Extract from a cemetery plot book, Newport, 1899

Description

This photocopy of a typed page contains an extract from an 1899 cemetery plot book. It mentions that the burial ground of the Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation is situated in Risca Road, Stow Hill, adjacent to the local public cemetery, from which it is divided by a footpath.

The cemetery was donated to the congregation by Sir Charles Morgan, the Lord Tredegar, and opened in 1859. The author notes that no plan was ever drawn and the plots were not allocated in any specific order, making it difficult to identify the around 70 unmarked graves of which not much is known.

The entry was written by Rev Simon Fyne who became the minister in Newport after his predecessor, Rev Dr M. Berlin took up an appointment in Manchester. Rev Fyne left Newport in 1899 to become a minister in Swansea.

Newport Monmouthshire Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1859 by orthodox Jews meeting at a temporary synagogue in Llanarth Street. A synagogue at Francis Street was opened in 1869 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi Dr Herman Adler in 1871. In 1934 the congregation moved to the Nathan Harris Memorial Hall in Queens Hill which was converted to a synagogue. In 1997 this synagogue was closed, and the congregation moved to the Prayer House by the Jewish Burial Ground on Risca Road. Within 20 years the congregation had dwindled to a few members able to attend and this too had ceased to hold services.