THE JEWS OF AUSTRALIA
Compiled by Mona Freedman Morris © 2015
HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES (NSW) Jewry
Between eight and fourteen Jewish petty criminals were among the convict cargo in 1788 that arrived on the
First Fleet, Organized Jewish society did not start until 1817 with the formation of a Jewish Burial Society in
Sydney.
After 1828 free English Jewish settlers began to arrive and the first regular services were held in the home of
P.J. Cohen. Most of the early settlers were Anglo-Jewish, middle class immigrants. During the 19th century a
high proportion of Jews in NSW lived in country areas, with communities in Goulburn, Maitland and Grafton,
and later in Newcastle and Broken Hill. These communities were too isolated and today the only reminder of
their existence are the Jewish gravestones in country cemeteries and disused synagogues, apart from the
Newcastle Synagogue which continues to function.
While the Sydney Jewish community was enriched by small numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing the Russian
pogroms at the turn of the century, and by Polish Jews arriving in the 1920s, these 'foreign Jews' did not have
a significant impact on the community.
It was the Jewish refugees who arrived largely from Central Europe in 1938-1939, escaping from Nazism,
who laid the basis for the dramatic changes and evolution of Sydney Jewry.
Further waves of immigrants from Hungary in the mid-1950s, South Africa, Russia and Israel in 1970s and
1980s have enriched the community.
The Jewish community in Sydney currently numbers about 40,000 people. Jews live in all parts of the Greater
Sydney area, although approximately two-thirds reside in the Eastern Suburbs, from Vaucluse, through
Randwick, Bondi and Double Bay, to Darlinghurst-East Sydney. Most of the remainder live on the north side of
the Harbour, predominantly in the suburbs situated between Chatswood and St Ives.
AUSTRALIAN JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY www.ajhs.info
The Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal was first published in 1939.
Journals: 1939-2010 on line
A tour of Jewish history in Australia: a timeline from 1788: www.ajhs.info/jha/
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE MELBOURNE JEWISH COMMUNITY:
www.melbournesynagogue.org.au/Templates/History_Beginnings.html
HISTORY OF THE ADELAIDE Jewish community: www.adelaidejmuseum.org/history.htm
VIRTUAL JEWISH HISTORY tour of Australia: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/australia.html
Books relating to Jewish Australia
John S. Levi The Forefathers
W. & H. Rubinstein The Jews in Australia
Suzanne Rutland Edge of the Diaspora
AUSTRALIAN JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Sydney
www.ajgs.org.au
Canberra/Australian Capital Territory, Sydney/New South
Wales, Darwin/Northern Territory &Brisbane/Queensland.
Victoria
www.ajgs-vic.org.au/
Melbourne/Victoria
AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS
OBITUARY INDEX, especially the Sydney Morning Herald
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
www.ryersonindex.org
ROOKWOOD JEWISH CEMETERY, Sydney 1830-> contains Name, Hebrew Name, Date of Death, Age
www.rookwoodjewishcemetery.com.au/page/search-for-a-grave
FamilySearch.org

Family History Library Research Outline for Australia https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Australia
 Deaths and Burials, 1816 - 1980 (170)
 Australia, New South Wales, Index to Bounty Immigrants 1828-1842
 Births and Baptisms, 1792 - 1981 (1,066)
 Cemetery Inscriptions, Sydney Branch Genealogical Library, 1800-1960 (299)
 Marriages, 1810 - 1980 (286)
 Miscellaneous Genealogical Records, 1776-1980 (11)
 Australia, New South Wales, Alphabetical Index to Newspaper Cuttings, 1841-1987 (90)
 Queensland Cemetery Records, 1802-1990 (47)
 New South Wales, Alphabetical Index to Newspaper Cuttings, 1841-1987
ANCESTRY.COM/au $
Many of our ancestors arrived in Australia after leaving Europe, especially Lithuania. Below are just some of the
records available on Ancestry.
 UK Outward Passenger Lists
1890-1960
 UK Incoming Passenger Lists
1878-1960
 Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1852-1923
 Australia Birth Index, >1922, Australia Death Index, >1985, Australia Marriage Index, >1950
 New South Wales, Australia, Departing Crew and Passenger Lists, 1898-1911
 Western Australia, Australia, Crew and Passenger Lists, 1852-1930
 Tasmania, Australia, Passenger Arrivals, 1829-1957
 1901 New South Wales, Australia Census
 Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980
LINKS TO AUSTRALIAN GENEALOGY
Australia
State Records New South Wales
Tasmanian B D & M records
Queensland BD&M records
Office of Regulatory Services Free Index
North Territory BD&M records
Australian shipping 1788-1968
Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney
Perth http://elirab.me/
www.records.nsw.gov.au
www.justice.tas.gov.au/bdm/
www.justice.qld.gov.au/bdm/
www.ors.act.gov.au/community/births_deaths_and_
marriages/historic_death_index
www.nt.gov.au/justice/
www.blaxland.com/ozships/page.htm
http://www.sag.org.au/