St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections

<plain_text><page sequence="1">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections* CLAIRE HILTON Very few British institutions can claim eight centuries of history; and even fewer the involvement of Jewish people during five of these centuries. St Bar? tholomew's Hospital, also known as Bart's, was founded in the year 1123 by the monk Rahere, on the marshes outside London. Today, still on the same site, it is one of the major teaching hospitals and centres for medical research in this country. During the three periods of Anglo-Jewish history, Pre-expulsion (1066-1290), Middle (1290-1656) and Modern (1656-today) Jewish people have been active within the life of the hospital as patients, financiers, benefactors, governors, medical students and doctors, and to a lesser extent as nurses and paramedics. Even what is described in this paper is an underestimate of their involvement since I have included only people whose Jewishness has been confirmed either by the hospital records stating the religion or from some outside source. The Pre-expulsion Period The first mention of Jews at Bart's is in a biography of the Prior Rahere, written by an Augustinian canon about the year 1180,1 more a spiritual history of the founder of the hospital than a detailed historical work. Rahere died in 1143, so the incident must have occurred before that date. We are told that 'A Certeyne man'2 took from the church of St Bartholomew an antiphonary, a book of church choral music. Since 'ther was nat at that tyme grete plente of bokys', when the book was not found Rahere was informed. That night St Bar? tholomew appeared to Rahere and told him to ride into the Jews' street, and at the house where the horse stopped he would find the book. 'Rayer yn the mornynge, slyd owte of his bedde and diligently all that was commaunde hym he executid and with the ennemyes of pees he spake pesibly And the boke that he sowghte he fownde.' The phrase 'ennemyes of pees' as a term to describe the Jews may not be meant literally; 'pees' is a translation from the Latin pax which may also be used to mean crucifix.3 It seems unlikely that a Jew would have gone into a church to steal a book. Indeed, one doubts that the author would have described the thief merely as 'A Certeyne man' if this had been the case or * Paper presented to the Society on 11 February 1988. 21</page><page sequence="2">Claire Hilton even suspected. It is more likely that a Christian took it and pawned it to the Jew, who may have been unaware of its nature. Indeed, it was common for Jews to take articles on pledge, and it was not until 1201 that they were forbidden to accept Church items.4 The Jew in our story may have felt uneasy about possessing Church property, and on finding that the book was a Christian religious text he may have been only too pleased to have it removed from his house. A similar Jewish story exists. Iggeret Shabbat, written by Abraham Ibn Ezra while he was in England, relates a dream in which he was told by a heavenly messenger that a blasphemous book had been placed in his house. On awakening he went at once to find it.5 The Ibn Ezra story dates from 1158, between Rahere's death and the writing of his biography: the stories have remarkable similarities, and perhaps derive from a common source. Whatever the truth about the story of Rahere and his antiphonary, it allows us a glimpse into the thoughts about Jews of an early-medieval Church author. It was also on the financial scene that medieval Jews were involved with Bart's. In 1235 Robert Passelewe settled a large debt owed to Aaron son of Abraham, and Deusentreus his son, in exchange for houses and land given to him by the hospital. Robert Passelewe must have thought the deal to have been well worthwhile as he also gave 50 marks to the hospital, in thanks for the property.6 Other Jews' names recorded in the Cartulary of the hospital include Samuel son of Aron Blundus 7 and Piyon Grossus.8 Avigdor son of the honourable Reb Aaron signs his name in Hebrew on a Hebrew starr dated 1249 (Plate i).9 The document is translated as follows: I, the undersigned, fully acknowledge that I have released the debt of 40 pence which is in the name of Laurence of Leicester and William the priest payable on St John in the thirty-fourth year of the reign of our lord King Henry son of King John to the master of the house of Ba[rtholome]w from me, from my heirs and from my representatives, and what I have acknowledged I have signed. Avigdor son of the Honourable R. Aaron. Sadly, most of the financial documentation of the monastery did not survive Henry VIII's dissolution in the sixteenth century. What we have today?the records of the hospital?survived only because even in the early days the hospital and the monastery functioned as separate entities. The relationship between the Jews and the hospital in the Middle Ages was almost completely financial. This is not surprising, since at that time the hospital would have functioned as a hostel offering hospitality to the sick and needy, and would have been staffed by the monks. The 'patients' would all have been very poor, since anyone with money would have been cared for at home, and the Jews would have been cared for by their own community. Indeed, Bart's kept its doors open specifically for the poorest members of society until the second 22</page><page sequence="3">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections Plate i A starr of 1249, mentioning St Bartholomew's Hospital. decade of the twentieth century, when it began to develop specialist depart? ments and to treat all levels of society. Even today Bart's has no private beds. There were Jewish doctors living in London in the Middle Ages. They were often the leaders of their profession, and this is reflected in their writings and reputations. Ysaac Medicus, Samson le Cyrurgeon, Hall' le Mire and Magister Elias were all doctors living in London between 1190 and 1290.10 They may well have served the Gentile population as well as the Jews, but not in the hospitals. The Middle Period In 1409, about a century after the expulsion of the Jews from England, Alice, wife of the famous Lord Mayor Richard Whittington, was ill. Although a patron of Bart's, Richard Whittington must have lacked faith in local medical practice. He sent for a Jewish physician from France, Samson of Mirabeau, to treat her.11 The reputation of Jewish doctors throughout Europe was good. Many had graduated from the great medical schools of Italy and the Iberian peninsula. It is not therefore surprising to find Jewish doctors fleeing the persecutions of Spain and Portugal and arriving in England with other Marrano (secret) Jews. By the reign of Queen Elizabeth I there was a community of Marrano Jews in London, among them several doctors, including Dr Rodrigo Lopes. In about 1567, Rodrigo Lopes was appointed as the first trained physician at St Bartholomew's Hospital, an important landmark in the history of the hospital. He had been trained at the University of Coimbra in Portugal and 23</page><page sequence="4">Claire Hilton qualified at the age of twenty-three in 1540. He arrived in England probably in 1559, and would have been about fifty years old when he started work at Bart's.12 Within a few years he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. For nearly twenty years he worked at Bart's, and some of the events of these years are recorded in the parish register of St Bartholomew the Less, and in the Journal (minute books) of the hospital governors. Lopes had to attend the hospital at least twice a week. He was assisted by a matron and twelve sisters. He had a house and a garden just a stone's throw from the gate of the hospital, in Little Britain; a salary of 40 shillings a year (he was expected to work privately too); and an allowance for coals and billets.13 Like other secret Jews, he had his children baptized. The parish register mentions the baptisms of Ellyn on 9 January 1564, Ambrose on 6 May 1565, Douglas on 13 May 1573, William on 24 October 1577, and Ann on 1 March 15 79. Three children, John, Jerome and another Ann may well have died in infancy, only their burials being recorded in the register.14 Ellyn died in 1573 at the age of nine. William is referred to as 'the son of Roger Lopas, Doctor', evidence of Lopes' anglicizing his first name. Another child, Anthony, born about 1580, was probably baptized in the church of St Bartholomew the Great and educated at Winchester College.15 It is not just the size of his family that we hear about, but also his domestic problems. On 19 June 1568 the governors ordered that 'Mr Doctor Lopus his halle shall be borded forthwith delebord or other like'. But five years later it was again ordered: 'At the special request of Mr Doctor Lopus the said Mr Doctor's halle shall be bordered this Somer at the discresion of Mr Tresorer and Mr Renter with others of the maisters.'16 It is not clear why the delay occurred before the work was done. In 1575 the fence round Lopes's garden was repaired, 'he paying for the workmanship thereof',17 and later the same year his parlour was to be reboarded, 'that he shall be the more paynfull in looking to the poore of the hospital'.18 The last mention of Lopes's house also contains a qualifying clause, that the 'tyllinge' shall be repaired 'where it is needfull'.19 Was this reluctance to maintain Lopes's house a criticism of him? It appears unlikely. Firstly, 'Mr Renter', the renter clerk, was responsible both for writing the minutes and for ensuring that the work was done.12 Laziness or a penny-pinching attitude on the part of the renter clerk could have led to his choice of phrase. Secondly, there is no evidence to support a criticism of Lopes. He worked at Bart's for nearly twenty years and voluntarily resigned at the end of this time, possibly because of increasing demands from his private practice.20 If he had displeased the governors they had the right to dismiss him without notice, a power they exerted in 1592 when they dismissed Dr Timothie Bright for gross neglect of his duty.21 William Clowes, a surgeon at Bart's at the same time as Lopes, thought highly of him.22 And finally, if Lopes's work at Bart's had been of anything but the highest standard it is most unlikely that he would have been able to build up a flourishing practice at the court of the queen. 24</page><page sequence="5">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections Lopes is mentioned in the Journal once more before he left the hospital. In 15 79 he was granted permission to leave his house to move into the city 'where better ayre ys\ and to let his house to a citizen, a lawyer or another physician.23 Lopes's subsequent career needs to be summarized here. In 1586 he was appointed physician to Queen Elizabeth herself. Before long, however, he became involved in the intrigues of court politics and foreign affairs, and, not surprisingly, the Spanish-Portuguese-English question. It became known that Lopes, skilled in techniques of poison, had been offered bribes by the Spanish court to do away with the pretender to the Portuguese throne, Dom Antonio, who was in England at that time. This was ammunition for Lopes's enemies at court, to trump up charges that Philip II of Spain and Lopes were plotting to poison the queen. After a trial at the Guildhall lasting many months, Lopes was executed at Tyburn on 7 June 1594.20 Lopes is still remembered at Bart's today: the Wine Tasting Society is also called the Lopes Society (Plate 2), and he is probably a model for Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. 25</page><page sequence="6">Claire Hilton Doctors and medical students, 1800-1900 From the time of Lopes until the early part of the nineteenth century only a few dozen Jewish doctors practised in England. Many of these were trained abroad, or graduated from the Scottish universities. Dr Jacob de Castro Sarmento was the first Jew to be honoured with a British doctorate, from the University of Aberdeen in 1739.24 It was not until the non-sectarian University College, London, was founded in 1837 that a university in England was available to Jewish people, and Jews were barred from Oxford and Cambridge degrees until well into the second half of the last century. However, the Royal College of Physicians did allow Jews, and doctors trained abroad, to be examined for the Licence of their College (LRCP). Thus on 19 March 1722 Isaac de Sequeyra Samuda, having graduated from the University of Coimbra some twenty years earlier, and Meyer Low Sch?mberg, were both awarded their Licences.25 By the early part of the nineteenth century Jews were being trained in Medicine in London, both at the teaching hospitals and by apprenticeship, and were qualifying for the diplomas of Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (LS A) and Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS), the standard qualification for medical practice at that time. Many of the records of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital were destroyed by air raids in the Second World War. No records prior to 1834 are known to have survived, and any history before that date must be pieced together from other sources. It appears that the first Jew to have enrolled at Bart's as a student was Jonathan Pereira in 1822. He was born in Shoreditch, East London, in 1804, the son of a Lloyd's underwriter, Daniel Lopes Pereira.26 Jonathan Pereira's medical education seems to have been fairly typical of the time, involving both private apprenticeship to a surgeon and a period attached to a medical institution. Thus in 1821 he enrolled at the Aldersgate Street Dispensary (a reputable establishment of that time, now no longer in existence) and at Bart's the following year.27 At the age of nineteen he qualified as Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries, and started work at the dispensary. A distinguished academic career followed. When the dispensary became the Aldersgate Street School of Medicine in 1832, Pereira was appointed lecturer in Materia Medica. His audiences consisted of thirty or so students, and his reputation increased. One student wrote to his parents: T was very much pleased with his manner of lecturing. He appeared rather quick in delivery, but is very distinct. He is a nice looking young man, and his lecture was very plain, and he seemed to be anxious in impressing everything of importance on the minds of his audience.'28 By 1836, however, Pereira himself wrote: 'The old Chemical Theatre at the Aldersgate School held from 93 to 100, but was so confined that I was obliged to build a new one holding from 180 to 200. This was so crowded during the 26</page><page sequence="7">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections first course of last session that I was urged by some to add a gallery... I do not think it possible for me to undertake to deliver a course of lectures in a theatre holding only no.'29 Perhaps a somewhat pompous self-estimation. However, Pereira's career was quite remarkable. In 1833 the London Hospital appointed him lecturer in Chemistry, in 1842 assistant physician, and in 1852 full physician. He lectured at the Royal College of Physicians and was professor of Materia Medica to the Pharmaceutical Society. Much of his extensive research was published in 1839 in his magnum opus, Elements of Materia Medica. He deserves lasting credit for placing the knowledge and use of drugs, which had been chaotic and empirical, on an organized and scientific basis. Sadly, he died prematurely at the age of 49.26 Jonathan Pereira was asked by the Medical Committee of the College to join the staff of lecturers at Bart's in 1836. At Pereira's suggestion, mentioned above, the committee agreed to enlarge the lecture theatre. Pereira was at that time lecturing in Chemistry at the London and the Aldersgate Street School, and Bart's had found it difficult to find a replacement Chemistry lecturer when Clement Hue resigned from the post earlier that year.30 Pereira accepted the post, and resigned from the Aldersgate Street School, but kept his position at the London. A successor was appointed at the Aldersgate Street School. The Court of Governors of St Bartholomew's Hospital had to approve the appointment: they refused to do so, on the grounds that Pereira was already lecturing at another teaching hospital. The Medical Committee tried to reason with the governors, but to no avail.31 The same rule had been applied one year previously, but under different circumstances. That time, Hugh Ley was appointed lecturer in Midwifery and then told that he was not to lecture outside the hospital without special permission from the governors.32 Whether the governors' refusal to approve Pereira's appointment reflects the rivalry which medical schools in London have always displayed towards each other, or if this episode bears undertones of anti-Semitism, is difficult to assess. In 1850 the number of professional Jews in England was extremely limited.33 By 1882, out of an estimated London Jewish population of 46,000, about 600 heads of families would have been included among the professional class of their day.34 Some of these would have been physicians and surgeons, a few of whom would have been trained at Bart's. For many centuries the art of medicine was passed on from father to son. Even today applicants to medical school are often asked if their father or mother is a doctor. It appears that many of the early Jewish graduates from Bart's fulfilled the criterion of having a medically qualified close relative, and this probably influenced their admission to the college more than their Jewishness. James Vose Solomon was the son of Dr Abraham Solomon, who received his MD degree in Edinburgh in 1810 for his thesis 'de cerebri tumoribus'24: and then practised in Birmingham. James Vose Solomon was probably at Bart's in 1838 27</page><page sequence="8">Claire Hilton and 1839. He qualified as a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries in 1838 and was awarded his Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1839.35 He became Professor of Ophthalmology at Queen's College Birmingham. Although his upbringing was Jewish he married the daughter of a Devonshire surgeon and severed all links with the Jewish community.36 Henry Little Sequeira qualified MRCS in 1839 and LS A in 1852.37 He was descended from a long line of physicians, including the well-known Isaac Henrique Sequeira, who had been physician to the Portuguese Embassy, and when he died in 1816 at the age of seventy-eight was recorded as being the oldest Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians.38 Henry Little Sequeira lived in Jewry Street, Aldgate, and studied at both Bart's and the London, and later, as well as holding various appointments in the general community, was Medical Officer to the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation and Hospital.39 Raphael Meldola was at Bart's during the 1850s. He was awarded his MRCS in 1854 and LSA in i860. He is listed as a member of Bart's Medical College in 1862.37 Like many of his contemporaries he was also trained at another medical institution, in this case, Charing Cross Hospital. He was a son of a distinguished Sephardi family. His grandfather was Haham Raphael Meldola,40 his father Abraham was a chemist,41 and his uncle, Eleazar Meldola, twenty-two years his senior, was established as physician to the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation and Hospital. Raphael Meldola later worked as a surgeon.42 No doubt there were other Jewish medical students at Bart's during the middle part of the last century. Certainly there was no bar to their admission. Several students had names which were common enough among the Jewish population of the day, such as Levy, Myers, Nathan and Klein. However, it has not yet been possible to prove their Jewish associations. Moving forward a few years, Dr Emanuel Klein was appointed to the teaching staff in 1873. He was born in Essek, Austria, in 1844, son of a tanner of Russian leather. When in England he persistently signed his name 'E. Klein', it was assumed that his name was Edward and thus became known as Edward.43 Although a non-practising Jew, he did not seem shy of exhibiting a knowledge of Hebrew to his English hosts: 'Everyone was friendly, the young Klein was talkative and merry, so by the time dinner was over... there had been a discussion as to whether what we called Deborah was not in reality Deborah, by which we learnt that our guest had some knowledge of Hebrew.'44 Klein lectured and worked at Bart's for nearly forty years. Although primarily a histologist (involved in the study of cell and tissue structure), he became a leading figure in the new science of bacteriology and exercised a profound and beneficial influence on the application of the subject to the problems of public health. Klein's researches in a large variety of bacteriological 28</page><page sequence="9">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections subjects, from enteric fever to disinfection and scarlet fever, are today almost forgotten, unlike the few major discoveries of his contemporaries, such as Petrie, Koch and Loeffler, who are, medically speaking, household names. From the 1870s onwards there was a constant trickle of Jewish medical students and doctors through the college and hospital. As in other hospitals, most of the students had been brought up in England, but some were immigrants, possibly already qualified abroad and looking for further experience and a British qualification. Some of the Jewish students were the prize winners and leaders of their years. William Frederick Alexander enrolled in 1876 and qualified in 1883. He was awarded hospital prizes for anatomy and surgery.45 For many years he worked in Public Health in the East End of London, and was the first medical officer to the newly opened Jewish Home for Incurables from 1890 to 1891, a reflection on the increased social and medical needs of the expanding Jewish community in London. The new medical officer's duties were to direct and make suggestions concerning diet, drainage, ventilation and heating, to examine all new admissions and to report on their eligibility, as well as general medical duties.46 He had an important medical role in a Jewish context. In 1877 Phineas Abraham was awarded the Preliminary Scientific Exhibition, worth ?50, a large amount of money at that time, and the Junior Scholarship,47 the start of an exceptional career. Every year, Bart's accepted a few students from various parts of the British Empire. Abraham was one of these, from Falmouth, Jamaica. He left Bart's after completing his Bachelor of Science degree, and finished his medical training in Dublin. His only other contact with Bart's was when he applied for the post of Assistant Demonstrator in Physiology, but was turned down.48 He later became a well-known dermatologist specializing in leprosy, and lived in the West End of London.49 William Maurice Gabriel came to Bart's in 1879, and Leonard Maurice Gabriel followed him a year later.50 Although little is known of their Jewish upbringing, both remained active in the Jewish community after qualifying. William became a dentist and?like William Alexander?found employment soon after qualification at the Jewish Home for Incurables, and was later appointed honorary dental surgeon to the Home.51 Leonard, who became a doctor, offered his services to the Jewish community as a mohel (ritual circumciser).52 Even at the turn of this century it appears that some members of the Jewish community preferred their sons to be circumcised by a medically qualified mohel, and the Jewish Year Book indicates in its list of mohelim which of them were qualified in this way.53 Moses Bernstein's admission to Bart's in the early 1890s was another landmark in the relationship between Bart's and the Jewish community. He appears to have been the first Eastern European immigrant to retrain there.54 His credentials were good: he had qualified in Moscow, but needed a British 29</page><page sequence="10">Claire Hilton qualification to practise here. His presence at Bart's must have been of some help in interpreting and understanding the many poor immigrant Jewish patients who were being treated by the hospital at that time. Other medical schools retrained immigrant doctors, but there were noticeably more at the London Hospital, Whitechapel,55 where there were also more Jewish patients, and where their ability to act as interpreters would have been even more useful. Various other Jews were trained and worked at Bart's at the end of the last century.56 Both the number of qualifying doctors and the involvement of Jewish people on the Board of Governors reflect the improving social status of Jews in England. The increasing number of Jewish patients, however, reflects the poverty and hardship of many other Jews in London. The patients Bart's has always opened its doors to the poor, and the charter granted by Henry VIII in 1546 stated that the hospital was to provide them with free treatment. Until the mass Jewish immigration of the 1880s the characteristic occupations of the Jewish lower classes were hawking and street trading. Many others lived on charity from the Jewish Board of Guardians (founded in 1859) and other organizations. With the large influx of refugees in the 1880s problems in London's East End became worse. Housing conditions deteriorated as buildings were demolished to make way for railway sidings, more homeless people arrived and were taken in by those who already had some shelter, rents increased as property became more scarce and people took in more lodgers. Both working and living conditions were insanitary. The Jewish Board of Guardians started a special fund in 1882 to try to relieve the situation.57 The Lancet criticized the conditions of the 'sweater's den' in 1884 and demanded urgent reform.58 Tuberculosis became a major problem in the East End. The Board of Guardians set up a Special Committee on Consumption in 1897 to investigate the problem, to help educate people about hygiene and the nature of infectious illness and to give them practical support in the event of one of their family contracting the disease.59 A study of the death rates in Manchester in 1901 revealed a significantly lower rate among Jews compared to non-Jews of similar social class.60 This difference has been attributed to several factors. Jews drank less alcohol and had a deeper commitment to rearing the young; laws regarding kosher food meant that diseased meat could not be purchased, and ritual bathing and pre-Passover spring cleaning had a beneficial hygienic effect.60 However, in the main, Jews suffered from the same diseases as non-Jews, including venereal diseases such as syphilis, and bore a similar number of suicides and serious accidents.61 Until well into the twentieth century the rich received medical treatment at home and only the poor used the hospitals. Jews in the East End would have 30</page><page sequence="11">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections used the public hospitals until the London Jewish Hospital opened. However, this was a comparatively late development: out-patient facilities were not available until 1919, and there were no in-patient beds until 1921.62 Jewish people have tended to live on the eastern borders of the City of London since the seventeenth century, and the London Hospital has made provision for them since its foundation. The Charter of Incorporation in 1758 stated that Jewish patients were 'to be allowed Two Pence Half Penny per day in lieu of Meat or Broth, but to receive bread and beer like the other patients, according to the diet they are on.'63 By 1832 there was a 'Hebrew kitchen',64 and by 1842 there were plans for a Jewish ward and mortuary.65 Other hospitals lagged behind the London in their provision specifically for Jewish patients, probably because the demand in other localities was not so great. At Bart's, however, in 18 3 7 we are told that 'Foreigners are admitted upon equal terms with natural born subjects',66 'That every patient who may be able shall attend Divine service on the Sunday morning... if not contrary to their religious principles', and that 'If they are dissenters, and request to be attended by a minister of their own persuasion, their wishes are always attended to'.67 Although pork never appeared as part of the hospital menu at that time, probably because it was not as versatile as beef or mutton, no specific dietary arrangements were made. There was the possibility of a milk diet, but whether this could be provided at the patient's request or was given only on doctor's prescription is not clear. It does, however, sound most unpalatable, with a daily regime of milk porridge, 12 ounces of bread, barley water and two pints of milk with tapioca, arrowroot, sago or rice. The poorest patients were given a weekly allowance of is. or is. 6d. to buy tea and sugar,68 and visitors were permitted to bring fruit, eggs and tea for the patients.69 Diet was always recorded in patients' medical notes as an integral part of their treatment. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, when an increasing number of Jewish patients were being treated at Bart's, it appears that no further allowances were made, while in other hospitals at the same time (for example, Charing Cross, the German, the Metropolitan, the Brompton and the Chelsea Hospital for Woman) kosher food was provided.70 The hospital death registers are an important source of information, and deserve study in their own right. They are a mine of information, including details of each patient's age, cause of death, duration of stay in hospital, occupation and address, together with the name of the undertaker, burial society or individual who removed the body. Their study, however, would be a vast project, and the present paper can only record that, with so much information given, Jewish patients can be easily identified. Sarah Hart, who died of dropsy in 1842 at the age of 16, is the earliest recorded Jew to have died at Bart's (Plate 3).71 From then until about 1880, the maximum number of Jewish deaths in any one year was less than 1 per cent. From 1880 until the 1920s this figure rose to about 3 per cent. In 1925 there 3i</page><page sequence="12">Claire Hilton Plate 3 The earliest reference to a Jew in the death register: Sarah Hart, in 1842. was a sufficiently large number of Jewish patients dying at Bart's for the governors to approach the Burial Committee of the United Synagogue with a design and an estimate of building costs for a mortuary chamber specifically for the use of the Jewish community. With the approval of the Burial Committee the building was commenced and cost them ?135.72 Communication between patient and doctor In 1897 a Bart's house physician received the following note from the relative of a Jewish patient: 'He don't sleep day and night of his guts. He has a big fright and faints. He sicks too much, last night he nearly died. I wrote this because I cant speak no English.'73 A language barrier can never help a patient to receive the best treatment from his doctor, yet it is surprising how long it takes the medical profession to solve its socio-medical problems. In those days official interpreters for Yiddish were almost non-existent. Today the situation has hardly improved for patients who speak only languages such as Bengali, Punjabi and Greek. In 1898 Sir Thomas Smith addressed the Abernethian Society: 'In former times it was no uncommon thing for a patient to refuse consent even to an urgent operation which offered the only hope of recovery, and thus lives were lost which might have been saved, but except in the case of Polish Jews, this now rarely occurs.'74 And today when immigrants from Third World countries are confused and frightened by Western scientific and high-technology medicine, they may decline investigations and other procedures out of fear and misunderstanding. The medical profession is still influenced by its own prejudices and lack of understanding of foreign cultures. In 1900 a case study in St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal tells of a patient aged thirty-four, 'a Jewess and therefore neurotic',75 and although this would probably not be written today, it is not rare to hear such things being said about several of today's immigrant groups. The support given to patients and hospital by the United Synagogue 32</page><page sequence="13">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections Visitation Committee must have been very useful. They made many visits to the hospital, often up to twice a week.76 As members of the established Anglo-Jewish community, however, some of them were not fluent Yiddish speakers, which may have limited their capacity as interpreters. One such visitor was the Sephardi minister Revd A. Nunes Vaz, official visitor from 1925 for many years. Revd Nunes Vaz spoke German and understood, but did not speak, Yiddish.77 One hopes, however, that by this date many of the patients would have spoken some English. (For a list of visitors, see Appendix I.) Medical students and doctors in the twentieth century Those with the knowledge and skill to help and heal the sick have always been held in esteem by society. The Bible, in Deut. xxxii: 39, quotes God as saying T kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal', so a doctor was considered in a way to be carrying out the will of God. The Talmud, edited finally in the sixth century CE, comments that 'A physician who takes nothing is worth nothing' (Baha Kama 85a). Many famous rabbis were also physicians. Moses Maimonides in the late-twelfth century wrote on both medical and rabbinical subjects. Current over many centuries was a picture of a doctor as one occupying a position of respect, and rewarded with financial security. The majority of Jews in England at the turn of the century had neither of these. However, many schools for East End Jewish children at that time were trying hard to anglicize the pupils without assimilating them. At the Jews' Free School, with some 3600 pupils at the turn of the century, children entered the school 'Russians and Poles and emerge from it almost indistinguishable from English Children'.78 In a short time the English educational world became as accessible to immigrant Jews as it was to anyone else of similar class. Some of the Jewish students who went to Bart's were very poor, others were from the Anglo-Jewish aristocracy. One student died from tuberculosis, characteristically a disease of the poor.79 Another student, Nigel Benjamin Cohen, died when the aeroplane which he was flying crashed in 1931.80 The 'Nigel Benjamin Cohen Memorial Garden' was opened the following year, inside the hospital grounds.81 Jewish students came and went. There were always some in the college. The present writer was informed by one student of the 1930s that there was a quota for Jews. No written evidence for this appears to exist, although the consistently small number of Jews at the college would support it. A former German-Jewish student who qualified in 1937 sums up the situation as follows: I felt very much at home there and was treated the same as any other student. You were alright once they accepted you. Getting a top job there was a different thing. There was of course a chance in the less popular branches of medicine e.g. skins, VD, radiology. The 'commanding heights' of medicine (General 33</page><page sequence="14">Claire Hilton Medicine, General Surgery, Gynaecology) were practically out of reach for Jews?as far as London teaching hospitals were concerned... When, in 1946,1 was interested in a Consultant post at Bart's, I was given to understand that I could not possibly?as a Jew?expect to get on the Staff there. So I got a consultant post at St Mary's instead. It was not until the 1960s that Jewish people were appointed to consultancies and professorships in the 'commanding heights' of medicine at Bart's. St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal tells us a lot about the students, their examination results, their junior hospital appointments, their marriages and the births of their children.82 One student stands out in the Journal for his social and Jewish awareness. He was Harry Isenberg, recently retired from general practice in North London. He was one of twelve Jewish students to start at Bart's in 1937?there was some confusion with the quota that year, he reports. He wrote a sensible but humorous series of letters about why male doctors should be allowed to wear open-necked shirts in hot weather,83 and another criticizing his fellow students for being unwilling to involve themselves with the National Union of Students when confronting extra war-time problems.84 He also complained about a poem called 'Brighton?A Cavalcade', published in the Journal in 1941.85 The full text is given in Appendix II. Isenberg commented that the poem was racist and offensive. The editor of the Journal replied that it was merely 'playful badinage', a 'light-hearted composition', and that 'racism never for one moment entered the head of any member of the Publication Committee'.86 It is disappointing to find such a piece in the pages of the Journal, which otherwise tended to take a liberal view of society. Also at the beginning of the Second World War appeared a rival to St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal called Argent and Sable ('Silver and Black', the colours of the Bart's coat-of-arms), a thoroughly distasteful publication which survived only a couple of months. It contained generally poor-quality, frivolous and provocative verse and prose, for example, a 'Hymn to Hitler',87 the full text of which is given in Appendix II. The intentions of the magazine are not clear, other than to rival the Journal. It may have been written by a fascist student fringe, more likely by some immature, overgrown schoolboys trying to learn medicine under stressful war-time conditions. Another student who enrolled in 1937 was David Weizman, whose chosen career was cardiology. He was Assistant Cardiologist at Bart's until his untimely death in 1966. Following a tradition of other notable Bart's personalities, a prize was endowed with his name for budding student cardiologists.88 As has already been said, it was nearly impossible for Jews to become consultants in the major fields of medicine and surgery. They did, however, exert a profound influence at Bart's on the development of radiology, radiotherapy and psychiatry. Neville Samuel Finzi (Plate 4), of Italian-Jewish 34</page><page sequence="15">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections Plate 4 Neville Samuel Finzi. 35</page><page sequence="16">Claire Hilton descent, was appointed to work in the X-ray department in 1913. With beliefs far ahead of his time, he revolutionized the treatment of malignant disease with surface and intracavity radium. Later, against the opposition of most other British radiotherapists,89 he introduced high-voltage therapy, which is today accepted as standard treatment. This was the theme of the Mackenzie Davidson Memorial Lecture which he deliverd in 1933.90 In this lecture Finzi also commented on the status of radiotherapists, that they are 'still not given a standing equal to the medical officers of the other special departments and only in a very few [hospitals are] equal to the general physicians and surgeons'. Perhaps it was precisely because of this feeling that he, as a Jew, achieved his eminent position. A report of his lecture came to the attention of Mrs Meyer Sassoon, and it was her generosity which led to the establishment of the Mozelle Sassoon Department in 1935, with equipment operating at one million volts, the first of its kind in Europe.89 Unfortunately, the department had hardly got into its stride when war broke out, and by the end of the war even higher voltages were becoming available. Finzi left his mark on the world in the development of the science of radiotherapy. At Bart's he was largely responsible for dividing the X-ray department into two departments, one diagnostic, the other therapeutic, a logical development for this rapidly expanding medical speciality, and one which is taken for granted today (Plate 5). In his spare time, Finzi was also a mohel.91 It is interesting here to parallel the careers of Finzi and Adolph Abrahams, later Sir Adolph Abrahams. Abrahams was a medical student at Bart's, and was appointed junior house surgeon there in 1910.92 Meanwhile, Finzi, a few years his senior, had qualified at University College Hospital.89 By about 1915 they were both chief assistants at Bart's, Finzi in X-rays and Abrahams in medicine.93 Abrahams, who had worked his way up through the Bart's hierarchy, never reached the top to become a consultant there in the 'major' field of medicine. Finzi, however, was successful in the 'minor' field of radiotherapy. Abrahams became a consultant and later Dean at the West? minster Hospital.94 Both men were outstanding. There may have been other factors which influenced Abrahams' move to the Westminster, but none of them have come to light during research for this paper. This comparison tends to support a feature noted earlier, that of excluding Jews from the most important positions. This intolerance is similarly reflected in the Board of Governors' attitude to having to accept their first quota of women medical students in 1947. 'The decision naturally has repercussions on the Hospital itself, additional accommodation has had to be provided... and the governors may expect in the future to have to appoint a certain number of qualified women doctors to House Appointments.'95 This can hardly be called a warm welcome, more a fulfilment of a duty which could not be avoided. Other factors were at play. For example, it was considered undesirable for women to have to 36</page><page sequence="17">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections Plate 5 The menu for a dinner in honour of Finzi, on the occasion of splitting the diagnostic and therapy departments in 19 3 5. He was fond of children. -.-}} *'?-- t"* ^-'f^^11*^-** ? ? -ij ? ?'???? *-^*?^ iP^-sri?vgfe" ? ????? --t" ps&amp;H .[. ., ? Plate 6 The entry on Lucy Rebecca da Costa Andrade, in the Register of Students Nurses. examine male patients, although nobody seemed to think that the contrary was true. Bart's was one of the last, if not the very last, London medical school to agree to accept women students. It was also one of the last to appoint Jewish consultants in the major specialities. The hospital had flourished in its very long traditions: service to the poor, a dedicated voluntary Board of Governors, and a classical, English male-only medical profession. Perhaps Rodrigo Lopes was still remembered and frowned upon. Norman Moore, a Bart's physician and medical historian, had written most disapprovingly of Lopes at the end of the last century.96 The hospital was slow to change. Perhaps 1947, with the introduction of the National Health Service, the abolition of the old Voluntary Board and the admission of women medical students, was the beginning of modernization of the hospital's social 37</page><page sequence="18">Claire Hilton structure, a process which is taking decades to complete. Indeed, only in the last decade have male nursing students been admitted. Not to be forgotten when writing of the Jewish staff is Eric Benjamin Strauss. In his twenty-one years at the hospital (1938-59) he was responsible for the development of the department of Psychological Medicine. He was regarded as a brilliant and stimulating teacher, a striking character, of great erudition and charm97?one former student's most vivid recollection of Strauss was his spyglass. The other doctor to be remembered here is Walter Montague Levitt. He was medical officer in charge of the Radiotherapeutic Research Department from 1926 until 1939, working closely with Neville Finzi.98 He then accepted promotion to head the Radiotherapeutic Department at St George's Hospital and in 1944 was appointed consulting radiotherapist at Bart's.99 Nurses It is not easy to pinpoint why the records show that only three Jewish nurses were trained at Bart's between 1881 and 1949.100 Like other teaching hospitals, Bart's employed nurses from its own training school, so this figure probably reflects the total number of Jewish nurses who worked at Bart's during the period. Perhaps Jewish families were reluctant to encourage their daughters in any career, let alone one which entailed hard physical work. The antisocial hours would have meant that Sabbath observance would have been impossible. Possibly Jewish women were reluctant to enter a residential job, especially in a non-Jewish institution?even today Jewish care establishments are often unable to obtain Jewish residential staff. Until very recently the top nursing positions were held by dedicated spinsters without family commitments, and this may have deterred Jewish women brought up in the belief that propagation of the human race is the only role for the Jewish woman. Even today very few Jewish people enter nursing; and indeed, very few people from any religious minority. It is still very much an English, Victorian-style profession, with a strictly regimented hierarchy. Nurses are often considered to work 'under' the doctors, and their professional opinions tend to be disregarded. Every nurse was asked her religion when she commenced her training, and this was noted in her records. A few said that they had no religion, three were Jewish, one Russian Orthodox, one Greek Orthodox, and the rest were of the various Christian denominations commonly found in England. None of the three Jewish women who were trained at Bart's were from recent Northern European immigrant families. The first was Lucy Rebecca da Costa Andrade, who was appointed a probationer on 1 August 1895. Although 'she has quiet gentle manners is willing and anxious to learn very painstakingly', it was reported later that 'This nurse has been much moved about as she is not 38</page><page sequence="19">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections very good and is not satisfactory'.101 Perhaps her experiences could have discouraged other young Jewish women with whom she was acquainted from entering Bart's, or even nursing generally (Plate 6). Although her reports are not outstanding they are certainly no worse than average, but even so they may have discouraged the School of Nursing from admitting other Jews. The next Jewish student nurse to be enrolled was Claire Harari, step-daughter of a cotton-owner in Egypt,102 who began her training in 1927, qualified in 1931 and left in 1932. Finally, in 1929 came Fanny Berkson, daughter of an estate agent in Birkenhead, who left Bart's in 1933.103 If you ask a Jewish doctor today to give you the names of some Jewish colleagues you will receive a list. If you ask nurses, they may well be unable to tell you of any others. There is no sign of the situation changing. BarVs first dietician In 1927 Bart's made the important decision to appoint its first dietician, and the governors specifically wished a woman to fill this post. Marjorie Abrahams, well educated at Oxford and Columbia Universities, was appointed. Her role was quite unlike that of a dietician today, as she would have spent most of her time in the kitchens supervising the preparation of special diets.104 She remained on the staff until 1940, when she was given three months' notice on the grounds that there was insufficient work because the hospital had been largely evacuated. It is surprising, therefore, to find references a few months later to two assistant dieticians. One wonders what other reasons could have led to her departure.69 Benefactors and governors Until 1948 Bart's was a voluntary hospital relying on the generosity of individuals and businesses in the City of London for its financial support, without whom there would have been no hospital. Their importance was recognized then, and is remembered today, by the inscribed names and donations covering the walls of the Great Hall of the hospital from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Only donations of ?50 or more are recorded, and this sum automatically entitled the donor to become a governor.69 Similar systems existed in other voluntary hospitals. From these governors a house committee was elected which met more frequently than the main Court of Governors, and made most of the major decisions on hospital management. After the turn of this century little space on the walls of the Great Hall remained and donations were recorded in the Treasurer's Reports (1905-1947). Immediately noticeable when one looks at the names of Jewish donors is the fact that they were also active supporters of Jewish charities. 39</page><page sequence="20">Claire Hilton Ebenerer Homan,iTs^._52J0 : I Parting Gi? in.Memory of^ the late LadyMordeftore by pO.? Sir Moses MonteJfi?re, William Wadeson, Esq.? 50.? John Loxley, Esq.?_? 50.? Plate 7 The record of Sir Moses Montefiore's donation, in the Great Hall. Whether they supported Bart's specifically because they could see that it provided a valuable service for the local Jewish community or simply because they considered it a deserving charity is difficult to tell. Three of the earliest Jewish philanthropists commemorated on the walls of the Great Hall are Sampson Gideon who gave ?50 for the building of the Fourth Wing in 1748; Sir Moses Montefiore who gave ?50 on two occasions (Plate 7) in 1838 and 1862; and Sir David Salomons Who gave ?50 in 1846. All three were successful City businessmen, like many of the non-Jewish benefactors of the hospital. Sampson Gideon was more renowned for his careful handling of money than his generosity, 105 and small donations here and there may well have been made with the interests of business in mind. Montefiore and Salomons were, however, well known for their generosity to Jew and Gentile alike. Henri Bischoffsheim, well known for his work with a number of hospitals,106 donated 50 guineas in 1872. Perhaps the most outstanding family to be involved with the hospital were three generations of the Cohen family, descended from Louis Cohen, the businessman and communal worker, bora in London in 1799.107 His son, Sir Benjamin Louis Cohen, was an active governor of Bart's. In 1882 he donated ?50 to the hospital, and two years later ?10 to the Samaritan Fund108?a fund 40</page><page sequence="21">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections to meet the social needs of the poorest patients. He was a man of inexhaustible energy, Member of Parliament for Islington East, Vice-president of the Council of the United Synagogue, President of the Jewish Board of Guardians and governor of three hospitals, Bart's, Bridewell and Bethlehem.109 A well-respected humanitarian who was devoted to his work, Sir Benjamin, as the Jewish Board of Guardians noted in 1909, 'despite the distractions of Parliament and other public work, was unremitting in his attendance',110 a statement which probably also reflects his enthusiasm for his other interests. But it is his son, Sir Herbert Benjamin Cohen, who is remembered most for his years of voluntary work at the hospital. He became a governor in 1904, when he made his donation of ?50, and two years later was elected to the house committee.111 A barrister by profession,112 he was also a hospital almoner, re-elected to the post every three years for well over twenty years. He worked on the Council of the Medical College, represented the hospital at a number of administrative conventions, and in 1947 helped the hospital in its transition to part of the National Health Service and was appointed to the new governing body.113 For forty years Sir Herbert played a major role in running the hospital, during which time he was also active in the Jewish community, on the Council of the United Synagogue and other committees.114 Other members of the Cohen family were involved with the hospital. Sir Herbert's brothers Arthur Merton Cohen and Ernest Merton Cohen were both governors,115 and, as mentioned earlier, his son Nigel was killed in a flying accident while a first-year medical student at Bart's. A painting of the Nigel Benjamin Cohen Memorial Garden by Lady (Nellie) Cohen was reproduced in postcard form (Plate 8). There was also a system whereby, for a donation of ?1000, a hospital bed could be named in perpetuity, and in 1930 the Louis Cohen Bed on Abernethy Ward was endowed.116 Louis, Benjamin, Herbert and Nigel represent four generations of one family with their origin in City business, who, as observant Jews, while becoming established in society, worked for the wellbeing of all people, Jew and Gentile alike. For those living and working in the City of London, Bart's is their local hospital. The close historical relationships between the hospital, the guilds and the City generally are symbolized by the visit of the Lord Mayor to the hospital on the second Wednesday of May each year. Until the advent of the National Health Service local people gave what they could to help the hospital. In the early days of blood transfusions the Treasurer's Reports express their thanks to a few dozen named pioneer blood donors, probably including some Jews.117 Other people gave 10s. or a pound, often to the Samaritan Fund. The hospital made appeals for funds, and advertised in many places, including the Jewish Year Book.118 Local businessmen worked for the hospital. One of these, John Collett, owned a ladies' hat-manufacturing company in Charterhouse Square.119 He 41</page><page sequence="22">Claire Hilton . BARTHOLOMEWS HOSPITAL. THE NIGEL COHEN GARDEN FOR NURSES Plate 8 Postcard of Lady Cohen's painting oi the Cohen Memorial Garden. 42</page><page sequence="23">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections became a governor of Bart's in 1930.120 Another local tradesman, William Goldstein, a wholesale purveyor of meat in Smithfield Market, was elected governor in 1931 and was active on many committees, including, in 1937, a committee 'to enquire into the constitution and duties of the committees of this hospital'.121 His daughter, herself a governor, told the present writer how the children of the market men used to help on flag days and other special occasions to raise money for Bart's, and that some well-to-do Jewish lady would send her chauffeur to Bloom's Restaurant to buy kosher salt-beef sandwiches which they would eat in a room above the Henry VIII Gate of the Hospital. Several other governors and benefactors must be mentioned here. Sir Marcus Samuel, later Lord Bearsted, was elected governor in 1891, while Alderman for Portsoken Ward on the east of the City. He and his son gave several thousand pounds to the Hospital.122 Sir Edward Stern, elected governor in 1912, took a particular interest in the nursing committee.123 He was the anonymous donor of ?25,000 in 1922 towards the building of the new nurses' home, part of which was to be named in memory of his wife, the late Constance, Lady Stern.124 The Sir Albert Levy Benevolent Fund was established in 1931.125 Sir Albert, as well as being a governor of Bart's, was chairman of the Eastman Dental Clinic and Honorary Treasurer of the Royal Free Hospital.126 In 1938 Sir Edward Meyerstein gave the Medical College an acre of land with a house on it, adjacent to the new sports ground at Chislehurst, Kent, thus saving the college the trouble of building a house for the groundsman. Later the same year he financed the purchase of an iron-lung for the hospital.127 Last, but by no means least, the hospital has an Annie Zunz Ward, in common with many other London hospitals which have benefited from the funds held by the trustees of the late Mr Siegfried Rudolph Zunz.128 Contrary to popular belief, Jewish history at Bart's reaches back further than at any of the other London teaching hospitals, including the London and the Middlesex, which usually claim this distinction. Even for the 800 years described here the data are incomplete. Unfortunately the archives at Bart's are patchy, even though they are extensive. Many more names not mentioned in this paper can be called to mind. Among the benefactors of the hospital are names such as Mocatta, Oppenheimer, Abrahams, Rothschild, Seligman, Rosenthal, Goldsmid, Loewe, Myers and Hart. Among the medical students, to name but a few more, appear Rosenberg, Buchler, another Pereira, Cohen, Rabinowitz, Bernstein, Katz, Levin, Greenberg, Hulbert, Klein, Landau, Lehman, Levy, Rosten, Simmonds, Slot and Tomback. And much information still needs to be examined concerning the many thousands of Jewish patients treated at the hospital. As this is an historical survey, current affairs are omitted, leaving the story incomplete. Today Bart's is the main hospital for the City and Hackney Health 43</page><page sequence="24">Claire Hilton Authority. It will long continue to serve the large numbers of Jewish people who work in the City and live in Hackney, and the many who travel to it from all parts of Southeast England. NOTES 1 Norman Moore, The book of the foundation of St Bartholomew's Church in London, edited from the original manuscript in the British Museum (Cotton Vespasian B ix) (The Early English Text Society, 1923) xii. 2 Ibid. Capitulum 14 Of the Antiphoner, p.19. 3 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. 4 V.D. Lipman, The Jews of Medieval Nor? wich (London 1967) 90. 5 M. Friedl?nder, 'Ibn Ezra in England', Trans JHSEII (1894-5) 47~75 6 Cartulary of St Bartholomew's Hospital: a calendar prepared by Nellie Kerling (London i973)&gt; Document no. 515 and App. 1 138. 7 Ibid. no. 812. 8 Ibid. no. 868. 9 Ibid. no. 1038. 10 Cecil Roth, Intellectual Activities of Medi? eval English Jewry (Oxford University Press, 1949)65. 11 Cecil Roth, 'The Middle Period of Anglo Jewish History Reconsidered', Trans JHSE XIX (1955-9) 1-12. 12 P.G. Jones, personal communication, 1983. 13 Adrian Griffith, 'Dr Roderigo Lopes', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (November 1964)449-52. 14 Parish register, St Bartholomew the Less. John was buried on 12 December 1567, Jerome on 20 April 1573, and Ann was both chris? tened and buried on 26 March 15 74. 15 P.G. Jones, personal communication, 1983. The entry for Anthony Lopes at Winches? ter College is annotated 'St Bartholomew the Great', presumably the parish of baptism, as was the custom. 16 The Journal 14 March 1573. The Journal was the title of the minutes book of the Court of Governors for several hundred years. It should not be confused with St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal, or Bart's Journal, a student magazine since 1893. 17 The Journal 22 January 1575. 18 Ibid. 5 November 1575. 19 Ibid. 3 October 1578. 20 P.J. Fenn, 'Queen Elizabeth's Poisoner', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (February 1957)49-55. 21 Sir Geoffrey Keynes, 'The History of Medical Practice at St Bartholomew's Hospital 1123-1700', in The Royal Hospital of St Bar tholomew 1123-1973 (Medvei and Thornton, London 1974) 104-25. 22 William Clowes, A Proved Practice (1591) 8. Lopes 'showed himself to be both carefull and very skilfull not only for his counsel in dyeting, purging and bleeding, but also for his direction of Arceus apozema... the proofe thereof I never had until that time, but since I have used it'. 23 The Journal 9 May 1579. 24 K.E. Collins, personal communication, 1983. 25 William M?nk, Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of London (2nd ed. 1878, London) 82. 26 Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1826-1925, compiled by G.H. Brown (London 1955) 42. 27 Ibid. p.43. 28 'Letters of a Medical Student 1828 1830', Extracts from letters from Henry Jackson to his father. St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (October 1904) 24. 29 Minutes of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital, 25 June 1836. 30 Ibid. 30 July 1836. 31 Ibid. 27 July 1836. 32 Ibid. 18 April 1835. 33 V.D. Lipman, Social History of the Jews in England 1850-1950 (London 1954) 173. 34 Ibid. p. 76. Joseph Jacobs attempted to assess the social and economic structure of Anglo-Jewry in 1882, just before the increased immigration began. 35 Plan's Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, revised by Sir D'Arcy Power (London 1930) 330. 36 Birmingham Jewry 1749-1914 (Birming? ham Jewish Research Group) 73. 37 St Bartholomew's Hospital and College Calendar 1862-3. This is the earliest volume of the calendar to contain a list of members of the hospital and college together with their degrees and diplomas. 44</page><page sequence="25">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections 38 William M?nk, Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of London II (2nd ed. 1878) 291. 'Dr Sequeira attained to great reputation amongst his countrymen resident in England.' 39 The Medical Directory for 1871 and Gener? al Medical Register (London 18 71). 40 The Jewish Encyclopedia VIII (1904) 350. Three gentlemen called Raphael Meldola lived in London during the nineteenth century. Raphael Meldola, Haham, died in London in 1828, and was the grandfather of two cousins, Raphael Meldola the surgeon (b. 1832) and Raphael Meldola Professor of Chemistry (b. 1849). 41 L.D. Barnett (ed.) Bevis Marks Records II (Oxford University Press, 1949) entry no. 310. 4 2 The Medical Directory for 1871. 43 William Bulloch, 'Emmanuel Klein 1844-192 5', The Journal of Pathology 28 (1925) 688. 44 D'A.P., 'Dr Klein', St Bartholomew's Hos? pital Journal (March 1925) 88-90. 45 The Jewish Year Book, 1902-3, 'Who's Who'. 46 Jeffrey and Barbara Baum, 'The Jewish Home and Hospital at Tottenham?The Early History', in Heritage, The Jewish Research Group of the Edmonton Hundred Historical Society (1984) 30. 47 St Bartholomew's Hospital and College Calendar 1877-8. 48 Minutes of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital, 24 July 1886. 49 The Jewish Year Book, 1906-7, 'Who's Who'. 50 Register of Medical Students 1879 and 1880. 51 Jeffrey and Barbara Baum (see n. 46) 110. William Gabriel was Honorary Dentist 1890-2, and Honorary Dental Surgeon from 1898 for a number of years. 52 The Jewish Year Book, 1904-5, 'Who's Who'. 5 3 Jewish ritual circumcision may be perfor? med only by one qualified in both the technique and relevant laws of the subject, hence the need for a list of Registered mohelim. These lists appear in the Jewish Year Book for many years. 54 The Jewish Year Book, 1912. 5 5 Register of Medical Students, The London Hospital Medical College. 56 These include George Cohen who worked at Bart's from October 1893 until May 1894 (St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal, May 1894, p. i2i); Alfred Eicholtz who gave up medicine to lecture in natural sciences at Emmanuel College Cambridge, and later became a school inspector in Lambeth (The Jewish Year Book, 1898-9, 'Who's Who'), married the daughter of Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler in 1895 (The Jewish Year Book, 1906-7, 'Who's Who'), and the birth of whose son was announced in St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal, October 1896, p. 16); and Charles Samuel Myers who was awarded a senior entrance scholarship (St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal, October 1895, p. 26) and was house physician at Bart's in 1899 (The Jewish Year Book, 1906-7, 'Who's Who'). 57 Laurie Magnus, The Jewish Board of Guardians and the men who made it (London 1909)91-2. 58 'Report of the Lancet Special Sanitary Commission on the Polish Colony of Jewish Tailors', The Lancet (3 May 1884) 817-8. 59 'Report of the Special Committee on Consumption', Annual Reports of the Jewish Board of Guardians (1897) 24-7. 60 L.P. Gartner, The Jewish Immigrant in England 1870-1914 (George Allen and Unwin, i960) 158-9. The only public authority with reasonably full and reliable data on this subject is Manchester. The death rate among immi? grant Jews was 16.99 Per 1000, and among non-Jews of equal economic standing 33.9 per 1000. Death rates for children under 5 years was 72.50 per 1000 in all Manchester and 55.88 per 1000 among Jewish immigrants. 61 Death Register, St Bartholomew's Hos? pital, 1838-1925. 62 Building Fund Appeal for the London Jewish Hospital, 1926. In 1921 a total of 26 beds were opened for medical patients. A fur? ther 25 surgical beds were opened in 1923. The out-patients department, however, flour? ished and in 1923 61,000 appointments were made. 63 The Charter of Incorporation of the London Hospital, 1758. 64 Plans of the London Hospital, 1832. 65 Minutes of the House Committee of the London Hospital, May 1842. 66 Report of the Commissioners, Charities in England and Wales, 30 June 1837 (London 1840) 56. 67 Ibid. p. 60. 68 Ibid. p. 59. 69 J. Foster, personal communication, 1985. 70 The Jewish Year Book, 1893 and 1910. 45</page><page sequence="26">Claire Hilton The Brompton Hospital at that time mainly treated tuberculosis. 71 Death Register, St Bartholomew's Hos? pital, 19 October 1842. 72 Burial Committee of the United Syna? gogue, Report and Recommendation to the Council of the United Synagogue, 23 June 1925. 73 St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (Janu? ary 1897)63. 74 'Reminiscences'. Introductory address to the 104th session of the Abbernethian Society, delivered 6 October 1898 by Sir Thomas Smith, Bart., FRCS. Consulting surgeon at the hospital. St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (November 1898)22. 75 'Tetany and gastric distention', St Bar? tholomew's Hospital Journal (October 1900) 10. 76 Institutions visited by the United Syna? gogue Visitation Committee. The Jewish Year Book, years 1900-32. 77 David Nunes Vaz, personal communica? tion, 1985. 78 Board of Trade Report 1894, in V.D. Lipman (see n. 33) 147. 79 H. Isenberg, personal communication, 1982. 80 H.H.W., 'Nigel Benjamin Cohen', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (October 1931) 2. 81 Treasurer's Report for 1932, p. 49. 82 For example, the marriage of Cyril Morgan to Blanche Amchewitz, St Bartholo? mew's Hospital Journal (October 1905) 16. 83 H. Isenberg, 'The Doctor's Dress', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (October 1938) 19; (December 1938) 70. 84 H. Isenberg, 'National Union of Stu? dents', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal War Bulletin I Qune 1940) 162. 85 R.B.P., 'Brighton?A Cavalcade', St Bar? tholomew's Hospital Journal War Bulletin II (Feb? ruary 1941) 94-5. 86 H. Isenberg, 'A Protest', and editor's reply, St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal War Bulletin II (March 1941) 116. 87 D.I.C., 'Hymn to Hitler', Argent and Sable I (15 October 1939) No. 2, p. 14. The magazine describes itself as a 'frivolous rag'. 1 October I939 88 List of Medical Student Prizes, St Bar? tholomew's Hospital Medical College. 89 Walter Levitt, 'Dr N.S. Finzi MB, DMRE, FFR, FACR', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (June 1968) 204-7. 90 Fourteenth Mackenzie Davidson Memori? al Lecture, 7 December 1933. 'X-Ray and Radium Therapy in the Future', N.S. Finzi, British Journal of Radiology, New Series, Vol. VII, January 1934 91 The Jewish Year Book, 1912, 'Who's Who'. 92 St Bartholomew's Hospital and College Calendar, 1910-11. List of Hospital Appoint? ments. Adolph Abrahams was Junior House Surgeon to Mr Lockwood from April until October 1910. 93 St Bartholomew's Hospital and College Calendar, 1915-16. 94 B.C. Wheedon, The Westminster Hos? pital, personal communication, 1985. Adolph Abrahams was appointed assistant physician in 1920 and was Dean 1934-43. 95 Treasurer's Report for 1946, p. 19. 96 Norman Moore, 'Physicians and Sur? geons before the time of Harvey', St Bartholo? mew's Hospital Reports XVIII (1882) 339. 97 'An appreciation: Dr E.B. Strauss', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (September 1959)221-2. 98 Treasurer's Report for 1939, p. 30. 99 Treasurer's Report for 1944, p. 5. 100 Register of Students Nurses, St Bar? tholomew's Hospital, 1881-1949. 101 Ibid. 1894-8, p. 74. 102 Ibid. 1926-30, p. 115. 103 Ibid. 1926-30, p. 201. 104 Treasurer's Report for 1928, p. 45. Marjorie Abrahams started work at Bart's on 1 November 1927. 105 The Jewish Encyclopedia V (1903) 'Samp? son Gideon', 662. 106 The Jewish Year Book, 18^6, 'Who's Who'. 107 The Jewish Encyclopedia IV (1903) 'Louis Louis Cohen', 152. 108 Seventy-fifth Annual Report of the Samaritan Fund, 1911. 109 The Jewish Encyclopedia IV (1904) 'Ben? jamin Louis Cohen', 146. 110 Laurie Magnus (see n. 57) 88. in Treasurer's Report for 191 o, p. 7. 112 The Jewish Year Book, 1950, 'Who's Who'. 113 Treasurer's Report for 1947, p. 10. 114 The Jewish Year Book, 1954, 'Who's Who'. 115 Treasurer's Report for 191 o, p. 10. 116 Treasurer's Report for 1930, p. 60. 117 Lists of voluntary blood donors appear 46</page><page sequence="27">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections in the Treasurer's Reports from 1930. 118 The Jewish Year Book, 1931. 119 Anne Rose, personal communication, 1982. 120 Treasurer's Report for 193 o, p. 11. 121 Treasurer's Report for 193 7, p. 17. 122 Treasurer's Reports for years 1922, 1927, 1931. In 1922 Marcus Samuel gave ?1000 as 'The Lord Bearsted's Gift', the income of which was to be used by the Hospital. His son, the second Viscount Bearsted, donated ?1000 in 1927 towards the new surgical wards, and ?1000 in 1931 for the Reconstruc? tion Fund. 123 Treasurer's Report for 1912, p. 5. 124 Treasurer's Report for 1922, p. 14. 125 Treasurer's Report for 1937, p. 15. The Fund in 1931 sponsored two beds, at the cost of ?1000 each. Following the death of Sir Albert in 1936 the Treasurer's Report notes that he 'will be remembered as a very generous suppor? ter of the Hospital'. 126 The Jewish Year Book, 1935, 'Who's Who'. 127 Treasurer's Report for 1938, p. 58. 128 E.M. Rosser, 'Who was Annie Zunz?', Bart's Journal (Autumn 1983) 26-7. 47</page><page sequence="28">Claire Hilton APPENDICES Appendix i List of visitors to Bart's from the United Synagogue Visitation Committee, as stated in the Jewish Year Books The year stated refers to the year the visits were made. The information is taken from the following year's Year Book. Unfortunately the Visitation Committee has been unable to provide further names. Numbers in brackets indicate the number of visits made. 1899 Revd R. Harris, Reader and secretary, Bayswater Synagogue Revd I. Samuel, Reader, Bayswater Synagogue Mrs Morley 1900 Revd W. Esterson, Reader and secretary, Hambro Synagogue Revd I. Samuel Revd R. Harris Revd J.F. Stern, East London Synagogue Mrs Morley 19 o 1 Revd W. Esterson Revd I. Samuel Revd B. Berliner, St John's Wood Synagogue Mrs Morley 1902 Revd W. Esterson 1903 Revd D. Wasserzug, Dalston Synagogue Miss A. Boss Mrs Rosenthal 1904- Revd D. Wasserzug 1914 1915 Revd F. Levine (3) Revd E. Spero(3) Revd D. Wasserzug (29) Miss A. Boss (30) 1916 Revd M. Fenton (3) Revd G. Isaacs (3) Revd W. Levin (7) RevdS. Levy (1) Revd D. Wasserzug (21) Miss A. Boss (32) 1917 Revd S. Blackman (1) RevdM. Fenton (1) Revd W. Levin (1) Revd D. Wasserzug (23) Mrs F.D. Benjamin (2) Miss A. Boss (19) Miss E. Levy (9) 1918 Rabbi Harris Cohen, Stoke Newington Synagogue 1919 ? 1920 ? 48</page><page sequence="29">St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and its Jewish connections 1921- Revd S. Gross 1922 Miss A. Boss 1923 ? 1924 ? 1925- Revd A. Nunes Vaz 1927 Mrs F.L. Cohen 1928 Revd A. Nunes Vaz Mrs J. Isaacs 1929 Revd A. Nunes Vaz 1930 Revd A. Nunes Vaz Mrs Gower 19 31 Revd A. Nunes Vaz Revd B.N. Michelson Mrs Gower Appendix II The texts of two poems discussed on p. 34. 1 R.B.P., 'Brighton?A Cavalcade', St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal (February 1941) 94-5 In Brighthelmstone did portly George, A stately pleasure dome decree, And from his strange exotic plan The modern health resort began Of Brighton by the sea. Soon after this auspicious start The Regent and the bucks depart; The stately Crescents Nash designed To mere 'appartments' have declined? Victoria now is Queen? And rows of wheeled contraptions reach Along the margin of the beach, Where bathing beauties hide, to change For swadling clothes yet still more strange The bulky crinoline. Though virtue more resplendent shines, The public taste perhaps declines; In modest homes immune from sin Horsehair and velvet usher in The Aspidistra Age. Brighton becomes, as fashions pass, A Mecca of the Middle class; But 'Freedom broadens slowly down', Even in the most exclusive town, And, scorning snobbish rage, Strange cockney 'trippers', loud and gay, Born of the new Bank Holiday, Disgorged from cheap excursion trains, Like locusts swarm across the plains, And settle on the piers. While still attempting to enjoy The pleasures of the 'oi polloi', Brighton detects a further change, An infiltration new and strange? The Chosen Race appears. The tumult and the shouting calms, And in a land of waving palms Gesticulating sons of Shem Begin to build Jerusalem In England's pleasant land: And Brighton though she may muse: 'How odd of God to choose the Jews!' Perhaps with rather doubtful voice, Accepting the Creator's choice Agrees to let it stand. Thus still, when Armageddon came, The town continued much the same; It seemed in Nineteen-thirty-nine An undisputed Palestine, A Ghetto by the sea. But at Invasion's fearful threat Another transformation yet Began immediately to work, And seeing Brighton post-Dunkirk Was quite a shock to me! The large and lordly limousine Had almost vanished from the scene; The features of the folk one passed Had taken on an Aryan cast, One heard the Sussex speech! 49</page><page sequence="30">Claire Hilton A generation, long despised, Stiff-necked, and quite uncircumcised, Was planting, and proposed to guard, A pillbox on the promenade, And wire along the beach. It seemed at least to Gentile eyes, Still staring with a wild surmise, These unfamiliar people, these Must be the aborigines Returned at last from where? Then suddenly a F?hrer spoke, And all at once the tempest broke; In peals of thunder, sheets of flame, Unseen from out the Blue it came? The Blitzkrieg from the Air. The East bowed low before the blast, In deep dislike and pain, She let the Dorniers thunder past, Then plunged in flight again. Almost before the trial began, The gentlemen of Jewry ran: And Brighton now, despite report, Is once again a health resort! The parachutes and tanks, The bombs, that from the clouds emerge, Have acted as a healthy purge; And Hitler's Hate has proved a huge And most successful Hebrifuge? For this relief much thanks! Who knows, the alien people gone, If Hitler's helpful work goes on, What further boons we may expect, What hideous bungalows be wrecked, Along the Sussex shore? We watch the houses, jerry-built, By Jerry's ruthless engines spilt, And see with pleasure unalloyed What Vandals built by Huns destroyed To rise, we hope, no more. So, as we speed the Wandering Jew, The Philistine is banished too; And from our Downland, scarred and scored, A dream of Sussex new-restored Upon our hearts is graven: And as we frame our nightly prayer For those in peril from the air, We pause to add this other word: Grant us at length true peace, 0 Lord? A peace without Peacehaven. We will not cease to strive alone, Nor shall our sword sleep in our hand, Till we have rebuilt Brighthelmstone In England's green and pleasant land. 2 D.I.C., 'Hymn to Hitler', Argent and Sable (1939)14 Czechs and Slovaks, what are they But thy country's rightful prey? Show thy civilising zeal By crushing them beneath thy heel. Be sure that if thy sacred mission Arouses Allied opposition, Knowing that thy Might is Right, They only do it out of spite. Gentle Adolf, meek and mild, Guardian of each German Child, Leave no single Pole alive If by his death thy Reich may thrive. Fear not to attack the Jews; They have but their life to lose. And if thou shouldst need their money They still have their milk and honey. 50</page></plain_text>