The Anglo-Jewish Archives holds 850 collections relating to Jewish history in the UK from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Primarily consists of personal collections, organizational collections, materials connected to interfaith relations, and also transcripts and other materials related to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.
The Anglo-Jewish Archives was originally established in 1963 under the auspices of the Jewish Historical Society of England, which itself was formed in 1892. Its main collections were transferred to the University of Southampton in 1990. Many related archive collections have been acquired by the University of Southampton since then, and it remains an area of active collecting.
Notably, genealogical holdings of the AJA, including the Montefiore-Hyamson, D’Arcy Hart and Colyer-Fergusson collections, have been transferred to the Society of Genealogists in London.
Significant personal archives held at the Anglo-Jewish Archives include those of Cecil Roth, chief rabbi Joseph Hertz, and others. The archives also holds organizational collections including the Jewish Board of Guardians (not to be confused with the Board of Delegates, whose files are at the London Metropolitan Archives), the Anglo-Jewish Association, and editorial correspondence of the Jewish Chronicle, the World Union of Progressive Judaism, the British Section of the World Jewish Congress, and so on.
The University of Southampton also has conducted a survey of Jewish archives in the UK and Ireland. This on-going project seeks to identify organizations, institutions, and individuals who hold archival materials and construct a computer database on these papers. The search engine appears to be non-functional at this time (inasmuch as all searches come up with 0 results).
Research notes
Photography is not permitted in the archives reading room. However, visitors can order copies of materials. More information: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/about_us/reprographics.html.
Further Reading
- Stuart Cohen. “Sources in Israel for the Study of Anglo-Jewish History — An Interim Report.” Transactions & Miscellanies (Jewish Historical Society of England) 27 (1978): 129–47.
- A. S. Diamond. “Anglo-Jewish Archives.” Archives 11, no. 51 (Spring 1974): 147–51.
- Tony Kushner. “A History of Jewish Archives in the United Kingdom.” Archives 20, no. 87 (April 1, 1992): 3–16.
- Karen Robson. “The Anglo-Jewish Community and Its Archives.” Jewish Culture and History 12, no. 1–2 (August 2010): 337–44.