GS Marriages

GREAT SYNAGOGUE MARRIAGE RECORDS 1791 – 1859 (inc)

GREAT SYNAGOGUE MARRIAGE RECORDS 1791 – 1850 (inc)

These transcripts were first published in printed form by Frank Gent in 2001. It was always the wish of my American transliterator who, sadly, died in December 2001, that, ultimately they be made available electronically in a freely searchable format. Up until now, I was not satisfied that any of the possible Internet platforms would be a suitable repository for such a valuable archive. The advent of B-J, however, has provided the perfect home and I trust that their many subscribers will find them useful.

I cannot re-iterate too strongly that the transliterator was self-taught in the reading of the very particular and difficult script used by the Synagogue Secretaries of the day. The transcripts were originally made for her own personal use and, since her duties as carer for an elderly, infirm parent restricted her to the house, she was obliged to rely on her local Family History Centre sending her photocopies of the filmed records, thus adding another layer of difficulty to what was already a Herculean task. I would, therefore, request that people refrain from making petty, not to say sometimes hurtful, criticisms of the Hebrew transliterations. She is no longer here to defend herself and, although not infallible, she was rarely wrong and none of us have any way of knowing what it was she "saw" when she decided on a particular interpretation. I suggest that anyone who has doubts over the accuracy of a specific entry check with both the filmed record at their local Family History Centre (LDS Film No. 0094666) and with Harold Lewin's published transcripts before raising the matter on this list or elsewhere.

The database is offered in Excel format only and differs very slightly from the printed version. To facilitate more complex searches, the Groom\Bride's patronymics have been divided into two separate columns: Groom\Bride Hebrew and Groom\Bride's father Hebrew. The "additional" column has not been reproduced. And to simplify matters, some of the orthographical queries have been removed: thus P(F)eller in the printed version is now shown as Feller. I have also removed such additions as, for example (tailor) following the word Schneider. The database is an adjunct to the printed version, copies of which are still available from me. Email Angela

Angela Shire London , July 2006

The contents of this database are the copyright of Angela Shire: they may not be reprinted or published in any format whatsoever and they may not be sold to any individual, archive, library, electronic or other media.

Click here to download the excel file of marriages.

GREAT SYNAGOGUE MARRIAGE RECORDS 1851 – 1859 (inc)

This set, comprising 1014 marriages, completes the transliterations made from the LDS films of The Great Synagogue Marriage Registers by my late American colleague.

The data is submitted in two formats: Excel spreadsheet and *pdf table. The material is identical but, to facilitate viewing and printing in the latter, the separate columns headed "Groom\Bride Hebrew Name" and "Groom\Bride Father's Hebrew Name", have been merged into a single column headed "Groom\Bride Hebrew"

Each marriage has been assigned a reference, "GSM2" followed, in principle, by the page and record number as they occur in the register. Researchers should, however, note comments in the Additional" column where there has been some discrepancy in the sequence.

My transliterator evidently found it hard to correctly decipher some of the more unusual foreign-sounding Family names. In some cases Free BMD was able to assist in coming to a conclusion; in others the transliterators of the Civil Records had similar difficulties and the matter remained unresolved. And, of course, many people newly arrived in this country would go on to "adjust" the spelling to something that resonated more easily to English ears and orthography.

Members new to Jewish Genealogy might like to know that a Hebrew patronymic containing the words "son\daughter of Abraham our Father" denotes that this person's mother was either not Jewish or her Jewish origins were not fully accepted by the religious authorities.

Since so much of this data is now available elsewhere - Free BMD, Census returns, The Jewish Victorian, etc. - I have made very few links and there are few supplementary comments in the "Additional" column.

As always, I would stress that the transliterations from the cursive Hebrew were the work of a dedicated self-taught amateur. As with census returns and other hand-written English documents of the period, the quality of the script varies enormously. There is the added difficulty of the lack of vowels in cursive as opposed to square Hebrew: this means, for example, that the letter "Feh" might be either P or F - Ari Feiss\Ari Pais? Feller\Peller? The originals often contained blots and smudges and the photocopies, taken from the films from which she worked, were often blurred. Her knowledge and experience were unparalleled but the caveat stands. As it does to the editor of these documents!

Angela Shire, London, June 2006

You may ONLY use the database for personal research. The copyright for the database in the given format remains the property of Angela Shire. You may not sell this data!

Click here to download the excel file of marriages. Click here to download the PDF file of marriages.