Jewish

You may have Jewish migrants in your family, or you might have found via DNA that you have some Jewish ancestry.

Jewish people have come to Australia since the First Fleet in 1788, where there were 8 Jewish convicts, with ultimately over 1,000 Jewish convicts being transported. Jewish free settlers arrived from 1820 onwards, with the Jewish population estimated to be 15,000 in 1901. Prior to 1901, migrants were predominantly from Great Britain, whereas during the early 20th century, more Jewish people came from Russia, Poland and Germany, as antisemitism increased.

Malcolm J Turnbull’s research guide, held at the National Archives, provides a great deal of background and reference information relating the history of Jews in Australia. It covers topics such as: Immigration settlement, enemy aliens, aspects of Jewish life in Australia and armed services. Safe haven: Records of the Jewish experience in Australia | naa.gov.au

Sites offering research resources include:

The Australian Jewish Historical Society offers links to various search resources, including some of the usual ones (Ancestry, Family Search etc.), but also has additional country specific information and help. Genealogy@AJHS – The Australian Jewish Historical Society

To research your forebears’ Jewish roots outside Australia, JewishGen provides the most comprehensive information.

JewishGen - The Home of Jewish Genealogy

Subscription is required – this is free, unless you want access to “premium” content.

It’s worthwhile checking back on the site periodically, as more records are regularly being added (many of those in Eastern Europe need to be translated from Cyrillic script, before being translated to English).

You can add your name and research details to JG Family Finder on their site, to potentially connect with others having similar research interests.

It’s also possible to have headstones, letters etc. translated from Hebrew to English by enthusiastic volunteers via Facebook or ViewMate on the JewishGen site.

Do you have Irish Jewish ancestry?

Stuart Rosenblatt, former President of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, has developed the Irish Jewish Family database of over 70,000 names, from 1700 to the present. There are up to 70 data fields for each person. Most of these people were Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe, whereas prior to 1700, most were Sephardic Jews fleeing persecution from the Spanish Inquisition.

IrishJewishRoots : The Irish Jewish Family History Database, contact - + 44 (0) 788 979 4757

The database offers an initial free quick search. If your forbear is listed, you can then contact Stuart for further information (possibly for a fee).