Possible Jewish ancestry - where do I start?

[Stonewaller]

Hello,
I am looking for a William JACOBS who was born (according to his age at burial) in about 1766. Given his surname I wonder if he had Jewish roots. His wife was Mary. They had at least 10 children baptised into the Church of England in Eton, Buckinghamshire, starting in the 1792. However, as I have not found their marriage, nor a Church of England baptism for William (anywhere near Eton) I wonder if anyone could advise me on where to look for Jewish records of that period.

Thank you.

[Ladkyis]

Take a look at the Jewishgen website

www.
jewishgen.org

Loads of information about jewish ancestry. I would certainly widen my search for a marriage to the parishes around the one where you found the baptisms. If the children were baptised then it is more than likely that they were not Jewish - or that he was and married out and, therefore, was no longer considered Jewish. Nor even alive, come to that and the children would not have been Jewish because that only descends through the female line.

[stepives]

Why would you think he is Jewish.? Is it because his surname is Jacobs. I have relatives with the surname of Jacobs, and have have found no reason to think they're of that faith. But Church of England, back to the late 1600's.

Was his death in 1846 Eton(Do you have the cert). Have you found him in the 1841 census, or his wife Mary.

There are possible banns & marriage @ St.Nicholas, Plumstead in 1789, to a Mary Walker[Watter], or another marriage in 1792 to Mary Norriss @ St Andrew, Holborn.

Steve.

[Stonewaller]

Thank you both for your replies, and please accept my apologies for neglecting this thread for so long.

Regarding William JACOBS I might not have explained my position very well. I do not know whether or not he was Jewish, but, I have searched the Church of England records for parishes around Eton and not found either his marriage or his baptism. So, I am considering the possibility that he was Jewish. Can you please advise where to start to search Jewish records of 1760 to 1800? Thank you.

[phillip]

It might help you and other researchers if you listed the children born from the marriage and their dob plus when William died plus the death of his wife. Is he the William Jacobs who appears in the 1841 census age 75 living in Carlton Cum Willingham Radfield Cambridgeshire - HO 107 71 5 6 6 (Crown Copyright,TNA) who appears to be in the same household as William Symonds and Amy Symonds. I have Jacobs Jewish relatives but Jacobs is not their original surname nor is it their tribal name. was William alive in 1841 because the 1841 census rounded down ages post 15 years by 5 years so the William Jacobs in the Cambridgeshire record may not be your relative. You may not find William in the Eton Cambs records if he was not born in the locality irrespective of whether or not he was or was not Jewish. Looking at your current data it doesn't look as if he was Jewish. Was he buried in a Jewish cemetery or non Jewish.There are local Jewish records in key localities but it depends where and when - see Cecil Roth The Rise of Provincial Jewry 0nline which has data on Jewish early settlements post the 1656 re-settlement of Jews in the UK.
Phillip

[cathj888]

Hello Phillip,
I have been reading some of your posts on here and wanted to ask if you could help.
On one of your previous posts you wrote below regarding Samuel Jacobs who died in Christchurch in 1885.
I believe that Samuel was my Great Grandfather with my Grandfather being Alfred Jacobs and my father who is Peter Jacobs.
I know nothing about my father's paternal side of the family and was wondering if you had any other information about Samuel Jacobs.
Any referrals are most appreciated.

Many thanks,

Catherine Jacobs

The marriage of Moses Jacobs to Sarah Levy ( GSM 164/39) August ?1815
Moses Jacobs Descended from a priviliged member Moshe s of Tebi Hirsh
Sarah Levy
Sarah d of Simcha SGL

This line includes their children:
Samuel Jacobs b 1817 d 8th April 1885 Coleridge St Christchurch NZ
He married Fanny Gomm b 1830 d 1869; Emma Bristow b 1851 d 1907

David Jacobs b 1820- he married Matilda Jacobs b c 1822 - married 1848

The other children of Moses and Sarah were Ann and Lawrence

[phillip]

Cath
See my response and information regarding your request for data on Moses Jacobs on the other thread you have posted on. As you will see from that post Moses Jacobs is a son of Henry Jacobs and Kitty Moses my 4x great grandparents- I have given you details of our Jacobs website which will fill in considerable data on our lines. In addition, see the thread " Jacobs family, china and glass merchants" set up in 2005 by our 'cousin' Carol Freeman. This thread was the prompt for me to begin my research into the Jacobs ( Litzen) lines.
Let me know if I can be of any further help. I will wait until you have looked at all our data on the Jacobs family history website.
Phillip

[Stonewaller]

Thanks for your reply.

I was only hoping to find out about any possible Jewish records that I could access, however, since you have kindly offered to help me further here is what I know:
I found his burial in the parish records for Eton: William JACOBS buried on 12/10/1819, age 53.
William and Mary had the following children baptised:
Elizabeth 07/10/1792
James 06/11/1793
Lydia 12/04/1795
Charles 02/04/1797
William 08/12/1798
George 05/10/1800
Mary Ann 05/09/1802
Eliza 31/01/1808
Hannah 14/08/1809
Henry 08/08/1813

I have not found a marriage for William and Mary (I acknowledge the possibilities listed above by stepives).

I know that he might well have not been Jewish, but, I feel I have exhausted the Anglican records and not found him. For that reason I hope to search any relevant Jewish records, even if only to eliminate the likelihood that he was born into a Jewish family and married out.

Thanks again.

[RobinC]

I may be stating the obvious here so correct me if I'm wrong but if they have had children baptised then surely they are not Jewish and the relevant records are not available online at this moment in time?

[Stonewaller]

They had children baptised from 1792 on, but, isn't it possible that William JACOBS had been born into a Jewish family (~1766) and married out?