This book is the result of four years in-depth research by Christina Hilsenrath, chair of trustees of the Friends of Bath Jewish Burial Ground, assisted by other members of the group.
Hardback | 220 pages
Price £20 + shipment
Order a copy
Jews in Bath
In 1772, Joseph Sigmond, a young Jewish man exiled from his home in the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, arrived homeless and penniless in Exeter. Advised to study dentistry, by the early 1800s he had opened a surgery in Edgar Buildings, Bath.
Just round the corner in Bartlett Street was Jacob Abrahams, an optician, and if Joseph wanted to discuss the latest dental techniques he could do so with rival dentist Soloman Abraham Durlacher in Union Street. Maybe Joseph’s wife Catherine was a client of Betsy Duralcher, a chiropodist. She could buy her shoes from Figgins and Moses, her jewellery from Henry Moore, and her furs from J Isaacs. In the evening perhaps the Sigmonds went to a concert given by John Braham, one of the most celebrated opera singers of the times or to one of the masked balls that Joseph sponsored.
These Jewish health professionals, artists, craftsmen and traders were the beginning of the small community of Jews from central Europe who, fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty, made Bath their home. The city with its famous hot springs was a place of genteel residence, attracting fashionable visitors with money to spend setting up their houses for the season, visiting the optician or dentist and shopping for jewellery and clothes.
This book brings alive the individuals and families who lived, worked and worshipped in the city, together with the history of their synagogues and Burial Ground. It not only reveals an untold part of Bath’s history, but is the first comprehensive account of one of the few provincial Jewish communities in England and Wales, a history hitherto under-researched and rarely told.
Sorry, there is problem...
It is possible that a browser extension like uBlock, PrivacyBadger, AdBlocker or several others is stopping our site from being able to take details from you.
If you are using a browser extension like one of these, please could you open it and disable its action for our site - you should then be able to proceed.
If this message continues to appear, we have an alternate method.
or if you are not in the UK: click here
Please contact us if you have any problem
Step 1
Please give us your details (opens new window). Then return to this page.
Step 2
After you have submitted those details, please then select from these options to make your donation on a secure payment platform:
Either join the Friends with an annual direct debit
Annual £10 | £25 | £50
these links take you to the GoCardless secure payment system
Or make a one-off donation