OTHER RELIGIOUS BODIES (fn. 1)
Serbian Orthodox Church
Middleton Hall Road Church of St. Lazar was
registered for public worship in 1955, (fn. 2) and occupied
the converted ground-floor of a house, accommodating 100 worshippers. In 1957 plans were approved
for a new church, to be built of pre-cast concrete
blocks. (fn. 3) The congregation may be said to have been
founded at Christmas 1951, when the Revd.
Radovan Milkovich conducted a service at St.
Martin's Church which was attended by nearly 600
Serbian exiles. (fn. 4) The church serves an estimated 600
Serbs living in the Birmingham, West Bromwich
and Oldbury districts, most of whom settled in
England in 1947-8, as a result of the 'Westward Ho'
scheme. By this scheme, begun by the Ministry of
Labour and National Service in 1947, 'displaced
persons' were introduced from Europe to help man
certain basic industries, to which they were restricted. Since 1950 such immigrants have been
free of restrictions on employment, and have tended
to leave agriculture and isolated contracting projects
for factory work and the towns. (fn. 5)
Judaism
It has been remarked that of the twenty-two
cities in Europe with more than a million inhabitants, Birmingham, with an estimated 6,000, has the
lowest proportion of Jews. (fn. 6) It is nevertheless the
home of one of the oldest provincial Ashkenazi
communities, for the existence of which as early as
1730 strong evidence has been adduced. (fn. 7) There
was certainly an organized Jewry in 1766, when
ground was acquired in Granville Street for a
Jewish cemetery. (fn. 8)
Birmingham Jews in the 18th century appear to
have been few and poor. In 1780 they were slightingly dismissed by William Hutton, the Birmingham
historian, as 'a remnant of Israel' who 'still preserve
the faint resemblance of the ancient worship, their
whole apparatus being no more than the drooping
ensigns of poverty'. There was, however, even then,
a synagogue in the Froggery, 'rather small, but
tolerably well filled'. (fn. 9) The Jewry was apparently
centred on Dudley Street. (fn. 10) The congregation
appears to have been largely made up of pedlars and
travelling salesmen. Birmingham is described as
having, in the Anglo-Jewish economy, 'occupied the
position of a port or centre from which Jewish
pedlars covered the surrounding country week by
week, returning to their homes for the Sabbath', (fn. 11)
and even as late as 1851 the secretary of the synagogue observed in completing his return to the
religious census, 'The Jewish population here being
mostly engaged in travelling . . . the attendance
except on holidays is limited'. (fn. 12)
The Jewish community at the beginning of the
19th century comprised only a handful of 20 or 30
families (fn. 13) representing perhaps 130 persons. During
the first half of the century there was a rapid
increase, and in 1851 there are said to have been
about 140 families, embracing a population of about
700. (fn. 14) This numerical advance has continued into
the 20th century, though at a slower rate, and the
Jewish population, estimated to have been 1,500 in
1864 and 3,200 in 1900, reached 6,300 in 1947. (fn. 15)
The 19th-century increase is clearly reflected in the
enrolment figures at the Hebrew National School,
founded in 1843 on the model of the Jewish free
school in London. (fn. 16) In 1851 there were 85, (fn. 17) and in
1869 244 (fn. 18) boys and girls enrolled. In 1904 the
numerical strength of the school was more than
600. (fn. 19)
Despite Hutton's sneer of 1780 the earliest records
of the congregation show that by 1826 Birmingham
Jewry was a closely organized and orthodox community. (fn. 20) The congregation was then worshipping
in its third synagogue, for the Froggery had been
abandoned for premises in Hurst Street in 1791,
and these in their turn replaced by a new synagogue
in Severn Street, dedicated in 1809. Apart from a
brief interruption caused by damage suffered in the
1813 riots, Severn Street served until 1856 when a
large new synagogue was opened in Blucher Street,
Singer's Hill, to replace it. Three years before,
about 90 worshippers from Severn Street had
seceded and established a rival congregation in
Wrottesley Street, of which the present Central
Synagogue in Bristol Street is the direct descendant.
Before the end of the century there was also in
existence a Beth Hamedrash in Holloway Head
(registered for religious worship in 1894) from
which was founded, in 1920, the new synagogue in
Hurst Street. (fn. 21)
It has been argued that an increase in numbers
during the 20th century has been more than
counterbalanced by a decline in the distinctness of
the identity of the Birmingham Jews as a religious
and national group. Thus in 1949 'hardly 10 per
cent.' of Jewish families are said to have sent a
representative to the synagogue services. More
directly measurable is the decline in influence of the
Hebrew school. While, in 1898, an estimated 65 per
cent. of Jewish children attended, in 1949 the figure
had fallen to 16 per cent. (fn. 22) There has also been a
geographical dispersal of Birmingham Jewry away
from the 'self-imposed ghetto' in the vicinity of
Holloway Head in which most families lived during
the 19th century. (fn. 23) Religious unity has suffered
considerably since 1900. In the early years of the
century the influence of the Reform movement was
strong, culminating, in 1910, in the proposal to
erect a Reform synagogue in Hagley Road, affiliated
to the West London Synagogue of British Jews.
Although the Reformers were reconciled to a
compromise service in 1915 (fn. 24) a later breach caused
by a secession of Liberal Jews in 1935 was never
healed and resulted in the founding of a separate
congregation, affiliated to the London Liberal
Synagogue, which met at first at a synagogue in
Wellington Passage and subsequently in Sheepcote
Street.
Against these arguments for a decline ought to be
set the reconstruction of Blucher Street synagogue
in 1937, and the opening of new synagogues in
Bristol Street (1928), Pershore Road (1948), and
Park Road, Moseley (1954). (fn. 25) The Hebrew school,
after a period of crisis in the 1940s has been successfully reorganized as a nursery and primary school,
and there were, in 1956, 247 children in attendance,
of whom 191 received special religious instruction.
There was also a religious instruction class of 23 at
Shirley. (fn. 26) Local Zionist organizations have been in
existence at least since 1902, (fn. 27) and in 1956 there
were numerous other cultural, religious, and communal organizations vigorously resisting assimilation. (fn. 28)
Blucher Street, Singer's Hill synagogue was
completed in 1856 at a cost of £10,000, and replaced
Severn Street, q.v. It was designed by Yeoville
Thomason with an interior divided into nave and
aisles by arcades of seven arches on either side, and
two galleries. (fn. 29) During the first 20 years the congregation grew rapidly, and in 1874 (fn. 30) and 1877 (fn. 31) it
was decided to add seats in the body of the synagogue and the galleries. A check in the increase of
worshippers and a chronic financial crisis in the
eighties was attributed to 'depression of trade,
removals from town, and deaths', (fn. 32) but in 1887
there was a record number of 500 seat-holders. (fn. 33)
In 1892, although sittings were available for 1,450,
there was a Sabbath attendance of only 270. (fn. 34) The
synagogue, which was extensively reconstructed in
1937 for £10,000, (fn. 35) is an Italianate building of red
brick with stone dressings. Between the two projecting front wings is a central gable with a rose
window and a portico of three arches supported on
marble columns.
Bristol Street Central synagogue and Talmud
Torah was registered for public worship in 1928, (fn. 36)
and replaced the Wrottesley Street Beth Hamedrash,
q.v. It had previously been used as the Primitive
Methodist 'Bristol Hall'. (fn. 37)
'Froggery' synagogue was mentioned in 1780. (fn. 38)
It was replaced in 1791 by a newly-built synagogue
in Hurst Street, q.v.
Holloway Head old Beth Hamedrash was registered for public worship in 1894. (fn. 39) It was replaced
in 1920 by the new synagogue, Hurst Street, q.v.
Hurst Street synagogue, opened to replace the
'Froggery' synagogue in 1791 (fn. 40) was itself replaced,
in 1809, by Severn Street, q.v.
Hurst Street new synagogue was opened to
replace the old Beth Hamedrash, Holloway Head,
in 1920, (fn. 41) and remained in use until 1954, (fn. 42) when
it was closed at the same time as the opening of
Park Road synagogue, q.v.
Park Road, Moseley synagogue, at no. 11 Park
Road, was opened in 1954. A synagogue at the
home for aged Jews, no. 22 Park Road, was opened
in 1926. (fn. 43)
Pershore Road synagogue is mentioned from
1949, but was preceded by the Rose synagogue,
which consisted of rooms in Pershore Road registered for public worship in 1936. (fn. 44)
Severn Street synagogue was opened in 1809 (fn. 45)
to replace Hurst Street, q.v. It was damaged by
rioters in 1813 (fn. 46) but was restored and reopened
in 1817. Mutually contradictory accounts indicate
further alterations in 1823, (fn. 47) 1827, (fn. 48) and 1833. In
1851 there were 360 sittings and an estimated congregation of 200. (fn. 49) In 1853 there was a secession of
90 members to form a rival congregation in Wrottesley Street, q.v. (fn. 50) In 1856 Severn Street was
closed on the opening of the new synagogue in
Blucher Street, q.v. and since that time the building
has been in use as a masonic hall and, for a
time, as a Welsh Baptist chapel. (fn. 51) Traces of its
original early-19th-century 'Greek' detail survive
internally.
Sheepcote Street synagogue was registered for
public worship in 1938. (fn. 52) It replaced the synagogue
in Wellington Passage, q.v.
Warren Lane, Witton Beth Chaim is a chapel
built on a Jewish cemetery acquired in 1907. It was
consecrated in 1937. (fn. 53)
Wellington Passage synagogue was opened in
1935, (fn. 54) and was used as the synagogue of a branch
of the London Liberal synagogue, affiliated to the
Jewish Religious Union. (fn. 55) Its members were
largely inspired by the teachings of Claude Montefiore (1858-1938). (fn. 56)
Witton Beth Chaim, a chapel on the north-east
portion of Birmingham city cemetery, was consecrated in 1871. (fn. 57)
Wrottesley Street synagogue was founded in
1853 by a secession of about 90 members from
Severn Street led by H. T. Louis and I. Blankensee. (fn. 58) In 1901 the meeting place was described, on
registration, as being in Ladywell Passage, Wrottesley Street. (fn. 59) It was replaced in 1928 by Bristol
Street Central Synagogue, q.v.
The Moslem community in Birmingham dates
substantially from the 1930s, and in 1939 numbered
about 400. In 1957 there were said to be in Birmingham alone some 4,000 Moslems, with many
more in the suburban districts. Two places of
worship had been opened for their use.
Edward Road, Balsall Heath mosque was
registered for public worship in 1943 (fn. 61) by Zania
Islamia Allonia, an organization formed for immigrants from Arabia, and particularly from the
Yemen.
Speedwell Road, Edgbaston mosque was
bought in 1944 by Jamiat-ul-Muslimin, for £800.
The Jamiat-ul-Muslimin was formed in 1939
primarily to serve the needs of immigrants from
India who form the larger Moslem group. In 1957
an average of 200 attended the weekly Friday
congregational service, but a special festival was
said to attract as many as 1,000 attenders.
Sikhs
A temple was opened for the small Sikh community in Birmingham in 1958. It occupied the
ground floor of a terraced house in Cannon Hill
Road, Balsall Heath, and the average congregation
was said in 1959 to be fifteen. (fn. 62)