Henry JACOBS and Solomon HENRY

[TimHomewood]

I'm looking for suggestions on the best way to gather information on two Jewish families who came to London in the late 18th or early 19th Century. They are my 3x great grandparents Solomon HENRY and his wife Jane (maiden name unknown) and Henry JACOBS (wife's name unknown). The two men are from Europe

Solomon and Jane HENRY
According to the census (1841 and 1851) Solomon HENRY was born in Germany sometime around 1787-88. He is listed as a Watch Maker.

Other dates:
1. 1820-1823: his son Michael HENRY was born in Whitechapel, London (source - various censuses). It's likely Solomon came to London before this date.
2. about 1825: Leah HENRY (my great great grandmother) was born in Whitechapel London (sources - various censuses)
3. 1841: Solomon HENRY is the head of the household at Leman Street, Whitechapel, London in the 1841 census. He is 53, Watch Maker, born of "Foreign Parts". His wife, Jane HENRY is 52. His daughter Leah is 16.
4. 1850: Solomon HENRY, is the father of Leah HENRY on her marriage certificate for 28 February 1850 at the Great Synagogue in London. Solomon's profession is Dealer.
5. 1851: Solomon HENRY is the head of the household at 190 Ratcliff Highway, Tower Hamlets, London in the 1851 census. He is 64, watch maker, born in Germany. Jane HENRY is 72. Leah HENRY and her husband Lewis JACOBS are both in the household.
6. 1861: Jane HENRY is living with Lewis and Leah in Whitechapel and is described as a Widow, implying Solomon is now dead.

I haven't found a marriage record for Solomon and Jane and I haven't found a death record for Solomon (Jane died in 1865). Jane is always described in the census as having been born in Middlesex however I can't find a birth record for her (about 1789 based on census ages).

Henry JACOBS
There is much less to know about Henry JACOBS.

He appears on the same wedding certificate mentioned above (1850) as the father of Lewis (Louis) JACOBS. His profession is Cigar Maker, and in fact a number of his descendants continue in the cigar business. There's nothing to indicate Henry is in London.

His son Lewis has recorded his own birthplace in the census as Poland so I've assumed the same for Henry.

There is a Henry Jacobs who appears in the 1861 census who is a Slipper Manufacturer born in Poland. He's 68 which makes his birth year around 1793 which fits in with Lewis' age. Lewis is a Slipper Maker in the 1851 census. That's about the best I can do to draw a connection between Lewis and this Henry.


I'm pretty new to family history research and my focus for the last couple of months has been to get as much as I can from the online sources. I'd like to start researching in the various archives and luckily I'm in London, not far from where these ancestors all lived.

It would be great if someone could suggest some next steps. In particular, I'm not so sure on the availability of the archives of the Great Synagogue or even whether they would be much help. I have had a look at various websites for Jewish family research. I've found some entries on Synagogue Scribes for some of the people I'm not sure how I can use this information. I've also done some searches on JewishGen but again the information is a little confusing.

It would also be useful to get some suggestions on names as I'm sure that the names have changed after emigration and there seems to be some swapping of surnames and last names. Louis seems to be Louis when it involves family but is always Lewis in official documents.

Thanks for reading this far. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

[phillip]

Tim
As an initial start and to help other researchers ( there are several family trees on Ancestry Com which have some data on your lines) here is the Marriage Certificate for Louis Jacobs and Leah Henry:
Great Synagogue St James Dukes Palce
28b Feb 1850
Louis Jacobs full age bachelor Boot Maker 190 Saint George St- father Henry Jacobs cigar maker
Leah Henry full age spinster- same address as groom- father Solomon Henry - Dealer
Married according to the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish Religion
Witnesses- Simon Ascher; L Pyke .. Oppenheim- Nb these are Synagogue Officials

Synagogue Scribes Records- GSMa 101/35 Marriage Leah Henry - father's Hebrew name Naftal Hirsh
Louis Jacobs - Eli or Eleazer abbreviation- father's Hebrew name Yehuda Leib

The Hebrew names are important because they show the tribal or religious names as well as patriarchal names pre adoption of anglicised names.

Do you want to set out the full census details for the lines?
There is a GRO Death Index Record for a Solomon Henry including: Solomon Henry March qtr 1861 E London 1c 11. There is an earlier record for Solomon Henry March qtr 1853 Whitechapel 1c 379. You might want to order the first one to see if it is your Solomon.
I will take a look at various sources to see if I can locate your lines further.
Phillip

[phillip]

Tim and others
The 1851 British Census -190 Ratcliffe Highway HO 107 15 497 5 (Crown Copyright,TNA) has the family of Solomon HENRY with a Grace ANSELL widow 62 Annuitant b London living with the family. There is no reference to her family connection. She is likely to be the Grace Ansell who died age 90 June qtr 1877 Lambeth 1d 305

Looking at the Synagogue Scribes site for possible Henry marriages I noted ( there maybe no connection but always worth keeping options open) that there were two marriages which may indicate why Tim can't locate the marriage of a Jane to Samuel Henry: The first is GSM 197/05 Jane CASPER father's Hebrew name ANSHEL married HENRY SOLOMONS - Hebrew name Naftali Hirsh 25 Oct 1825 -father's Hebrew name Shlomeh ZALMAN. The Synagogue Scribes marriage record for Leah Henry gave her father's Hebrew name as Naftali Hirsh. Of course there are numbers of individuals who have the same Hebrew names but a second marriage might indicate a connection also to Grace Anshell - Synagogue Scribes GSM 124/11 -Marriage MOSES ANSELL -father's Hebrew name Zalman the Religious Judge from Birmingham ( a query by the record) married GRACE CASPER- father's Hebrew name Anshel son in law of Doctor Rades- 8 Nov 1809.
It maybe the case that Samuel Henry was aka Henry Solomons but further research would need to confirm this as well as the Synagogue Marriage Records being relevant to Grace Ansell.
Phillip

[phillip]

Tim and others
JewishGen UK Data Bases Insurance Policies strongly indicate that Solomon Henry did change his name and was known originally as HENRY SOLOMON. An 1821 policy has Jane HENRY -58 Leman Street 24.04.1821 with Solomon Henry's policy changed in pencil to Jane Henry. Another policy record then shows Solomon Henry watchmaker and slop seller 58b Leman Street 24.04.1821 with the policy originally in the name of HENRY SOLOMON but changed to Solomon HENRY and on his warehouse 124 Whitechapel High Street and later 14.10.1828 Henry Solomon's policy now Solomon Henry and later Jane Henry.

This data suggests that the Synagogue Marriage records for Casper and Solomons and for Casper/Ansell are likely to be those of Jane Casper and Henry Solomons aka Solomon Henry and Grace Casper and Moses Ansell. Are Jane and Grace sisters as maybe likely?

Death Notice for Grace Ansell- Daily News Weds June 20, 1877 - Death Mrs Grace Ansell at Osborne Terrace Clapham Road age 90. The Standard Weds June 20 gave Grace's age as "in her 91st year".

Tim, you may want to look now at the Henry Solomon/s lines as well as the Casper.
Phillip

[TimHomewood]

Hi Phillip, thanks very much for the great leads. You've managed to make the confusing naming situation a lot clearer. I'll follow up the suggested leads and also hopefully try and find some time to check the Synagogue records.

I've noticed a couple of references to Henry Solomon's in the past which led me to your other posts which have been very informative even if I'm not related to the people involved. Our family seem to be humble watch makers and cigar makers rather than glass tycoons.

If you have any suggestions for searching the Synagogue records it would be great.

Kind regards,
Tim

[phillip]

Tim
You might want to look at the British Jewry Archives under "Casper" for further leads. There are several posts on the line aka Caspar which may or may not be relevant.
See also The London Gazette Records for Solomon Henry aka Henry Solomon. I noted Henry Solomon (sued as Solomon Henry) late of 3 Portland Palce Borough Road Southwark Surrey and occasionally staying at the George Inn, Digbeth Birmingham Warwickshire Dealer in Watches and Jewellery and General Dealer . Prisoner Court of Relief of Insolvent Debtors 1 August 1842.
The London Gazette 8 July 1842. You will need to confirm that he is 'your' Solomon aka Henry. Suggest you look at Solomon and Solomons surnames. The Ketubah or marriage contract was usually given to the bride and synagogues did not usually keep copies until mid 1800s.
There maybe family trees for your lines held at the Society of Genealogists London under Anglo Jewish Records but this is not always the case as I have discovered researching my own lines. There are also records of birth, marriage,death and other accounts written in The Jewish Victorian. Genealogical Information from the Jewish Newspapers 1861-70; 1871-80 transcribed and edited by Doreen Berger, 1999; 2004 Publisher Robert Boyd. These are excellent sources for tracing relatives providing of course that they paid for the notices and many did not have the money or inclination.
Phillip

[phillip]

Tim
A note for your data- The Henry and Josiah Solomon of 31 Houndsditch are related to me and I have posted on these lines on this forum. You have Henry Solomon 31 Houndsditch on your Ancestry.Com family tree as a note of several addresses. This Henry is not one of your relations just to narrow down your search.
Phillip

[phillip]

Tim
It looks as if Elias Casper see Synagogue Scribes Record GSM119/15 Marriage is a brother of Grace/Jane- Elias Casper 22 Feb 1809 father's Hebrew name Anshel son in law of Doctor Rades - married Elizabeth Nathan. There is a record on Family search Community Trees which has data on his children and his dob and death as 1784-1862 Melbourne. Looking at the Synagogue Scribes records it looks as if there are close family relationships to the Anshel surname lines. You might want to check out the data for early links.
On the subject of Lewis Jacobs - the naturalisation paper places him in London circa 1846 aged about 21. I can't see early records for Henry Solomon born about 1798 Poland who appears in the 1861 census as a slipper manufacturer as per your #1 and he is not noted in the 1851 Census on JewishGen although not all data on Jewish families is listed. I suspect that Henry Jacobs father of Lewis may not have come to the UK but you need to keep options open just in case.
Looking at naturalisation papers for some of my own relatives connected by marriage the family names are not always those later used by the same individuals as you know.
Phillip

[phillip]

Tim
These maybe siblings of Henry Solomons aka Solomon Henry- Synagogue Scribes records GSM167/11 Zacharia Solomons father's Hebrew name Shlomeh Zalman 27 Feb 1816 marriage to Caroline Woolf; GSM 046/6 Rose Solomons 25 Nov 1798 father's Hebrew name Shlomeh Zalman - marriage to Abraham Lazarus.
Phillip

[TimHomewood]

Thanks Phillip, this has all been a fantastic help. I've just been in the process of following our noble family tradition of "moving out of the East End" but now we're settled I've got a weekend ahead of me chasing Caspers and Solomons!

And thanks for the steer about the Henry Solomon of 31 Houndsditch. I suspect the more successful Solomon haunted my Solomon during his life.

Just a correction, the slipper maker from Poland is Henry JACOBS, not SOLOMON. I also found him sneaking off to New York the same year Lewis and Leah got married and I'm pretty sure he's not Lewis' father but I'm keeping the record just in case.

Tim