Can any of our experienced Jewish researchers help me with this one, please. Why did so many Jews who had the surname of Asher settle in Notts ?
Let me explain what I mean. Of course there were Jews living there already, but the first real "wave" of Jewish immigration into Nottm in modern times came after a battle near Warsaw between the Poles & the Russians at the end of the eighteenth century. The Russians had recruited large numbers of Lithuanian Jews to use as their cat's paw & abandoned them to their fate in Warsaw when they withdrew. The Poles rounded on them & on Polish Jews, too...it developed into a "revenge attack" on Jews in general. A Jew in Nottingham systematically brought over numbers of these Jews to work as hawkers. This would fit in with my own Asher family history (though, obviously, I don't know for sure if they were part of that)
Bearing in mind that the Jewish naming system didn't work like the English non Jewish naming system (eg in Newcastle where the name of Henderson is/was so widespread), how did it happen that, as soon as they were settled, there were so many Ashers ? Many Jewish families already living there (I've traced them back to 1720 & could easily carry on) had the surname of Asher, but that could be explained by the fact that they had anglicised their names & no longer used the Jewish naming system & had increased in number.. But so many of these new arrivals had the surname of Asher.....far, far more than anywhere else (eg London) I can't find an Asher who was a prominent member of the Jewish community in Nottm, but it would seem to be an incredible coincidence if their families had used the Jewish naming system in Eastern Europe & so many happened to have the "surname" Asher when they arrived. Is it at all possible that at least some of them adopted the most common name among Jews in the area ?
Let me explain what I mean. Of course there were Jews living there already, but the first real "wave" of Jewish immigration into Nottm in modern times came after a battle near Warsaw between the Poles & the Russians at the end of the eighteenth century. The Russians had recruited large numbers of Lithuanian Jews to use as their cat's paw & abandoned them to their fate in Warsaw when they withdrew. The Poles rounded on them & on Polish Jews, too...it developed into a "revenge attack" on Jews in general. A Jew in Nottingham systematically brought over numbers of these Jews to work as hawkers. This would fit in with my own Asher family history (though, obviously, I don't know for sure if they were part of that)
Bearing in mind that the Jewish naming system didn't work like the English non Jewish naming system (eg in Newcastle where the name of Henderson is/was so widespread), how did it happen that, as soon as they were settled, there were so many Ashers ? Many Jewish families already living there (I've traced them back to 1720 & could easily carry on) had the surname of Asher, but that could be explained by the fact that they had anglicised their names & no longer used the Jewish naming system & had increased in number.. But so many of these new arrivals had the surname of Asher.....far, far more than anywhere else (eg London) I can't find an Asher who was a prominent member of the Jewish community in Nottm, but it would seem to be an incredible coincidence if their families had used the Jewish naming system in Eastern Europe & so many happened to have the "surname" Asher when they arrived. Is it at all possible that at least some of them adopted the most common name among Jews in the area ?
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