Jewish Inhabitants of Gibraltar, 1791-1792.

The Knowles Collection - Jews of Africa and the Orient database has been growing of late. In addition to cemetery records from Turkey, the additions have also come from Gibraltar. The Inhabitants of Gibraltar, 1791-1792 have now been added to the collection and will be available after the next update.
This Collection (FHL film #1729538 item 8) was filmed over 20 years ago from manuscripts in the Archive of the Government of Gibraltar. Included are almost 800 people.

Gibraltar census records

The Jewish history of Gibraltar was discussed in a post in this blog on 10 Oct 2010. In the past Gibraltar had a very high percentage of its citizens who were Jewish, in fact in the first census of Gibraltar in 1753, almost 1/3 (575 out of 1800) stated that they were Jewish.
Now, the Knowles Collection- Jews of Africa and the Orient has been updated and includes the 1777 Jewish inhabitants of Gibraltar (FHL Film #1729538 item 7). The records of the censuses for the years 1834-1931, as well as the 1753 Jewish inhabitants of Gibraltar, are now being added to the collection and will be available after the next update.

The Toledano Family of Gibraltar

Throughout the various databases of the Knowles Collection, the family Toledano can be found. In the British Isles, the members of the family will be located being married at Bevis Marks Synagogue in London. In the Caribbean are found the brothers Abraham(b. 1820) and Levy (b.1828)starting their families in the records of the Jewish Congregation of St. Thomas. These are just a few of the many members of a very prominent family, influential throughout the world. Now, the history of the family is being told.
In the Toledano Families Home Page at http://members.tripod.com/~Yacov_Tal/sub-pages/history-english.html Ya'acov Tal Toledano, is making that story available to all.

Beginning with the history of the name Toledano, as well as providing the background of the family throughout the world, this website is an incredible journey of a Sephardic Family through many generations. Information on each of the various branches is given and even a beautiful pedigree of one of the families from Gibraltar is provided.

In addition to the website, a book of the family, "The Descendants of Daniel Toledano" has been published. This book detailing 17 generations of the family history, covers 430 years of Rabbi Daniel Toledano's descendants history. For anyone researching this family, both the website and the book would be wonderful resources.

As the email address of Yacov Tal Toledano is provided I would recommend anyone interested in the family contact him so that the history can be told and preserved.

I would also like to express my thanks for his granting of permissions so that the Toledanos of Gibraltar can be added to the Jews of Africa and the Orient database.

Jews of Malta

The early history of Jewish Malta begins in 1800. At that time the French surrendered and at the invitation of the Maltese government, King George III sent troops to Malta and it began to be under British control.
Jewish traders had already established themselves in nearby locations, such as Gibraltar, which was another British colony. eager to establish themselves in Malta, many of these traders and their families soon settled in Malta. Other Jews, mostly Sephardic families from Spain, Portugal and some of the North African countries soon followed, which made Malta a very diverse place. A walk through the Jewish cemeteries of Malta, shows the diversity of the people. Today, the Knowles Collection is adding cemetery records from Malta to the collection.

These records will be in the Jews of Europe database.

The Jewish community of Gibraltar

The Knowles Collection is constantly receiving more and more submission of records from those with Jewish Ancestry. One of the places that records seem to be coming from at this time is Gibraltar. While there are already records of Jewish people from Gibraltar in the Jews of the British Isles database, these new records are from Gibraltar itself.

The history of Gibraltar, as far as the Jews are concerned, has been for the most part a time of prosperity and peace. The community has been there for almost 700 years. Some of the important dates in the history of the Jews of Gibraltar are;

• The first record of Jews comes in 1356, when the community seeks help raising money to free people captured by pirates.
• Jews fleeing Cordoba seek refuge in 1473.
• In 1713, Gibraltar comes under British rule, as per the Treaty of Utrecht.
• In 1729, the Sultan of Morocco and the British reach agreement where the Jewish subjects were legally allowed to reside in Gibraltar.
• 1749, Jews were allowed to become permanent residents. At this time Isaac Nieto, arrived from London, became the first Rabbi and established congregation Sha'ar HaShamayim (also known as the Great Synagogue), the oldest synagogue in Gibraltar.
• 1753, first census of Gibraltar, shows the Jewish population to be 575. This was almost 1/3 of the almost 1800 total inhabitants.

The records from Gibraltar of the Jewish community will be in the Jews of Europe database.