Jewish migrants

• When were Jewish migrant expelled

  1290
• Why did Jewish people migrate to England

  • in 1650 England was a republic after Charles I's execution; welcoming
  • Oliver Cromwell welcomed them
  • Jewish people could quietly return
  • fleeing persecution; 100,000 massacred in Ukraine
• Why did Cromwell want them to come

  • Induce the second coming of Jesus
  • Skills needed for the economy
• What did Cromwell say about the 1290 bill


  • Only applied to Jewish people at the time
  • It was issued by royal perogative NOT parliament
• Positives of Jewish experience

  • Accommodated (at first)
  • some were successful
  • Jewish relief system set up
• How were Jewish people accommodated

  • 1701: Bevis Marks synagogue built to seat 400 men and 160 women
  • support from Mayor of London, and every year (1679-1780) Sephardic Jewish community gave him a silver dish of sweetmeats to appease
• How were some Jewish people successful

  • many were merchants, bankers, doctors
  • 1657: Solomon Dormido = first Jewish person on the Royal Exchange
  • Mendes da Costa family; successful bankers in Highgate, Surrey
• STATS for the Jewish relief system

  • synagogue raised money
  • 1644: Gates of Hope school for poor Jewish boys founded
  • 1730: Villa Real school for poor Jewish girls founded
• Negatives of Jewish experience

  • some were unsuccessful
  • Anti-Semitism
• STATS about Jewish people's unsuccessful experience

  • 1700: half the Jewish people in London depended on help from rich people
  • lots of Ashkenazi Jews had to settle I ports like Liverpool, Hull, London, Portsmouth, Plymouth; were dealers to captains and sailors
  • some of the impoverished became pedlars, selling lace, ribbon, buckets
• STATS on Anti-Semitism

  • could not be lawyers, serve in the army, go to university
  • Propaganda against them: like stereotype of Shylock (blood libel conspiracy) in the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, songs, pamphlet
• How did they impact England?

  Financially
• What did Moses Hart do?

  • allowed to trade on royal exchange
  • 1692: financed great synagogue Ashkenazis
  • his daughter Married into the Frank family
• What did the Frank family do

  • traded in diamond and coal
  • supplied equipment to British army
  • employed lots of people
• Who supported monarchs

  • Lopez Suasso; funded William III's Glorious Revolution
  • Solomon Medina; financed Duke of Marlborough's campaigns (£6,000 a year)