Jews have been part of British life for more than nine centuries.The first significant communities arrived with William the Conqueror in 1066. They settled in London and other towns, working as merchants and traders. By the 12th century there were thriving Jewish communities in York, Lincoln, Norwich, Oxford and Winchester.
Life was not always easy. In 1290 King Edward I expelled all Jews from England — the first country in Europe to do so. For nearly 400 years there was no official Jewish presence.
In 1656 Oliver Cromwell quietly allowed a small group of Sephardic Jews to settle in London. By the early 18th century Ashkenazi Jews from Germany and Eastern Europe began arriving, and synagogues such as Bevis Marks became landmarks of British Jewish life.
Full legal equality came gradually. In 1858 Parliament allowed practising Jews to sit as MPs. Benjamin Disraeli, born Jewish, rose to become one of Britain’s most influential Prime Ministers.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw large waves of immigration from Eastern Europe, and in the 1930s many Jewish refugees fled Nazi persecution.
Today Britain is home to around 290,000–300,000 Jews — one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe.
This short series introduces some of the remarkable British Jews who have helped shape our shared national life.
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