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Position:Home>Genealogy> Jewish ancestors? Was there a Jewish community in 19th century Colchester?Question: Jewish ancestors!? Was there a Jewish community in 19th century Colchester!? I am researching the family tree of my late brother-in-law!. He always said that he had Jewish ancestors, the only evidence i have found is with a male ancestor named Meshach Loyd born c1789 in Essex (i am assuming that Meshach is a Jewish name) How can i confirm if Meshach was Jewish!? He was born in Felstead, was there a Jewish community in that area!?
Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Doesn't sound very likely, because: 1!. Loyd isn't a Jewish surname: it's an English spelling of the Welsh name "Lloyd"!. 2!. In England after the Reformation, extreme Protestants such as the Puritans and all the nonconformist sects (Baptists, Anabaptists, Methodists, Quakers, etc) rejected the Catholic habit of naming children after saints and took to calling their children either by the names of virtues (Prudence, Patience, Charity, etc) or Old Testament characters!. There would be nothing unusual in the 1780s about a rural Essex couple calling their sons Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego after the three young men in the Biblical Book of Daniel!. 3!. Felsted has always been a pretty small place, and Jews in England normally lived in urban centres; partly because of the requirement ot have 10 adult men for a minyan, but also because the kind of occupations they followed were urban!. I can't see 18th-century Felsted sustaining a Jewish community!. (BTW, Felsted is more than 20 miles from Colchester!. The fact that in the 18th century there was a Jewish community in Colchester, a full day's ride away, is quite irrelevant!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com My husband had Jewish ancestors and I found the Jewish Community at large is very helpful!. Did you know that there is a Jewish Historical Society and a Jewish Family History Society!? I don't know current addresses/contacts for either, but you can probably find a web site via Google!. If all else fails, I have a very good and knowledgeable friend in Birmingham who is President (!?) of the Midlands Jewish Historical Society - he has so many records of Jewish families in England and other Countries!. I can pass his contact details on to you if you wish!.Www@QuestionHome@Com There are many Jewish Genealogy sites, that will probably give youthe answers you need!. However Meshach is Hebrew!. The boy's name Meshach \m(e)-sha-ch\ is of Hebrew origin!. Biblical: one of the three Hebrew men (along with Shadrach and Abednego) thrown into a fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar and rescued by an angel!. Used rarely in the 19th century!. Actor Meshach Taylor!. ifo from:http://www!.thinkbabynames!.com/meaning/1/!.!.!. http://www!.jgsgb!.org!.uk/ http://www!.jewishgen!.org/ http://jewishwebindex!.com/genealogy!.htm http://www!.avotaynu!.com/wwwsites!.htmlWww@QuestionHome@Com not sure of that area but the jewish peoples have been in england well before the 12th Century so possible your tree will lead further back than you are aiming for try find a genealogy site and try and trace from there could try asking at your late brother in laws synagogue they may have archives that may assist youWww@QuestionHome@Com YES THERE WAS A JEWISH COMMUNITY IN COLCHESTER JUDAISM!. (fn!. 89) COLCHESTER !.!. JEWS In 1763 Hyman Waag, a Jewish lapidary, was living in Colchester, and Levi Alexander traded in the town as a silversmith and watchmaker in 1775!. (fn!. 90) In 1791 a Jewish marriage took place in Synagogue Yard which adjoined Quakers Alley in West Stockwell Street, (fn!. 91) but there is no record of a synagogue there after 1794!. (fn!. 92) In 1796, when two Colchester men were among the trustees for a Jewish graveyard in Ipswich, Colchester Jews seem to have been worshipping there!. (fn!. 93) Tradesmen with Jewish names lived in Colchester in the 19th century, notably in 1848 when Michael Samuel, pawnbroker and silversmith, and Moses and Simon Hyam, tailors, were recorded, (fn!. 94) but there is no evidence for a synagogue or any worshipping Jewish community in the town!. (fn!. 95) At least one member of the Hyam family became a Christian!. (fn!. 96) The Colchester and District Jewish Association was formed in 1952!. Between 1961 and 1969 the Jewish community met in a hall in Northgate House!. In 1969 a new synagogue was built in Fennings Close to serve north Essex!. (fn!. 97) BAHA'I!. From: 'Non-christian religious bodies', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester (1994), pp!. 351!. URL: http://www!.british-history!.ac!.uk/report!.!.!.!. Date accessed: 01 October 2008!.http://www!.british- history!.ac!.uk/report!.aspx!?compid=22012 TRY GENEOLOGY SITES FROM UK * JEWISH GENEOLOGY http://www!.britishancestors!.com/research!.!.!. JEWISH GENEOLOGY ( WILL GIVE INFO) http://www!.jewishgen!.org/ OVRAW=COLCHESTER%20%20GENEALOGY%20UK&O!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |