West Ham Jewish Cemetery is a
cemetery for Jews in
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
in the
London Borough of Newham, England. It was established in 1856 by the New Synagogue on Great St. Helen's, soon joined by the
Great Synagogue in Duke's Place, both of them London congregations.
[ Kadish, Sharman, ''Jewish Heritage in England: An Architectural Guide'', ]English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, 2006, p. 35
There are a number of notable people buried here, in a graveyard visually dominated by the imposing
Rothschild Mausoleum
West Ham Jewish Cemetery is a cemetery for Jews in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, England. It was established in 1856 by the New Synagogue on Great St. Helen's, soon joined by the Great Synagogue in Duke's Place, both of them Lond ...
.
[ One section contains graves removed to this burial place from the former ]Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...
burial ground of the Hambro Synagogue when that site underwent urban redevelopment. The oldest legible tombstone in this section dates from 1794.[
]
Rothschild Mausoleum
The Rothschild Mausoleum is circular, domed, mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
built in 1866 by Ferdinand James von Rothschild
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (17 December 1839 – 17 December 1898), also known as Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild, was a British Jewish banker, art collector and politician who was a member of the prominent Rothschild family ...
for his late wife Evelina de Rothschild
Evelina Gertrude de Rothschild (25 August 1839 – 4 December 1866) was an English socialite and a member of the Rothschild banking family of England.
Biography
Evelina de Rothschild was the daughter of Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808–1879), ...
who died in childbirth at age 27. The architect was Matthew Digby Wyatt
Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Camb ...
. It is fashioned of marble in Renaissance revival
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
style.[Pearson, Lynn F. ''Mausoleums'', Osprey Publishing, 2001, p. 21] Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
notes the "dome of Eighteenth-century detail on attached Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
columns" and praises the ironwork and stone carving, calling it worthy of "the attention of the student of mid-Victorian detail."
Anti-Semitic attack
In 2005 a number of monuments were destroyed and graves desecrated in what the police described as an attack by anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
vandals. The doors of the mausoleum were pounded with heavy iron bars until they were bashed in, then they were torn from the building.[
]
Notable burials
* Evelina de Rothschild
Evelina Gertrude de Rothschild (25 August 1839 – 4 December 1866) was an English socialite and a member of the Rothschild banking family of England.
Biography
Evelina de Rothschild was the daughter of Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808–1879), ...
(1839–1866), socialite
* Ferdinand James von Rothschild
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (17 December 1839 – 17 December 1898), also known as Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild, was a British Jewish banker, art collector and politician who was a member of the prominent Rothschild family ...
(1839–1898)
* Sir David Salomons, 1st Baronet (1797–1873), a leading figure in the 19th-century struggle for Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom. He was the first Jewish Sheriff of the City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
and Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
.
* Philip Salomons
Philip Salomons (1796–1867) was an English financier, Jewish leader and High Sheriff of Sussex.
Early life
Philip Salomons was born in London in 1796. He travelled extensively in the United States as a young man, and became a naturalized Ameri ...
(1796–1867), financier and High Sheriff of Sussex.
War graves
The cemetery has five Commonwealth service war graves, four from World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and one from World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. A German soldier (prisoner of war) and two German civilian internees from the former war are also buried here.
See also
* Jewish cemeteries in the London area
* United Synagogue
The United Synagogue (US) is a union of United Kingdom, British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 62 congregations (including 7 affiliates and 1 associate, ), comprising 40,000 members, it ...
References
External links
Official website
* – Mausoleum
{{coords, 51.5532, 0.0138, display=title
1856 establishments in England
1866 establishments in England
1856 in London
Jewish Cemeteries in London, West Ham
Buildings and structures completed in 1866
Jewish Cemeteries in London, West Ham
Cemetery vandalism and desecration
Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
Jewish mausoleums
Jewish Cemeteries in London, West Ham
Mausoleums in England
Monuments and memorials in London
Renaissance Revival architecture in England
*
Jewish Cemetery
A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...