Newspaper clipping about a 1916 advertisement for a pawnbrokers in Abertillery, 1976

Description

This 1976 clipping from an unidentified newspaper contains a picture of a 1916 advertisement for a pawnbrokers in Abertillery. The caption notes that the successful coal industry did not manage to raise everyone out of poverty, as can be seen from the advertisement's mention of 20,000 unredeemed pledges.

A handwritten note indicates that the company in question was previously owned by the relatives of Mr David Jacobs, who were members of the Abertillery Jewish community.

A Hebrew Congregation was founded in Abertillery by the early 1900s but had ceased to exist in the 1950s. The Jewish Chronicle records in 1905 that a Rev S. Kahn had been elected Chazan, Shochet, and Teacher of Abertillery congregation. He was soon succeeded by others, including Rev Snadow who moved on to Newport in 1910. A synagogue with a Hebrew school was erected behind 2 Newall Street around 1910 and had space for 100 worshippers. By 1939, the Abertillery community had shrunk from around 100 members to 14. The Jewish Chronicle reports that in 1942 religious services for evacuee children were held in a private home in High Street.

Sources:
'The History of the Jewish Diaspora in Wales' by Cai Parry-Jones (http://e.bangor.ac.uk/4987);
JCR-UK/JewishGen (https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/val1_abertillery/Abertillery_Press_Reports.htm);
"The Hebrew Synagogue – Abertillery" by Graham Bennett (https://outoftheblueartifacts.com/the-hebrew-synagogue-abertillery).

Depository: Gwent Archives.