Genealogy

JSCN does NOT have the resources to assist
you in tracing your family.

But, here are some tips...

primary ways of researching your ancestors…

Under UK law all Jewish Births, Marriages and Deaths must be recorded by the Civil Registrar.
Obtaining copies of these original documents is a good place to start.

1. Contact the Registrars Office in the Location you are looking.
   They will have the records for all Births, Marriages and Deaths.
   Its worth obtaining all three, as they will contain a variety of information.
2. Subscribe to Ancestry.com / Geni.com / myheritage.com (or similar) where you can gain access to the Census for 1891, 1901 and 1911.
   
   You will also find a variety of other documentation there, including indexes of recorded deaths.
   All these companies also provide DNA testing, which can sometimes, but not always, help.
3. Contact the most likely Synagogue to have your relative’s records.
   Even if the original synagogue no longer exists, the records are likely to have been absorbed by one of the nearest active synagogues.
4. Peer help with research can be found on one of the many Facebook groups such as JGSGB or  British-Jewry.

Tracing your Family:

• Records of Births Deaths and Marriages are kept by the local Registrar (of the City or County Council area they occurred in).
• Additional records of Jewish Marriages and Deaths will also be kept by the synagogue responsible.
• The Office of the Chief Rabbi keeps further copies of Marriage Ketubahs, for ceremonies conducted in a large number of Ashkenazi congregations.
• Archives.com has a free 7 day search option to search the UK Census Online from 1841 to 1911.

The Jewish Genealogical Society is a key organisation to contact. Its aims are...To encourage genealogical research * To promote the preservation of Jewish genealogical records and resources * To share information amongst members The Society is open to all interested in Jewish genealogy.
http://www.jgsgb.org.uk/

JGSGB Group on Facebook

Checking if you have a Jewish Heritage:

Jewish heritage is passed down through the maternal line.
If your mother was Jewish you are Jewish.
If your father was Jewish, but your mother was not, then traditionally you are not Jewish.

What's in a Name?

Please bear in mind that it was very popular for Christian families to give their children names from the "Old Testament" (otherwise known as the Hebrew Bible or Torah).
So the fact that your ancestor had a "Jewish" sounding first name is NO INDICATION of Jewish ancestry.

Synagogue Records:

DNA:

Jewish lineage is passed down through the Mother's line only.
DNA tests are not accepted as proof of being Jewish by the Rabbinic authorities.

A person who is born Jewish is likely to have a 90%-99% DNA result indicating Jewish heritage (either Ashkenazi or Sephardic).
If you have, say, a small percentage Jewish result in your DNA test it is likely you are going to have to look several generations back and several cousins distant from your primary lineage.

Here is a very rough & ready estimator... if your ancestor is 100% Ashkenazi, you’d be 50% if it was a parent, 25% if it was a grand parent, and so on. If it was five generations away, it would be about 3.1%, and at six generations away, 1.6%. If your great great great great grand mother was 75% Ashkenazi, and married to a 50% Ashkenazi man, you’d be 1.95% Ashkenazi if you had no other Ashkenazi ancestors. But it could also be more contributors further back in time contributing.

There has been a Jewish presence in Britain since Roman times.
Even in times of Jewish persecution, there will still have been Jews who remained resident but hid their Jewish identity or led a double life as Christian publicly and observed Jewish rites under cover.

Reconnecting with your Jewish ancestry and adopting Jewish observance:

Taking on a Jewish life means you are accepting the vast range of Jewish laws, perspectives and customs.
Jews are uniquely both a "People" and a Religion.
Adopting all of this and absorbing a new perspective into all of your life is no small undertaking, and may take many years to achieve.
See also: Converting to Judaism

Lost Jewish Lineage:

To integrate more with society, Jews often amended or completely changed their names, adopting more culturally acceptable ones yet with their Jewish lineage and identity otherwise persisting.
Jewish names but non-Jewish culture
Alternatively, because the family take the name of the father, its possible that a Jewish surname persists even though the Jewish heritage has been lost, through the mother being non-Jewish.
But it is also possible that individuals assimilate and lose their Jewishness altogether.

Local Records & other Evidence

Finding details of where your relatives were born, married and buried (local Registrar's Office), and where the families resided (UK Census) will help you find patterns of connection with (or not) with the Jewish community.

If you find some indications that your relatives were part of Jewish society, then they may have been members of the nearest synagogue.
Synagogues move and merge, and when they do the records are usually held in trust by another synagogue.

Details of Marriages:

The Jewish Marriage Certificate - the Katubah - may hold the details you want. Older ones may be written entirely in Hebrew. A local synagogue might be able to help you get a translation.

If you haven't got a copy of the Ketubah another copy will be held on record by the synagogue responsible for conducting he ceremony.

Confirmation of where the marriage took place can be gained by obtaining a copy of the Civil Marriage Certificate from the Registrar of the County Borough or City where the ceremony took place.

Contact the synagogue where your relation was married, they should have records of all marriages conducted there.
Many synagogues amalgamate over the years, but its likely that the records will have been inherited by a synagogue nearby.

If the synagogue records have been lost you can contact the Office of the Chief Rabbi, in London.
They hold records from all synagogues associated with the United Synagogues.
This will cover a very large number of UK synagogues, but not all.

Office of the Chief Rabbi, 305 Ballards Lane, London, N12 8GB, UK
Enquiries: +44 (0)20 8343 6301
info@chiefrabbi.org

Further Resources:

Take a look at our Directory to find additional  resources