• Women using a married surname in 1851 are listed by that surname, not their maiden  surname. Wherever available the maiden surname can be deduced from the father’s surname (shown further down in the table)
   

• Composite Sephardi names (like Gomes Da Costa or Nunes Martines) have been standardised in line with the most common renditions in 19th century censuses etc.  For example Gomes da Costa, will be listed by surname as Da Costa (with the Gomes element tacked on at the end of the given name) and Nunes Martines as surname Martin - or Martin (Martines) - with the Nunes element tacked on the end of the the given name.  An exhaustive listing of how different names are treated cannot be offered here: if searching by one name (for example Silva) does not produce a result, try adding another element of the name (for example Mendes Da Silva).

Year of birth comes wherever possible from birth registration documents, but very often the best available source is censuses.  In these cases, it represents a best judgment on the available data. When drawn from censuses, the year of birth is simply the census date minus the listed age – so someone listed as age 7 in 1851 will be shown with the birth year  1844.

Place of birth normally comes from censuses, naturalization papers &c. Where there are conflicting accounts (e.g. one source says Amsterdam and another London), it shows the contributor’s best judgment on the available data.

• Many place-names have changed. Where this applies, the database gives both the expression normally used today and then, in square brackets after it, the expression as it appears in the source document.  Examples would be ‘Poznan, Poland [Posen, Prussia]’ or ‘Middlesex Street [Petticoat Lane]’.

Sources of birth data  Commonly used abbreviations include ‘GB BC’/‘GB DC’ for a birth/death certificate from the relevant country in Great Britain; ‘GRO index’ for the Government’s bound volumes of birth/death indexes; and ‘FreeBMD’ for the digital transcript of those indexes on www.freebmd.org.uk. See Published Sources for the main other sources quoted.

Father  The father is normally listed by his names as used in the 1851 census. (Exceptions are made where a different name is used consistently in most other sources.) Where different names are used in different official documents, these are shown in brackets. Round brackets are used for different spellings or renditions of essentially the same name, for example Mark (Mordecai) Jacob (Jacobs).  Square brackets are used for a complete name change, for example Edward Moses [Beddington].

Mother  The mother’s given names are normally as used in the 1851 census. (Exceptions are made where a different name is used consistently in most other sources.) The surname shown here is always the maiden surname. Where different names are used in different official documents, these are shown in brackets. Round brackets are used for different spellings or renditions of essentially the same name, for example Mary Ann (Miriam) Jacob (Jacobs).  Square brackets are used for a complete name change, for example Adeline (Adelina) Moses [Merton].

Faith affiliations  This is intended to give some idea of the person’s faith (if any) across his or her lifetime. It shows, wherever known, the particular synagogue or other establishment at which they worshipped. Where that is not known, but the establishment where their birth, marriage or death was registered can be named, this is shown instead.

Wife  Wives’ given names are normally as used in the 1851 census. (Exceptions are made where a different name is used consistently in most other sources.).  Where different names are used in different official documents, these are shown in brackets. Round brackets are used for different spellings or renditions of essentially the same name, for example Mary Ann (Miriam) Jacob (Jacobs).  Square brackets are used for a complete name change, for example Adeline (Adelina) Moses [Merton]. The surname shown here is always the maiden name.

• Where the person concerned is known to have had children outside marriage, the partner concerned (where known) is listed as a spouse, and a reference made in the Notes.

Name Children are listed by given names only. Where applicable, the entry will normally start with the names or names as used in the 1851 census. (Exceptions are made where a different name is used consistently in most other sources.) Where different names are used in different official documents, these are shown in brackets.  Round brackets are used for different spellings or renditions of essentially the same name, for example, Mark (Mordecai).  Square brackets are used for a complete name change, for example Moses [Richard].

Year of birth comes wherever possible from birth registration documents, but very often the best available source is censuses.  In these cases, it represents a best judgment on the available data. When drawn from censuses, the year of birth is simply the census date minus the listed age – so someone listed as age 7 in 1851 will be shown with the birth year 1844.

Where no census address is available, the line shows any known address in that decade. Where more than one address is known, the one listed is the one closest in time to the relevant census – so 1862, for example, will be preferred over 1867 for the 1860s address.

Where place names have changed over time, the database gives both the expression normally used today and then, in square brackets after it, the expression as it appears in the source document.  Examples would be ‘Poznan, Poland [Posen, Prussia]’ or ‘Middlesex Street [Petticoat Lane]’. (An exception arises where no street address is known, but a parish has been listed in the source document. The parish name will be listed as it stands, with no attempt to track changes in parish names or boundaries.)

In the interests of comparability, the Editor has developed a standardised gazetteer of London districts and the streets within them where Jews were living. Even though a source document might list a given street as being in, say, ‘Whitechapel’, if the database gazetteer attributes that street to ‘Spitalfields’ it will be so listed throughout the database.

Source  Wherever possible, this shows a full census reference.

Failing that, where possible the address is taken from another official document, like a birth certificate, using the standard abbreviations used elsewhere in the database, e.g. ‘GB BC’/‘GB MC’/‘GB DC’ for a birth/marriage/death certificate from the relevant country in Great Britain; ‘GRO index’ for the Government’s bound volumes of birth/death indexes; and ‘FreeBMD’ for the digital transcript of those indexes on www.freebmd.org.uk. See Published Sources for the main other sources quoted.

In other cases still, the address has only been inferred. Sometimes it is inferred from the birthplace of a child, or of a brother or sister reasonably close in age to the person in question. In such cases the formulation ‘child’s birthplace’ or ‘sib’s birthplace’ is used. In other cases, the address for one decade has been inferred from the fact that it is the same in the two surrounding decades, and the source line will indicate this.