1894 Commercial Directory of the Jews of the United Kingdom

There are many great sources for finding our Jewish ancestors. Depending on which country our ancestors lived in, those records may or may not be easily obtainable. Thanks to the internet some of these records are now able to be viewed in our own homes. One great source for Jews of the British Isles, is the 1894 Commercial Directory of the Jews of the United Kingdom by G. Eugene Harfield.

This directory, while a great tool for identifying where our ancestors had their businesses, has not always been the most accessible source. Now, thanks to Internet Archives (http://www.archive.org/) everyone can search this from their own home.

The directory, which is done alphabetically by location, provides names, addresses and type of business. This directory can then be used as a stepping stone toward more genealogical records. In the example at left, we have J. Mosesson, of 9 Charles Street, working as a house-furnisher in West Hartlepool, Durham, England.

With that information, it is then easy to search the 1901 England Census and find the family. The census record below, taken from http://www.findmypast.com/, shows Jacob and his wife Helene, living at that same address with their daughter and four grandchildren.

This is a great source that should be used for those with British ancestry. The Internet Archives site, has thousands of other records that can be a great help to all researchers.