| AdminHistory | The first official Jewish place of worship after the re-admittance of the Jews to England, opened in Creechurch Lane, London, 1656; new synagogue on Bevis Marks Street opened 1701; some early members were former Marranos who had arrived from Portugal; during the eighteenth and nineteenth century newcomers arrived from Holland, France, Italy, North Africa and Gibraltar, and later from the Middle East; the congregation began to leave the City of London and the East End to settle in the west of London, leading to the establishment of a branch synagogue on Wigmore Street, 1853, moved to Marble Arch, 1861, and Maida Vale, 1896; another synagogue was constructed at Mildmay Park in North London in 1883 and in Wembley in 1962; Moses Gaster was Haham (spiritual leader) of the congregation from 1887 to 1918. |