Jewish Cemeteries of Glasgow, Scotland

The history of the Jewish people in Scotland may date back to  the late 1600's when there were records of Jews applying to take up residence in the country. However the first Jewish community in Scotland, located in Edinburgh, was officially established in 1816. There were Jews in Edinburgh before 1816,  but this was the date on which the community was established.
The time frame from the mid 1700's to the beginning of the following century was  a time of great growth within Scotland. This growth had a great impact upon the Jews of Scotland. In Glasgow,  the population went up over 400% during those fifty years, which led to the arrival of a large amount of Jews, who

Garnet Hill Synagogue

began to arrive in about 1820.
The Jewish community in Glasgow continue to grow and by 1870 included over 1000 people.  This growth led the community to decide in 1875 to build a  synagogue. This would be the first permanent synagogue built in Scotland. At a special meeting in 1875 it was decided that the new synagogue would be built at the corner of Garnet Street and Hill Street and was called the Garnet Hill Synagogue. The foundation stone was laid by Benjamin Simon two years later. The new synagogue was consecrated  on the 9th of September in 1879 by Rabbi Hermann Adler. The Garnet Hill Synagogue was opened just as the Jews from Eastern Europe fleeing from poverty and constant persecution began to arrive.
As a result of the growth of the community, it became necessary to establish cemeteries for the burial of those who passed. The majority of the Jews were buried in one of three cemeteries. These cemeteries, Glenduffhill Jewish Cemetery, Riddrie Cemetery and Sandymount Cemetery, are the final resting place for some 10,000 members of the community. Over time the cemeteries have fallen into a state that now requires restoration. Under the direction of the Glasgow Hebrew Burial Society, restoration work has now begun. A wonderful article on the project can be found on the Jewish Heritage Europe website.
The Burial Society in Glasgow has always been very helpful to those looking for their families. The records they hold are now included in Glasgow Hebrew Burial Society Database, which is available through the JCR-UK website. As helpful as they have been it is now time for others to help them. Please take a moment and read the article and see how you can be of service to the Burial Society. A few years ago I visited Glasgow and enjoyed the beauty of the city, now hopefully we can help return the cemeteries to that same beauty.
 

Happy Valley Jewish Cemetery, Hong Kong

 

  It seems day by day the genealogical world gets smaller and smaller. It really wasn't that long ago that in order to find the records of our ancestors we had to travel to countries worldwide hoping to view that one record that would break through a barrier. Now, through the benefit of the Internet we can bring those same records into our living rooms. A great example of this are the records of burials in the Happy Valley Jewish cemetery on the Island of Hong Kong.

The records of the cemetery do not include a lot of people, however if it is your family member that is buried there, having access to those records is priceless. Now, these records can be accessed through the FamilySearch website. In the Asia and Middle East section of the Historical Record Collection, is the China, Cemetery Records, 1820-1983. As of May of 2013, this collection had over 72,000 browse able images.
The Jewish Cemetery at Happy Valley is just one of dozens that make up the collection. The list below is just a partial list of those cemeteries.

By clicking on the link Jewish Cemetery (Happy Valley), a further list of the years covered is shown.

In the list shown, I selected the year 1958. In that year there were 8 Jewish Foreigner's Interred in the cemetery.

The place of birth is not shown but I believe the majority were born in the British Isles. Again, its not a large collection, but how many of us will ever get the chance to walk through the grounds of this burial ground of our ancestors.