Jewish Tombstones

Taking part in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm was the son of a salesman, David Henry Jacobs. David was born in 1888 Cardiff, Wales to John and Sarah Jacobs. He was one of at least 6 children. In 1911 the family were living in London, both John and his son David were working as...
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What happens when you are looking for both names for 1 person? A couple of years ago we received an email from Belgium asking for more information on an entry we had under Lauriston Cemetery. The enquirer was interested to know whether Solomon JONES was his ancestor. Now to be honest, my initial reaction...
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The Star of David (Mogen David) is frequently seen on tombstones but not all are Jewish and many cause confusion. We were recently contacted by Evelyn Simak who very kindly photographed tombstones at Jewish cemeteries in East Anglia for us. These are currently being added to CemeteryScribes. While researching the cemeteries Evelyn noticed an...
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We have two examples of ‘fish’ symbols from tombstones in Brady Street Jewish Cemetery. In both cases there is a single fish, although we understand that 2 fish may be featured and look identical. or very similar, to the symbol for ‘Pisces’. Both of our examples are facing left and look very similar, although...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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The cemetery at Ayres Quay Jewish Cemetery in Sunderland, presently classed by Jewish Heritage UK as a “site at Risk” was closed in 1856. However, a space was reserved for a memorial to David Johnasson, a local landowner, ship owner, owner of the Usworth Colliery, and a senior member of the community, who died...
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We were delighted a week ago when Marcus Roberts, Founder and Director of Jtrails contacted us to offer further information for use on the GenPals Cemetery Project website, which we hope to be able to add soon. Marcus supplied the definitive identification for the Northampton Stone in 1992, the only known example of a...
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