Metadata: Jews' Temporary Shelter
Collection
- Country:
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Holding institution:
- London Metropolitan Archives, City of London
- Holding institution (official language):
- London Metropolitan Archives, City of London
- Postal address:
- 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB, United Kingdom
- Phone number:
- (+44) 20 7332 3820
- Email:
- ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk
- Reference number:
- LMA/4184
- Title:
- Jews' Temporary Shelter
- Title (official language):
- Jews' Temporary Shelter
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jews' Temporary Shelter
- Date(s):
- 1896/1998
- Language:
- English
- Extent:
- 7.85 linear metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- Records of the Jews' Temporary Shelter, 1896-1998. The archive consists of minutes of committees including the General and House Committees and the Advisory Committee for the Admission of Jewish Ecclesiastical Officers; annual reports, correspondence, files relating to buildings and other administrative material; financial material including annual accounts and correspondence; registers of inmates of the Shelter, lodgers and services, residents' record cards and a Shipping Register.
- Archival history:
- Deposited at London Metropolitan Archives in two deposits, in 1998 and 1999.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- At the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth many thousands of Jews, mainly from eastern Europe, emigrated to Britain as conditions at home made it difficult for them to practise their religion freely. Some immigrants became transmigrants and travelled on to the United States, South America and Africa. Many of the migrants were very poor and had little knowledge of English. An institution with the name "Poor Jews' Temporary Shelter" was opened in Church Lane in the spring of 1885 by Simon Cohen (sometimes known as Simha Becker) to provide a refuge for the homeless, the jobless and immigrants from the docks. The Jewish Board of Guardians had this shelter closed down for being insanitary soon afterwards. Following protests and a public meeting plans were made to re-open the shelter by three wealthy and influential Jews, Hermann Landau (a Polish immigrant of 1864), Ellis Franklin and Samuel Montagu. In October 1885 the Shelter re-opened with the aim of helping immigrants, but not encouraging immigration. It gave aid only to immigrants in the form of shelter for 14 days and 2 meals a day (3 meals from 1897). Inmates were required to pay what they could afford for their keep and there was a labour test. As well as staff to run the Shelter, representatives of the Shelter would meet ships coming into dock in order to assist and protect the newly arrived immigrants who were vulnerable to waterfront thieves and fraudsters. In due course the police and port authorities took over these responsibilities. Transmigrants were helped to buy steamship tickets and get their currency changed. The Shelter was run primarily to help Jews but has always assisted small numbers of non-Jews. The name of the Shelter was changed to "Jews' Temporary Shelter" in the early 1900s. Until 1939 the majority of residents at the Shelter generally came from eastern Europe. Refugees came from Belgium during the First World War. German and Austrian Jews came in the 1930s. Between 1940-1943 the Shelter provided temporary housing for people who had lost their homes in the bombing of the east end of London. The Shelter's building in Mansell Street (headquarters from 1930) was requisitioned by the War Department for housing American troops in 1943, but the organisation continued to provide an advisory service. Help was given to people trying to trace lost relatives immediately after the war and temporary homes to refugees from the countries formerly occupied by Germany and her allies in Europe. Most residents in the post-war period came from eastern countries such as Egypt, India, Aden and Iran. By the 1960s the Shelter had started to help people find jobs and assisted in liaising with the Home Office on questions of nationality. There was also an advisory committee for the admission of Jewish ecclesiastical officers which made applications to the Home Office for the admission of clerics and talmudic students. A Luncheon Club and Kosher Meals on Wheels service were other facilities developed by the Shelter.
- Access points: locations:
- London
- United Kingdom
- Access points: persons/families:
- Montagu, Samuel
- System of arrangement:
- Catalogued in four sections: Committees; Administration; Residents; Finance
- Access, restrictions:
- These records are available only with written permission from the depositor. Records containing personal information may be subject to additional restrictions.
- Finding aids:
- Please see online catalogues.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
- Yerusha Network member:
- London Metropolitan Archives
- Author of the description:
- Nicola Avery, London Metropolitan Archives, 2018