esther David Levy |" Isaacs 1812-79 Phoebe Louis * Nathan Cohen 1861 1943 1850 1918 John Mathilda Moss i* Nathan 1851-1942 Abraham Celia Blanckensee i* Warradyce 1848-1918 I 1850-84 1 Leah Dutch 1856 1938 Laura Nathan 1886 A. E. Mortimer Woolf 1957 1884-1S Percy Esther Abrahams .* Blanckensee 1870- I 1874-1939 1944 t Barnet Isaacs (Haysack) -Holt) 3 Vera Samuel 1893 Esther Haysack 1885 1948 Keith Abrahams 1904 1 Henry Harbury 1878 1950 Colin Harbury 1922</page><page sequence="22">Jewry of South-West England and its Australian Connections 33 including Australia. Their son, Samuel Harris (1825-1864), left for Victoria during the gold rush period and married Elizabeth Levey, a niece of Barnet Levey and Solomon Levey. Samuel and Elizabeth Harris had a large family, descendants of whom live in Sydney today. One of their daughters married Lesser Jacobs (1851-1911), of the Rypinski Jacobs family, which is related to some of the most prominent Jewish families in the antipodes, including Sir Ernest Davis, of Auckland, and Sir Isaac Isaacs (the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia). A grand? daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Harris married Sir Harry Moxham, a former president of the Australian Dental Association. The remaining as yet unmentioned brother of Rebecca (Jacob) Woolf with Australian descendants was Jacob Jacob (1774-1853), who married his first cousin, Sarah Simon (1778 1846). Jacob Jacob remained in Falmouth and succeeded his father as President of the Fal? mouth Hebrew Congregation. Strictly Ortho? dox till the end of his life, he was the leading communal figure of his day and was succeeded in his turn as President of the Congregation by his son Moss Jacob (1812-1860). Moss Jacob married Frances Emanuel (1812-1875), who came from an interesting Portsmouth family, details of which have been given to this Society by Cecil Roth in a paper on Portsmouth Jewry.15 Some of the Emanuel family have found their way to Australia and were pioneers and staunch Jews in the town of Goulburn, New South Wales. End of Penzance Story Moss and Frances Jacob had a large family and among their descendants a granddaughter, Anna Jacob (1879-1935), married Ernest Halsted, from the Hallenstein family that has been mentioned before. It is their daughter, Beatrice Halsted, who married her relative Stanley Harris, as I mentioned earlier. Moss Jacob had a large number of brothers and sisters, of whom Amelia Jacob (1811-1891) married her kinsman, Henry Joseph (1806 1881), and settled with him in Penzance. They had a large family but few of whom remained in Penzance and by the end of the last century, with their final disappearance from the area, the story of England's most westerly Jewish community virtually ended. Two sons, Barnet Joseph (1833-1907) and Joseph Joseph (1851? 1913), married their first cousins, Isabelle Blanckensee (1839-1912) and Emily Jacob (1851-1937) respectively, and became pro? minent members of the Birmingham Jewish community. Their descendants are now widely scattered across the world but a large number are still in the Birmingham area, although by no means all of them still Jewish. A son of Barnet and Isabelle Joseph was George Joseph (1875-1955), who married a scion from the Melbourne family of Flegel taub, and their daughter, Irene Joseph, now Mrs. Irene Schultz, lives in Gunnedah, New South Wales, where she actively supports the Australian Jewish Historical Society. Intensive Inbreeding The early Jewish families that were settled in Cornwall practised moderately intensive inbreeding, as has been mentioned and amply illustrated in considering the descendants of Zender Moses. However, this phenomenon is not confined to Cornish Jewry as such and is in fact a characteristic of any minority community anxious to maintain its identity within a larger group. The descendants of Zender Moses' niece, Esther Levy, have been cited as the source of cousins in many cases for marriages with his own descendants. How? ever, there have been other members of this latter family who have also been associated with Australia and who have often indulged in cousin marriage but not to quite the same extent as their relatives mentioned earlier. At this point they merit some attention too. Barnet and Esther Levy's family included Sheba Levy (1766-1850), who married her uncle, Hart Elias, Betsy Levy (1767-1832), who married Solomon Solomon (1744-1819), Joel Levy, who married Rachel Joseph, Judith Levy (1774-1846), who married Rachel Joseph's brother, Lyon Joseph (1775-1825), 15 'The Portsmouth community and its historical background,' Trans. JHSE, Vol. XIII, p. 157.</page><page sequence="23">34 Dr. Anthony P. Joseph Hannah Levy, who married another brother, Abraham Joseph, and Abraham Levy (1779 1834), who married Zipporah Benjamin (1781 1860). The three Joseph brothers and sister were half-siblings to Isaac Joseph, who married Judith Jacob. Solomon and Betsy Solomon were the ancestors of a prolific American family and their son, Israel Solomon, is the New York pamphleteer who published a description of his uncle Hart Elias. Joel and Rachel Levy remained in Plymouth, whence their daughter, Esther Levy, married the Rev. Professor David Isaacs (1812-1879), who was the first Anglo Jewish trained minister as such and the first such person to preach his sermons regularly in English. He ministered to congregations first in Liverpool and later Manchester, in which city many of his numerous descendants now live. On one line of his descent may be mentioned an Australian connection through his great-grandson, Colin Harbury, of Birming? ham, a lecturer in economics at the University, who had previously spent several years at Monash University, Melbourne.* Settlers in Birmingham Abraham and Zipporah Levy, too, remained in Plymouth and produced a large family, including Barnet Levy, who emigrated to New Zealand and of whom all trace has been lost, Julia Levy (1809-1858), who married Mayer Blanckensee (1807-1885), Aaron Levy (1811 1860), who married Rosetta Myers, Markes Levy, who married Bella Woolf (as has been mentioned), Frederick Levy (1817-1870), who married Rosa Myers (1826-1890), Caroline Levy (1820-1884), who married Henry Nathan (1817-1895), and Rebecca Levy (1824-1873), who married Joseph Michael (1813-1888). Mayer and Julia Blanckensee came to Birming? ham and among their numerous descendants is Keith Abrahams, the present president of the Birmingham Stock Exchange, f Frederick and Rosa Levy's son, Abraham Levy, migrated to Timaru, New Zealand, and, like his uncle Barnet Levy, no trace has been found of him since. Henry and Caroline Nathan left Plymouth and settled in Birmingham and of their family Louis Nathan (1850-1918) married Phoebe Cohen (1861-1943), a sister of Rachel Samuel and thus a descendant too of Burnett and Sierlah Cohen, and Mathilda Nathan (1851-1942) married John Moss. Louis and Phoebe Nathan settled in Australia but their daughter, Laura Nathan (now Mrs. Laura Mortimer Woolf) returned to England and lives in Loughton, where she has compiled a magnificent dossier on the Cohen family and to whom I am greatly indebted for much of my source of material. John and Mathilda Moss settled in New Zealand but most of their descendants have now returned to England again. Joseph and Rebecca Michael had a large family including a daughter who migrated to South Africa, where her numerous descend? ants now live and several others who married within the other branches of the family. Synagogue at Falmouth Lyon and Judith Joseph remained in Fal? mouth, where Lyon Joseph took a leading part in Jewish communal matters. Various pre? mises for synagogal purposes were rented in Falmouth from 1766 but by the beginning of the last century the congregation was sufficiently self-assured to plan specifically its own new synagogue. Lyon Joseph was the driving force behind the efforts to build it and in 1807 his hard work was rewarded when a site was chosen on a hill overlooking the harbour. The synagogue was built and consecrated there the following year and it is said that Lyon Joseph was able to use the vantage point to watch his ships arriving and leaving while he was at his devotions.16 However, if this is true it did not benefit his trading, which suffered heavy losses, and in 1815 he retired to Bath, where he died a broken man. The Falmouth synagogue remained as such until 1892 when the congregation was finally wound up and the building sold to defray expenses. It then became a warehouse and has remained 16 'Some old provincial Jewries', Jewish Chronicle, 22 July 1910. * Colin Harbury is now (1974) Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, City University, London. f Mr. Abrahams retired in 1973.</page><page sequence="24">Jewry of South-West England and its Australian Connections 35 so ever since, but I must report that two years ago, on the second day Rosh Hashana 5729, its original religious purpose was revived. My family and I were on holiday in Cornwall and we obtained permission from its owners to enter it in order to say a few prayers and blow an improvised shofar. I felt this brief flicker of Jewish activity in Falmouth to be a fitting tribute to the memory of my ancestors and the other Jews who had lived there. A report of our visit appeared subsequently in the Jewish Chronicle and the Birmingham Jewish Recorder. Lyon and Judith Joseph had a large family, including Barnet Joseph (1801-1880), who married Betsy Jacob (1801-1889), Hannah Joseph, who married Moses Levin, Arabella Joseph (1803-1897), who married her kinsman, Solomon Levy, Kate Joseph (1811-1897), who married Moses Cohen (1799-1879), and Henry Joseph (1815-1899), who married Maria Samuel (1816-1897). Solomon and Arabella Levy had an enorm? ous family and their descendants are spread widely across the world. A granddaughter, Edith Levy (1869-1956), married Emil Van Noorden (1869-1933). Their son, Eric Van Noorden, married a sister of Lord Rosenheim (Principal of the Royal College of Physicians) and their daughter, Eileen Van Noorden, married her kinsman Frederick Lang, as I have mentioned, and are the parents of Rose? mary Lang, of Hobart, Tasmania. Edith Van Noorden's sister, Mabel Levy (1874-1946), married Samuel Singer (1872-1949), a son of the Rev. Simeon Singer, and settled in New Zealand after a brief stay in South Africa. Most of the descendants of this family now live in Auckland but a few have spread to some of the near-by smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean. Another son of the Rev. Simeon Singer was Charles Singer, a well-known medical historian. In the latter part of his life he retired to Corn? wall, thus in a sense reversing the tide of Jewish migration away from the area. "Pickles" as Capital Moses and Kate Cohen's family included a daughter, Mathilda Cohen, who married Nathaniel Levy (1833-1919), who came from a very wandering Jewish family. Two of his brothers had settled in Australia and Nathaniel Levy himself at first visited California before being persuaded to join his brothers in Aust? ralia. It is said that the brothers told Nathaniel to import his capital to Australia in the form of pickles for which (they said) there was a good local market. Nathaniel Levy later returned to England, having lost virtually all his capital.17 His daughter, Lucy Levy (1873-1965), married Septimus Marks, who was a member of a very well-connected Australian family and with many genealogical links into the family of Burnett and Sierlah Cohen. Septimus and Lucy Marks's granddaughter, Monica Megroz, married Anthony Taylor and they settled in Wellington, where he lectures in forensic psychiatry at the University. From Poetess to Centenarian Moses and Hannah Levin had a large family, including Isobel Levin (1839-1928), who married Louis Levy, and Sarah Levin (1838-1915), who married Frederick Isaacs (1827-1915). Among Louis and Isobel Levy's family are their daughters Amy Levy (1861 1889), the poetess, and Kate Levy (1860-1953), who married a relative of Sir Julian Salomons (1836-1909), an eminent New South Wales lawyer and later Agent General in London for the Colony in succession to Sir Saul Samuel. Among Frederick and Sarah Isaacs' family are a daughter who married into the Jessel family, another daughter who married Alfred Levy (Nathaniel Levy's brother), and a daughter who died only a few months ago aged 104. Barnet and Betsy Joseph left Falmouth for Bristol, where Barnet Joseph became President of the Bristol Hebrew Congregation at the age of 24. Later they moved to Liverpool and here Barnet Joseph was one of the prime movers in the foundation of the Hope Place Congregation. Finally they retired to Birmingham, where they died. They had a very large family, of whom a daughter, Rebecca Joseph (1835-1919), mar 17 Personal communication from Mr. Stephen Pike, London.</page><page sequence="25">36 Dr. Anthony P. Joseph ried Ephraim Joseph (1829-1896), who came from Swansea and was the grandson of the founder of the Hebrew Congregation there. Another daughter, Rachel Joseph (1831-1891), married Alexander Levin (1828-1891), from Penzance, and their son, Lionel Barnet Levin (1862-1933), settled in Tonga. Here he contracted native liaisons resulting in two half-sisters (to each other), also half-Tongan and half-Jewish. These ladies are now living in retirement in Auckland, New Zealand, from where I have had letters from them both. The elder, Amelia Oswald, is nearly 90 and writes of her father in the most affectionate terms. Ephraim and his half-brothers had been in Australia and the brothers remained although Ephraim himself came home. One half brother, Robert Joseph (1845-1902), founded the Volunteer Defence movement. It is said that the brothers, who were clockmakers, built Melbourne Town Hall clock. However, my investigations on the spot revealed that the clock was modern, although I was told that the initial mechanism had been put into a suburban church clock. After some difficulty I located the clock and climbed the tower on a very hot Australian summer day. To my bitter disappointment the clock bore a label that it had been made in Scotland and shipped out directly; the origins of the family legend are still a puzzle to me but assuredly it is a legend. By Motorbike to Singapore A great-grandson of Ephraim and Rebecca Joseph, Montague Joseph (1925-1962), migra? ted to Australia by riding a motorcycle across Europe and Asia and then catching a boat from Singapore. Although his method of transport was unusual, Montague Joseph to some extent reflected a modern phenomenon that the Australian Government uses very effectively for its own purposes. Australia is a large country with a small population. It needs people and encourages migration to it especially from England, with whom its ties of history and culture are the closest. Many Jews have been included in the migrants who have reached Australia by assisted passage since World War II. However, it may be noted that these modern Jewish migrants travelled voluntarily and in much greater comfort than their unfortunate coreligionists of a hundred and fifty years before. Since the existence of the State of Israel the Jewish migration to Australia has decreased but still occurs. Barnet and Betsy Joseph's three sons, incidentally, emigrated to the Vancouver area of Canada in the 1840s, where they lived rough lives in the developing timber-growing trade of that part. Later they returned home, where one of them, Lionel Joseph (1826-1905), married his second cousin, Katie Joseph (1842-1912), and among their grandchildren is Dr. Hugh Schonfield, the author and Biblical scholar. Dr. Schonfield's father, William Schonfleld, read a paper before this Society in 1938, from which I obtained much material.18 World-wide Links Abraham and Hannah Joseph, brother and sister respectively of Lyon and Judith Joseph, also remained in Falmouth and their children were Barnet Joseph, who married Fanny Moses, Joseph Joseph (1791-1872), who mar? ried Phoebe Alexander (a relative of Lemon Hart), Henry Joseph, who married Amelia Jacob (as has been mentioned and also their descendants), Esther Joseph, who married Noah Solomon (1796-1876), and Julia Joseph (1809-1858), who married Solomon Blancken? see (1801-1864). Barnet and Fanny Joseph's daughter, Katie Joseph, married her second cousin, Lionel Joseph, as mentioned, and I have also discussed already the important descendants of Henry and Amelia Joseph. Solomon and Julia Blanckensee came to Birmingham, where many of their prolific descendants still live. Their daughter, Isabelle Blanckensee, married her cousin Barnet Joseph (as mentioned earlier), and through several of their other children they have large numbers of descendants in parts of both North and South America and in South Africa. Several Blanc? kensee descendants married members of the Benjamin family of Melbourne, which family includes Sir Benjamin Benjamin and many 18 See footnote 7.</page><page sequence="26">D Emartuel H. Cohen r Henry Cohen Levy Cohen Abraham Sophia Cohen ,* Cohen 1812-74 I 1816-82 I I f Eleazar Levey Henry Cohen B 1840-1912 T Hannah Cohen Solomon Harks Benjamin Martha Levy ,* Levey Nathan Esther Cohen m* Solomon 1842-1910 Caroline Cohen Solomon Joseph Lewis Julia Levy i * Solomon 1815-85 4v Ida Cohen 1867 1970 v A I Hannah Joseph lave Adolph Gentilli Oo Levy Samuel ] Levy (Eliot Lewis) T Madge Levy Ernest Julia Rose ** Lewis 1 Jim Rose Jean St Edgar Ge</page><page sequence="27">Eloazar _ m. Levey , amln Martha m* Levey Sierlah Burnett Levey m* Cohen 1779 1857 Lewis Julia Levy i* Solomon 1815-85 /TV David Cohen Julia Nathan Nathan Mandelson .rtv Julia Lewis T Rose ffl Neville Levy I" Cohen 1 David Miriam Marks ,' Mandelson i i r Jean Edgar Horace Hero Cohen i * Marks (Cullen) Susan Leah B Ahraham Mandelson &gt;* Cohen &lt;/ C Stephan Gentilli M* Cullen</page><page sequence="28">Judah Levey .' Franoes Levey 1783 1857 Lyon * Marks Solomon Baroet Isaac Levey Levey Levey m 1796- 1798 1833 1860 Jane ffi Hyman Cohen ,* Hyman Leah Abraham Mandelson * * Cohen Jacob Marks 1819-96 v C Sierlah Henry Hyman P* Cohen 1855-98 r Susannah Levey V Elisabeth ^ Samuel Levey }* Harris B Lucy Septimus Levy . " Marks Florence Harry Goldamid m* Cohen 1</page><page sequence="29">Jewry of South-West England and its Australian Connections 37 interrelated links with the family of Burnett and Sierlah Cohen. At this point I feel that I have indicated sufficiently the links between Jewry of Devon and Cornwall and that of Australia. However, I should like to conclude by mentioning briefly another descendant from these Cornish Jewish families who has much more recently acquired strong Australian connections: namely, myself. For many years my genealogical delvings revealed numerous relatives who had settled in Australia and my interest in the continent was thus aroused. At the end of 1962 the opportunity arose to visit and work in Sydney; and my wife and I sailed for this destination on board the Canberra. A disastrous fire occurred while the ship was in the Mediterran? ean and we limped into Malta thankful not to have been blown up into the sea. The rest of our journey was uneventful by aeroplane and throughout 1963 I was able to research personally into many branches of my family hitherto merely vague names to me. Some of the results of this work you have heard this evening. Since my return to England I have kept up a voluminous correspondence with Australia, which correspondence increased sharply after 1965, when Cecil Roth left Oxford for Jeru? salem and I was appointed to succeed him as Corresponding Member for Great Britain of the Australian Jewish Historical Society. At the end of 1969 I was asked also to become the United Kingdom representative of the Society of Australian Genealogists. It is my hope that these personal associations with Australia will continue for many years yet and that in this service I am reflecting the strong ties that have been developed over the years between England and Australia, ties that I hope I have illustrated in an historical connection by this discussion of my own complex West Country family's contribution to Australian development. Historic Graveyard Also at the very end of last year [1969], on 31 December, I visited Plymouth to further my genealogical studies on my family and learn more about the Jewish community there and its history. Thanks to the courtesy of congregation officers and of my relatives, I was able to see, among other things, the old Jewish cemetery on the Hoe where lie buried many of my ancestors and family whom I have mentioned this evening. In fact, this historic graveyard, which is an important monument of Plymouth Jewry, is now in a deplorable condition and I felt that it should be restored to its former dignity. The Plymouth community shared that feeling and after discussions with the officers of the congregation I initiated an appeal among my relatives all over the world to raise money for this purpose. The response has been generous and funds have been received from all parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand. The Plymouth community itself will of course support this venture and it is hoped shortly that renovation will be started. However, there is still scope for more donations and the appeal is still open; members of this Society in particular might feel they wish to contact me. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To Mrs. R. G. Bettinson, for secretarial help, including many hours' patient typing of the final draft. To Mrs. O'Donogue, of the Department of Medicine, Birmingham Uni? versity, and to the Staff of the Department of Medical Photography, Birmingham Children's Hospital, for help in preparing the genealogical tables and for making the slides of them used in the lecture. To Mr. Alan Hersh for two photographs of the Falmouth old synagogue and its environment. To my wife, Mrs. Jane Joseph, for innumerable suggestions, comments, criticisms, and advice given at all stages; and especially for her forbearance and patience during many long evenings and late nights while this article was being written.</page></plain_text>