The Old Jewish Ghetto of Manchester

Next tours (1): Sunday 8 September 2024, 1pm.
Meet: Victoria Station wallmap.
Ends: At the Jewish museum.
Booking: Please press here to book with Eventbrite

Next tours (2): Tuesday 29 October, 12 noon.
Meet: Victoria Station wallmap.
Ends: At the Jewish museum.
Booking: Please press here to book with Eventbrite.

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Here’s the full S.P.
The Manchester area is home to Britain’s second biggest Jewish community. Yet it was not until 1788, just over a hundred years after Oliver Cromwell allowed the Jews to return to the country, that the first recorded Jewish presence appeared in Manchester: Hamilton Levi, a flower dealer of Long Millgate, listed in that year’s trade directory.

Ironically, Manchester’s first Jewish community settled around the parish church (what is now Manchester Cathedral), for that was where the old town was located.

Like the Germans and Irish who were settling locally at the same time, the Jews saw in Manchester, cradle of the industrial revolution, opportunities for trade. They opened their first synagogue in 1794 in a warehouse on Garden Street, a barely noticeable alley at the side of what is now the Printworks, the building long gone, near their burial ground. It was paid for by Samuel Solomon, a well-known quack doctor, responsible for the supposed cure-all “Balm of Gilead” which could allegedly cure all ills.