List of British Jewish nobility and gentry

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The British nobility consists of the peerage and the gentry. The peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles, granted by the British sovereign. Under this system, only the senior family member bears a substantive title (duke, marquess, earl, viscount, baron). The gentry are generally untitled members of the upper classes, however, exceptions include baronets, knights, dames, Scottish feudal barons and lairds.

Contents

The history of the Jews in Britain goes back to the reign of William the Conqueror. The first written record of Jewish settlement in England dates from 1070, although Jews may have lived there since Roman times. [1] The Jewish presence continued until King Edward I's Edict of Expulsion in 1290. After the expulsion, there was no Jewish community (apart from individuals who practised Judaism secretly) until the rule of Oliver Cromwell. While Cromwell never officially readmitted Jews to Britain, a small colony of Sephardic Jews living in London was identified in 1656 and allowed to remain. The Jewish Naturalisation Act of 1753, an attempt to legalise the Jewish presence in Britain, remained in force for only a few months. In 1858, practising Jews were finally allowed to sit in Parliament after the passage of the Jews Relief Act, which was a significant step on the path to Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom.

The first Jewish knight was Sir Solomon de Medina, knighted in 1700, with no further Jews being knighted until 1837, when Queen Victoria knighted Moses Montefiore. Four years later, Isaac Goldsmid was made a baronet, the first Jew to receive a hereditary title. In 1885, Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, became the first Jew to receive a peerage title.

Peerage titles

Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading Rufus Isaacs.jpg
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading

Marquessates

Earldoms

Viscountcies

Hereditary baronies

Extant

Extinct

Life peerages

David Young, Baron Young of Graffham Lord young of Graffham.jpg
David Young, Baron Young of Graffham

Other hereditary titles

Baronetcies

Extant

Extinct

Sir Moses Montefiore, Bt Moses Montefiore.jpg
Sir Moses Montefiore, Bt

Scottish feudal baronies

Other non-hereditary titles

Judicial lordships

Knighthoods

Honorary knighthoods

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viscount Bearsted</span> Viscountcy in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Viscount Bearsted, of Maidstone in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 for the businessman Marcus Samuel, 1st Baron Bearsted, the joint-founder of the Shell Transport and Trading Company. He had already been created a Baronet in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom in 1903 and Baron Bearsted, of Maidstone in the County of Kent, in 1921, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The titles descended from father to son until the death of his grandson, the third Viscount, in 1986.

Baron Swaythling, of Swaythling in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1907 for the British Jewish Liberal politician, banker and philanthropist, Sir Samuel Montagu, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of South Stoneham House in the County of Southampton and of Kensington Palace Gardens in the County of London, in 1894. As of 2010, the titles are held by his great-great-grandson, the fifth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1998.

Baron Mancroft, of Mancroft in the City of Norwich, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1937 for the Conservative politician Sir Arthur Samuel, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Mancroft in the City of Norwich in the County of Norfolk, in 1932. His son, the second Baron, was also a Conservative politician. In 1925 he assumed by deed poll the surname of Mancroft. As of 2010 the titles are held by the latter's only son, the third Baron, who succeeded in 1987. He is one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act of 1999. Lord Mancroft sits on the Conservative benches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron Burnham</span> Barony in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Baron Burnham, of Hall Barn in the Parish of Beaconsfield in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 31 July 1903 for the influential newspaper magnate Sir Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baronet, owner of The Daily Telegraph. He had already been created a Baronet, of Hall Barn in The Parish of Beaconsfield in the County of Buckingham and of Peterborough Court in the City of London, in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 13 October 1892. Levy-Lawson was the son of Joseph Moses Levy, who acquired The Daily Telegraph only months after its founding.

Mocatta is a surname.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted</span> Lord Mayor of London

Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted,, known as Sir Marcus Samuel between 1898 and 1921 and subsequently as The Lord Bearsted until 1925, was a Lord Mayor of London and the founder of the Shell Transport and Trading Company, which was later restructured including a Netherlands-based company commonly referred to as Royal Dutch Shell.

There have been four baronetcies created for people with the surname Samuel, all in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Two of the titles are still extant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Montagu, 2nd Baron Swaythling</span> British financier

Louis Samuel Montagu, 2nd Baron Swaythling was a prominent member of the British Jewish community, a financier, and a political activist. He was the son and heir of Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling, and of his wife Ellen (Cohen).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted</span> Anglo-Jewish army officer and oilman

Colonel Walter Horace Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted was an Anglo-Jewish army officer and oilman. Samuel was the son of Marcus Samuel, the founder of Shell Transport and Trading, and from 1921 to 1946 served as the company's second chairman. He was also a prominent art collector, storing many of his pieces at his family home at Upton House in Warwickshire, and a philanthropist. He was a member of the Jewish Fellowship, which was founded in 1942.

The d'Avigdor-Goldsmid Baronetcy, of Somerhill in the County of Kent, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 22 January 1934 for Osmond d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and chairman for the Jewish Agency for Palestine in London. He was the grandson of Count Henri Salomon d'Avigdor, Duke of Acquaviva, and Rachel, daughter of Sir Isaac Goldsmid, 1st Baronet, and succeeded to the Goldsmid estates on the death of his cousin Sir Julian Goldsmid, 3rd Baronet. His eldest son, the second Baronet, was a company director and Conservative politician. The latter was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baronet, a retired military commander. He was Conservative Member of Parliament for Lichfield and Tamworth. The title became extinct on his death in 1987.

The Faudel-Phillips Baronetcy, of Grosvenor Gardens in the Parish of St George Hanover Square in the County of London and of Queen's Gardens, West Brighton, in the County of Sussex, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 27 August 1897 for George Faudel-Phillips, Sheriff of London and Middlesex between 1884 and 1885, High Sheriff of the County of London between 1895 and 1896 and Lord Mayor of London between 1896 and 1897. Born George Phillips, he had assumed the additional surname of Faudel, which was that of his maternal uncle. His father Sir Benjamin Samuel Phillips had been Lord Mayor of London between 1865 and 1866. The title became extinct on the death of the 3rd Baronet in 1941. Their families were Jewish emigrants from Germany, Poland, and possibly other countries, and had settled in England in the 1700s and 1800s. The family seat was Balls Park, Hertfordshire. All three holders of the title served as High Sheriff of Hertfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooks's</span> Gentlemens club in London, England

Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world.

Colonel Herbert Merton Jessel, 1st Baron Jessel CB, CMG, TD, DL, JP, known as Sir Herbert Jessel, Bt, between 1917 and 1924, was a British soldier and Liberal Unionist, later Conservative politician.

Edward Herbert Jessel, 2nd Baron Jessel CBE, was a British politician.

Levy Barent Cohen was a Dutch-born British financier and community worker.

References

Citations

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Sources