Warrington Jewish History

Here in the Archives we are always trying to tell stories that haven’t been told before, to find areas of the Borough’s history that have been overlooked and to shine a light on those histories. One area of the town’s history that we could find very little mention of in the history books, was the lives of its Jewish residents.

The history of Jewish people in Warrington may go back many hundreds of years, but it is not until the latter 19th Century that we start to find records of Jewish people appearing in the Archives.

There are still many gaps in our knowledge of Warrington’s Jewish history, but the table below marks the start of our journey to uncover as much as possible.

If you know of any aspect of Warrington’s Jewish history that you feel should be added to this directory, we would love to hear from you at: [email protected]

Name of Person or Organisation	Details
Barrow Helsby, James, b.1862	James Barrow Helsby was an early member of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue. In 1903 he was a co-founder of the Topical Press Photographic Agency in London. His step-brother, Albert Victor Swaebe, was a well known royal photographer.
Bookbinder, Nathan	Nathan “Nat” Bookbinder, opened the Casino Club dance hall on Market Gate, Warrington in December of 1938. Nat also performed with his own dance band known as the Six Chapters. During the War vast numbers of American troops were stationed at Burtonwood air base, many of whom sampled the night life of Warrington. In the USA segregation was still firmly in place, and the American military authorities wanted a “colour bar” put in place at the Casino Club, banning black people from attending. Nat Bookbinder refused and the American and British military put his club out of bounds to all servicemen. Nat fought on against the “colour bar”, but the drop in takings and Nat’s being called up to join the army in 1943 led to the eventual closing of the Casino Club. More information about Nat and his fight for equal rights can be found elsewhere in the Museum website.
Claff, Samuel Aaron, b.1862 – d.1941	Samuel Claff was born in Russia son of Rev Elijah Claff of Shavel in Lithuania. He arrived in England in 1882, escaping the pogroms taking place across the Russian Empire. By 1891 he had moved his family to Warrington where Samuel set up a business a furniture dealer. Samuel helped to found the Jewish Hospital in 1904 and the Holy Law Synagogue (known as Claff’s Shul), in 1912, as well as being actively involved in the setting up of a communal Shechita Board and the Talmud Torah in Manchester. He went on to own several businesses across the North West. An obituary for Samuel Claff can be found in the Jewish Chronicle, 24th January 1941. Further information can be found in “An industrious minority: a history of the Bolton Jewish community” By Hilary Thomas and John Cowell, 2012, P166.
Egyptian Refugees at Croft	In 1956, in the wake of the Suez Crisis, Egypt stripped citizenship from several groups of people, particularly focusing their attention on British and French citizens and Jewish Egyptians. In 1957 an initial intake of 200 Egyptian refugees arrived at Eaves Brow Hall in Croft, amongst them were 8 Jewish families. The Liverpool Jewish Board of Guardians undertook to provide any Jewish requirements these refugees had and to help them adjust to life in the UK and train in new fields of work. A report of the arrival can be found in the Liverpool Jewish Gazette, 8th Feb, 1957.
Ginsberg, Benjamin, b.1867	Benjamin Ginsberg and his wife Polly emigrated to the UK from Russia. Benjamin is listed as running a draper’s stall on Warrington Market in the 1901, 1911, and 1921 censuses and in the 1935 Trades Directory for the town. Sadly his only recorded child, Sarah, died in 1915 and his wife Polly died in 1923, some time after this Benjamin moved to Manchester to live with family.
Goldstone, Isaiah, b.1857	A maker and seller of cloth caps, based on Mersey Street, Warrington. Isaiah was born in Oxfordshire to Polish and German parents. The Goldstone family can be found on the 1901 and 1911 censuses for Warrington.
Greenbank Drive Synagogue, Liverpool	During World War Two, the basement of the Greenbank Drive Synagogue was used, amongst other things, as a social centre for Jewish GIs stationed at Burtonwood Air Base in Warrington. After the War the congregation was presented with a plaque thanking them for this service still on display in the entrance hall.
The Jewish Holiday Home for Mothers and Babies, Lymm	Originally established at Chinley in Derbyshire, the home relocated to Lymm in 1928. It remained in operation until 1964. The Holiday Home was established to give young mothers and their babies a few weeks away from the smog of Manchester. Minutes and registers of the home are held at Manchester Central Library, access conditions may apply.
Marx, Werner, b.1899	Werner Marx was a German engineer educated at the University of Berlin. He worked for Askania Werke AG of Dessau from 1926 and was sent to London in 1933 to work for Thermal Appliances Ltd, set up and owned by Askania Werke. When Radiation Ltd bought Thermal Appliances Ltd from Askania Werke in 1936 Werner Marx moved to Warrington to work for Richmonds Stove Co Ltd (part of Radiation Ltd.). He was still employed by Richmonds and living at Marlfied Road, Grappenhall, on the outbreak of WWII. On 28th May 1940 he was placed in an internment camp for German citizens. Marx’s parents had converted from Judaism to Evangelical Christianity. Manuscripts relating to the life of Marx and his parents can be found at Cheshire Archives.
Masonic Hall, Warrington	Local newspapers for the 16th June 1897 report on a Jewish wedding held at Warrington, describing what they refer to as “a novel ceremony”. This wedding was held at the Masonic Hall on Bold Street. The newspaper reports that the wedding may be the first to take place in the town since the 13th Century and describes some of the events of the day. The wedding was that of Miss Mary Rosenberg, daughter of Reuben Rosenberg of Russia and Mr Israel Nathan of Liverpool.
Mensor, Rev. Dr. Meyer (or Mayer), b.circa 1817 – d.1913	Born in Sheffield. In 1857 he was appointed minister of the Kehillath Anshe Ma’arab in Chicago, USA, but was asked to leave for changing the congregation’s liturgy. Mensor returned to Sheffield becoming a Minister to the Hebrew Congregation there from about 1859 until 1861 when he controversially converted to Christianity. He was appointed Curate of Newchurch, Culcheth in 1864 and went on to be appointed Vicar of Stoke Mandeville in 1879. More information about Mensor can be found in “Sheffield Jewry” by Armin Krausz (1980).
Ribeiro, Emmanuel, b.1883 – d.1953	Emmanuel Ribeiro was a socialist and conscientious objector from Manchester who was arrested for his stance on 17th January 1917. Following arrest he went on hunger strike. On 25th January he was transferred to the Lord Derby Military Hospital, at Winwick, Warrington. During his time at the hospital he was force fed 155 times over a period of 17 months. In March 1918 he was court-martialled, sentenced to two years hard labour and sent to Wormwood Scrubs Prison, in London.
Riots of 1947	In 1947 a wave of anti-Jewish offences broke out across Britain following the kidnap and hanging of two British Sergeants by Irgun Guerillas in Palestine on 31st July. The disturbances ranged from full scale riots in towns such as Manchester, where hundreds took to the streets attacking Jewish businesses, to small disturbances in towns like Warrington where a man was fined for smashing the windows of a Jewish tailors’ shop.
Rosenberg, Hyman (Hymie), b.1893	Father Abraham Rosenberg, Furniture Dealer of Warrington (born Wilno, Russia, now Lithuania), mother Fanny Claff (born in Dinaburg, now Latvia). An oral history recording of Hyman Rosenberg, known colloquially as “Uncle Hymie”, can be found in the collection of the North West Sound Archive.
Shapiro Family	Max Shapiro, b.1868 and Sarah his wife, b.1873, were both born in Russia. Their first child Lilly was born in Warrington in 1895 and by 1898 Max had become a naturalized British subject. By the time of the 1901 census Max and and his family were living on Knutsford road in Warrington, where Max is listed as a Furniture Dealer. By 1911 the family had moved to Earlestown and later moved again to Liverpool.
Siemms, Adolphe Isaac, b.1820 – d.1899	Adolphe Isaac Siemms, hebrew name Avraham Yitzchak ben Dovid, was a chiropodist based on Rodney street in Liverpool, who also operated out of the premises of Mr. Lowe, Bootmaker, of Sankey Street, Warrington. His advertisements in the Warrington Guardian in the 1860s list him as “Professor Siemms, Remover of corns, bunions etc”.
Slazenger Moss, Ralph, b.1844 – d.1910	A manufacturer of sporting goods, Ralph Slazenger Moss’s birth certificate states that he was born at his father’s draper’s shop on Horsemarket Street in Warrington in 1844. His various obituaries state that he was born in Lymm. Either way Slazenger has a strong connection to Warrington. His father, Joseph Slazenger Moss, was a founder of the Manchester Old Congregation and a mohel. According to the Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, in 1885 Ralph moved to London, dropped the name Moss and left Judaism. He expanded his late father’s tailoring business to include the production of India rubber products such as tennis and golf balls. This went on to become the famous Slazenger company still known today.
Warrington Synagogue	The Jewish Year Books from 1902/3 – 1904/5 list a synagogue as existing at Warrington. The President of the Synagogue is listed as Zachariah Zarenski and it seems likely the congregation met at his house on Knutsford road. The synagogue is listed as Ashkenazi – Orthodox. Interestingly, Isiah Goldstone, a relative of Zarenski and fellow Warrington resident, writes to the Jewish Year Book in October 1903 to state that there is in fact no Synagogue in Warrington and has not been a congregation there for six years, suggesting that Zarenski has exaggerated his standing in the community.
Zarenski, Zachariah, b.1866	Listed as President of Warrington Synagogue from 1902-1905. Zarenski, along with his wife and son, had emigrated from Russia to Britain following the pogroms of the 1880s, which saw Jewish citizens of the Russian Empire facing increasing violence and discrimination. In the 1901 census Zarenski is listed as a Furniture Dealer, living on Knutsford Road in Latchford. The Zarenski family can be found on the 1901 census for Warrington.