Hull’s Jewish Community

Hull’s Jewish community dates back to at least 1766 and is one of the three oldest in England.
The Hull ports made travel easier for traders, allowing Jewish businesses to flourish and encouraging them to put down roots. Hull’s first recorded Jewish inhabitant, was Michael Levy, in 1766, a watchmaker. In 1788 a local jeweler, Aaron Jacobs, created an ‘elegant crown’ for the King William (King Billy) equestrian statue, on the centenary celebration of his victory over King James the Second.
The port of Hull was a prominent destination for migrants heading from Eastern Europe to a new life in the US. Historians estimate that more than 500,000 Jews passed through Hull in the 19th Century. As Hull already had a thriving Jewish Community many stayed. 
Over the 300 years since Hull’s Jewish community, first put down roots at a former Catholic chapel in Posterngate, its presence in Hull has brought vitality to the city. Sports clubs, drama societies, and welfare organisations established by Jewish residents, have contributed much to the cultural life of the city. They included the:-
Hull Hebrew Board of Guardians (founded 1880) for the relief of resident and casual poor.
The Hull Hebrew Young Men’s Literary and Debating Society (founded 1895) for promoting the intellectual and social welfare of the Jewish community of Hull.
Hull Hebrew Self-help Friendly Society (founded 1889)
Jewish Girls Club (founded by 1900)
The City Club, Wright Street (founded 1901)
Hull Hebrew Recreation Club (founded 1900)
Hull was once home to 14 synagogues. Some of these were located at Cogan Street, Adelaide Street, Great Passage Street, Pryme Street, Park Street, Dagger Lane, Great Thornton Street, Prince Street and Nile Street. There were at least 6 Jewish Cemeteries in Hull. There were also active social and sporting clubs, such as the Hull Judeans cricket team, the Hull School of Art (founded 1861), the major cultural center, the Royal Institution, in Albion Street (1853), the Ice House Road, Citadel (1902), the Emigrants Waiting Room (1871), which is now the ‘Tiger’s Lair‘ on Anlaby Road, the Duveens’ Art collections in the Guildhall and in Ferens Art Gallery, and the Hull Market Place, where up to the 1960’s, a large proportion of traders were Jewish. The founders of Marks and Spencer’s arrived in Hull, and opened one of their first shops, in Whitefriargate, and the family responsible for the Max Factor cosmetics giant, sprang from humble beginnings in Hull’s Osborne Street, before emigrating to the USA. The economic vitality of the city continues to be supported by numerous Jewish businesses, such as the architects firm, started by B.S. Jacobs, the Jewelers, Segal’s, the solicitors, Graham and Rosen, and the accountants, Sadofsky’s. Individual members of the Jewish community, such as Leo Schultz, Victor Dumoulin, Edward Gosschalk, Benno Pearlman, and various members of the Rosen family have contributed much to the civic life of the city, through their work as mayors, sheriffs, and societal leaders.  
During World War 1, about 50,000 Jews served in the British Armed Services and some 10,000 died on the battlefield. This was a very high proportion of those that enlisted. Britain’s first all-Jewish regiment, the ‘Jewish Legion’, comprising of 5 Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, fought in Palestine. Five British Jewish soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross, during the Great War (1914-18). An important consequence of the First World War, was the British conquest of Palestine, and the Balfour Declaration, promising a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine. 
Many from the Hull Jewish community, volunteered for active service when war began. There were about 50 Hull Jewish men who died in the Great War, although many more survived. A few of the communal tragedies were the deaths of Cpl., Harry and Pte., Marcus Silverstone, killed weeks apart on the Somme in 1916. Pte., Max Kay (Chayet) of the Royal Army Medical Corps was born in Minsk, lived on Hessle Road, and died of wounds in Mesopotamia in 1916; he was mentioned in dispatches, and is remembered on the Basra Memorial.
In January 1917, Cpl., Harry Furman died age 20, after rescuing his pal Pte., Simon Levine, who died age 21. Later that year Solomon Ellis (previously Moshinsky) was killed, 6 months before his brother Nathan. Louis Newman was killed in France in 1917, three months before his brother Charles died at Ypres. Abraham and Joseph Sultan also both died in the war. Lt., Edward M. Gosschalk, whose father had been Sheriff of Hull, died age 33 in 1916.
Sgt., Jack Aarons was wounded in 1916, received the Military Medal in 1918, and lived until 1976. Pte., Louis Shapero, also received the Military Medal for conspicuous bravery in rescuing a wounded officer whilst under fire.
The first Jew to serve in the Royal Flying Corps was Wing Commander, Joseph Kemper MBE, who was born in Hull, he was one of five Jews who served in both the RFC, and in the RAF in the Second World War.