Schools Learning Zone

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Fay Baker
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1 Schools Learning Zone page 1 of 7 Which minority groups can we trace in 19th century Bristol? Bristol s black There is limited evidence to tell us about the lives of ordinary working class people in Victorian Bristol and there is even less about black people in the city, whatever their class. Most of what we do know is based on the research of people interested in local and family history. As this has become more popular, more information about minority communities in the past is being revealed. A small number of black people lived in the 19th century city. Some others visited as workers, street and theatre entertainers or political activists - for example Frederick Douglass and Ellen Crafts, African-American antislavery campaigners. The resident black community of Bristol seem to have been working class and not wealthy. Most of the city s black community seem to have had links in some way with slavery, although some came to the city in connection with the Bristol palm oil trade with West Africa or Christian missionary activities. Read these brief biographies What can you tell about the black community in 19th century Bristol and their treatment by the white community? George Barnard Freeman Elias George Barnard Freeman Elias was a young boy, probably of African- American origin, who lived in Granville Place in Clifton before his premature death in Burial records list him as a redeemed Slave, hence Freeman. Manga Bell Manga Bell, son of a native chief, probably King Bell of the Douala people of modern Cameroon, was baptised at St Mary Redliffe in He may also be Prince Alexandre Manga Bell who is recorded as a student in Bristol in Henry Parker Henry Parker escaped from slavery in the USA and came to Bristol around the 1850s where he married a White Irish woman and became a lay preacher at Hook's Mill (now the Ivy) Church. His descendants still live in the city.

2 James Peters James Peters ( ) came to live in Bristol, from his birthplace in the northern town of Salford, in the late 1890s when he was about 19. As a boy, James worked as a bareback rider in a circus with his West Indian father. His father was mauled to death by a lion and James spent some time in an orphanage. James played rugby first for the Dings (poor area near to Temple Meads station) team, and later for Knowle in South Bristol until 1902 when he moved to Plymouth. In Bristol, some White members of the Knowle Rugby Club resigned in protest at his inclusion in the team. James was the first person of African descent to play rugby for England. He was popularly known as James Darkie Peters. page 2 of 7 from the German states At the start of the nineteenth century, the impact of the French Revolution ( ) was being felt in Europe; new and radical political ideas were spread. There were long wars in mainland Europe that disrupted life and caused tremendous hardship, and the industrial and agricultural revolutions continued to change working lives and the economy. Napoleon Bonaparte s forces fought wars across huge areas - from the Atlantic coast as far inland as Moscow, and from Denmark down to Italy. Throughout the century people came into the country and were absorbed into the growing towns and cities. Refugees, escaping from war and persecution, came to Britain; traders and travellers arrived to profit from the wealth of an imperial power; skilled workers and entrepreneurs arrived to join or create business ventures in the new industrial and factory age; individuals and families came to seek education, work and a better life. Just over a hundred people in the 1851 census came from the area covered by modern Germany. Which Community? People can fit into several communities or choose not to do so. The 1851 Census shows a small number of between 137 and 156 people as having names of German origin, a third of whom had names and jobs suggesting a Jewish background. 42 people listed their birthplace as Poland, and four as Russia. Most of these were probably Ashkenazi Jews, descended from medieval communities in Germany, as were some of the people listing London as their birthplace.

Most of the other musicians were young men in their 20s and may have formed the touring German bands which were very popular at the time.

3 page 3 of 7 The group of German origin were mostly from what is now north Germany. They were probably Protestants, and the majority were men. Geologist Johann Samuel Müller fled from the fighting in Prussia We know that: 11 were musicians, including Bertram Mark, the Director of the Bristol Conservatoire of Music. Most of the other musicians were young men in their 20s and may have formed the touring German bands which were very popular at the time. during the Napoleonic wars, settled in Bristol, married into the wellestablished James family of Bedminster, and changed his name to John Miller. He was a curator of the Bristol Institution, which formed the basis of the present-day Bristol City Museum. His son William James Müller, was one of Bristol s most famous artists. We know that one or two were teachers; there was a watch and clock maker, some sailors and servants. 14 definitely worked in the sugar industry, perhaps for Conrad Finzel. Conrad Finzel was a farmer s son from a village near Frankfurt, and fled to Britain to escape being drafted into Napoleon s army. He first settled in London where he worked in the sugar refining industry before arriving in Bristol to work as a sugar boiler. By 1830 he had founded Finzel s Refinery, which grew to be a major business directly employing 200 men in its early years, and 700 men by The factory was supplied with sugar by large ships. Finzel was elected as one of Bristol s Aldermen, but he refused to stand as Mayor. He was strongly religious, and after a fire destroyed his factory, he is said to have promised that a third of future profits would go to charity and became the major donor to the Bristol orphanage. He retired to his home village in Germany a rich man. George Müller ( ). The George Müller Foundation. George Frederick Müller, ( , and unrelated to Johann) was born in Kroppenstaedt into a wealthy Protestant family. He had a leisured life until at the age of 20 when he experienced a religious conversion to evangelism. He came to England in 1829, and Bristol in 1831, as a missionary determined to convert Jews to Christianity. He had a strong belief in the power and importance of charity, and later got involved in the scheme to set up a major orphanage. He persuaded Conrad Finzel to donate generously to the scheme Muller Road and Muller orphanages are named in his honour. He was naturalised as a British Citizen in 1861.

4 ACTIVITIES page 4 of 7 Diversity Through Time, Bristol (Multiethnic) Bristol s Italian Community The sea has carried people from all over Europe to Bristol and, as the Italian city ports have had strong trading powers since the Middle Ages, there have been commercial links with Italy for centuries. However most of these merchants and sailors did not settle in Bristol and the 1851 census only shows a little over 20 Italians as residents, six of whom worked as figure makers, sculpting plaster-of-paris models. Muller s Ashley Down orphanage- started 1855 and housed well over 7,000 orphans at its peak. The George Müller Foundation. Later census figures identify musicians and street traders amongst the residents of Italian origin in the city. The 1881 Census lists Cosimo Jack, his two daughters and four others from Naples as musicians in Silver Street (St James parish modern Broadmead area), with other Italian and German musicians living nearby. Also nearby was Erico Diciccio, of Montague Street, a marble memorial mason. What reaction do you feel local traders might have had to foreigners coming into Bristol to trade? What historical sources might help us investigate whether you are right in your answers to these two questions?

5 page 5 of 7 The Jewish Community of Bristol A small Jewish community had gathered in Bristol during the 17th and 18th centuries, using a synagogue in the Temple area, before moving to a new purpose built synagogue in The 19th century brought important changes to the Jewish community in Bristol. Firstly, there was a movement to allow Jewish citizens to take full part in local politics. This would mean altering the laws, which limited involvement in government and other aspects of public life to members of the Church of England. Secondly, there was a period of migration by central and Eastern European and Russian Jews to escape persecution and violence against their communities. This caused tensions between the established Jewish communities who had settled into Britain, the incomers, and between some groups and the Jews in general. A significant difference can be shown between the established community, and the poor refugees and asylum seekers who were escaping the threat of death or injury from the anti-semitic programs of the late 19th century. In 1861 the less wealthy Jewish wine merchant, Joseph Abraham, was elected as a member of the Bristol Corporation and he lobbied for public health reform. He became Bristol s first Jewish Mayor in 1865 before resigning due to ill health. During the 19th century, records show a small number of Jewish shopkeepers, tradesmen and traders who probably lived in reasonable comfort, but who certainly did not mix with the ruling classes and social elites. One example is the boot and shoe manufacturer Abraham Levy ( ), who lived in the working class and industrial district of Temple parish. When he died, he left his shop and a silver watch to his nephew, with equal shares to his nieces to be inherited when they turned 30 or when they got married in the Jewish faith. Another manufacturing family was the Platnauers, who emigrated to England from Wreschen (about 1838), a Polish town under Prussian control. The Platnauers were clockmakers and jewellers in the Temple area (1870 to the 1940s), and their shop premises still exist in the modern city. Amongst the wealthiest Jews in Bristol were the Alexander family, shipping agents, who lived a comfortable life, in high quality houses and who were able to mix in polite society. Joseph Frankel Alexander first stood for election to the Bristol City Council in 1835, but was defeated. However, during the next year the Bristol Mercury, a local newspaper, supported the idea that Jewish councillors could be elected. In 1844, a year before Parliament actually made it legal for Jews to serve on local councils, Joseph s brother Abraham was elected as a Bristol councillor. In 1850 their brother, William Wolfe Alexander was elected alderman by the City councillors.

6 page 6 of 7 From the 1880s onwards, anti-semitic violence in central and Eastern Europe brought new immigrants to Western Europe. Jewish families fled Eastern Europe and looked for new places to settle. These migrants were often very poor and culturally different to both the Christian and established Jewish communities. Aaron Harris Vyernick, his wife Rachel and their three small children fled Russia and arrived in England in 1896, before coming to Bristol in 1901 where they set up a small bakery in Newfoundland Street. The family received British citizenship, and Aaron changed their name to Harrisberg, Henry Festenstein left Russia to work as a general house furnisher in Redcliffe, before becoming a British citizen and changing his name to Henry Denton. In City Road, St Pauls, Raphael and Harris Goldberg ran a boot-making factory from their front room, while their ten children played in the same house. Isaac Rosenberg, the son of Lithuanian immigrants who had come to England in 1885, was born into a poor family in 1888 near St Mary Redcliffe Church. He was the son of a charlady (cleaner) and an odd-job man and peddler (travelling salesperson). The family left for the east end of London around 1900, and Isaac later became a famous war poet whose work is still enjoyed and studied today. The Platnauer Brothers clockmakers shop, Victoria Street. English Heritage (James Davies). Worship at the new Park Row Synagogue clearly did not appeal to some of the new Jews coming into Bristol, and for three years a rival synagogue operated in Bridge Street with a Russian speaking chazan (cantor a cantor sings the prayers during a service). He placed more emphasis on learning and speaking Hebrew. After three years an agreement was made to teach more Hebrew at Park Row and the smaller synagogue closed although a Jewish Working Man's Club and a Jewish Girls Club continued.

7 page 7 of 7 By the 1880s a weaker economy helped build concerns about the increasing number of migrants coming to Britain. Part of the reaction was anti-semitic, but the British Jewish community themselves wanted to be careful not to be seen to be encouraging open entry in case this resulted in a backlash against Britain s Jews as a whole. When the Manchester Guardian ran a story about the blood libel accusation (the old myth that Jewish religious ceremonies involved killing Christian children) there was great concern that the story might be believed and used as an excuse to attack innocent Jewish citizens. Around the same time, large waves of East European Jewish immigrants arrived just as the Great Depression ( ) was increasing unemployment. Newcomers often get the blame for lowering wages, taking jobs and being willing to work for longer, in worse conditions, and for less pay than the local workforce. Rumours about the criminality of the incomers, the arrival of revolutionaries and anarchists, and the poor health and hygiene of the new arrivals spread among the working classes, and anti-semitism increased. In an attempt to challenge this fear and hatred, the Bristol Jewish community raised money to help the new settlers. In 1881, John G. Levy tried to persuade Bristol s mayor to call a public meeting about the persecution in Russia which has driven so many Jews from Russia. Although no meeting took place the Mayor did donate 2 2s to the Anglo Jewish Society. Fear of Aliens did not go away, and in Bristol in 1905 the Conservative government passed the first legislation restricting immigration: the Aliens Bill, intended to exclude undesirable and destitute aliens.

Chapter 12: Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages, Lesson 2: The Crusades

Chapter 12: Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages, 1000 1500 Lesson 2: The Crusades World History Bell Ringer #48 1-23-18 1. Born to a wealthy merchant family, Francis of Assisi A. Used his social status