The Secret Life of Streets (BBC Two)

[Anna]

The parts on Jewish London were very interesting - that theatre which only had Jewish performances and notices in the housing in both English and Hebrew. I hadn't realised quite how the culture had expanded beyond the families themselves

Going through the census for the section of my family in Bethnal Green I found Hannah as a boarder at the Hebrew Girls Boarding School, Palestine Place, Bethnal Green. This surprised me as I didn't think the family were at all Orthodox and had drifted into Christianity.

However, I find, and I have to do more research, that the Hebrew Boarding Schools (for boys and girls) were founded by the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity amongst Jews and they existed to teach Jewish children trades. It seems (more checking required) they were founded by Scottish Missionaries and possibly the lure was 3 meals a day for the children who were now off their parents hands? As I said, another piece of the jigsaw to put together.

[Pegleg]

There was one distant relative in my paternal family who insisted there was a Jewish connection in the early 1800s, but they all lived on the South Bank and I've never found conclusive evidence for it. Yet there were plenty of biblical name amongst them (Benjamin, Joshua, Josiah, Rebecca etc.) and I have wondered about the historical pressures to assimilate.

As far as the Jewish community in Bethnal Green is concerned it's worth reading the relevant chapters from the various volumes and editions of Booth's "Labour and the Life of People: London".

Vol II 1891 Chapter IV Influx of Population

http://archive.org/stream/labourlife...e/444/mode/2up

Vol I 1891 Part 2, Chapter 3 Tailoring

http://archive.org/stream/labourlife...e/208/mode/2up

Vol I 1891 Part 3 , Chapter 3 the Jewish Community

http://archive.org/stream/labourlife.../n577/mode/2up

Vol II, 1902 edition Chapters 1 and 2 Whitechapel and Bethnal Green pp 3-103

http://archive.org/stream/lifelabour...ge/n9/mode/2up

They are not always described in flattering tones.

The "Arnold Circus" programme did mention that one of Booth's researcher did some kind of ethnic breakdown of tenants around 1900 with one block, the Marlow buildings, found to have around 70% of people with Jewish origins. In fact, if you have the time to trawl the 1901 census and can actually find it, other buildings, for instance the Abingdon and Benson buildings, appear to have a high proportion of people born in Russia and with names that would suggest they were from the Jewish community. If the original slum dwellers missed out for various reasons, some members of the Jewish Community did benefit. Whether this was the source of resentment or animosity, I've no idea.

[Pipisme]

It was a really fascinating series.

[Caliban]

Good to see this programme nominated for best documentary at the BAFTAs today, even if it didn't win.

Wonder if there's another series - perhaps country-wide rather than just London - in the works...