Author Archive

There would appear to have been a couple of unusual burials at Chatham and, in one case, perhaps no burial at all. In the middle of Jun 1786 Mr Levi Israel a silversmith in Chatham, and lease holder of the Synagogue, received a parcel sent to him from London. The parcel contained a small...
Read more »

The symbol of a hand pouring water from a jug or pitcher into a bowl is the symbol of the Levites one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Levites were responsible for cleaning the hands of the Temple Priest or Cohen and this is what the symbol is depicting. A tombstone with this symbol...
Read more »

We have many entries on the CemeteryScribes database for individuals who were famous for their charity and good deeds , their professional and financial achievements, or their contributions to the Arts and Sciences, but this is the story of a person who was famed, not for his life, but for his burial. Camillo Roth,...
Read more »

This is the first of a series of blogs we want to run on the various tombstone symbols we have seen so far. Here are some examples of ‘Cohen Hands’ the priestly blessing. This symbol indicates that the person buried is a Cohen; that is, a descendent of Aaron, the brother of Moses. The...
Read more »

A recent message on one of the forums reminded that for, some time, I had been mulling over a piece about Stonemasons.  Who and where were they? What were the particular skills of their craft? Was this a trade (or craft?) that was handed down from father to son, or could any likely lad...
Read more »

Whilst searching on the National Archives website I came across the mention of a petition regarding an Abraham Isaac dated 1733. It didn’t take me long to decide that I wanted to know more so I ordered a copy the next day. The petition briefly tells us the story of what became of Abraham...
Read more »

Half-a-day for the photography – then comes the real work….. It’s just over 4 months since we visited The Balls Pond Road Cemetery and we’ve been working flat out on processing the photos ever since. So why do we still have three times as many on our “to-do” list, as we have completed and...
Read more »

When we first visited Brady Street Jewish Cemetery back in May 2007 we took photos of the memorial to Miriam Levy, a rare, perhaps unique, example of a Jewish memorial with a bust of a woman. This, presumably is an actual likeness of Miriam, who has been described as a welfare worker who opened...
Read more »

Genealogist should be used to co-incidences and synchronicity, but it still came as something of a shock when I suspended work on transcribing the stones in the Balls Pond Road Cemetery and switched on the TV to watch  the 1st  in the latest BBC series of Who Do You Think You Are. Davina Mcall‘s...
Read more »

George Eliot John (or David) Johnasson, was born in London on 4 February 1863 and was circumcised at 149 Sloane St, Chelsea by Rabbi Asher Ash, on 25th February – somewhat later than the usual seventh day following a birth. He was the only son of John Johnasson and his Belgian born wife,...
Read more »