Sunderland

Sunderland is an industrial city and port in the English metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear.

Jewish Community in Sunderland

There was no Jewish community before 1750. Merchants and others moved from other parts of the United Kingdom, and Europe and a Rabbi was brought over from Holland in 1769. The community grew slowly, often as a side effect of the coal industry. The port exported coal to the eastern Baltic, but there was little return trade, and some ships accepted Polish Jews, especially from Crottingen, Poland, rather than loss money by returning empty in ballast.

Related Topics:
Jewish - United Kingdom - Rabbi - Holland - Coal - Poland

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A plot of land was acquired in Beach Street, Deptford as a burial ground. This plot can still be seen and there are remains of memorial stones. Burials stopped in the mid 19th century when the municipal cemetery of Bishopwearmouth was opened. There is a seperate Jewish section in the North West corner near the Hylton Road end. Remains from the original 'Jew's Burial Ground' were reinterred in Bishopwearmouth Cemetery.

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The result for this great trading port was a numerous and thriving Jewish population. The community, which was concentrated in the East End and, later, Ashbrooke, made a positive community to local business and culture. Sir Jack Cohen and Charles Slater, two prominent Sunderland Jews, were highly influential on local politics in the latter half of the 20th century. Slater led the city council for almost two decades until the early 1990s.

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The Wearside Jewish community has been in decline since the mid-20th Century. Many Jews moved to other parts of Britain and the world, with some families emigrating to Israel. Other families moved to nearby Newcastle and Gateshead, where larger Jewish communities are in existence. At the 2001 census, 114 people of Jewish faith were recorded as living in Sunderland. The current synagogue, on Ryhope Road, was opened in 1928 and remains in use today.

Related Topics:
Israel - Newcastle - Gateshead - Ryhope

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