Montefiore:

By: Joseph Jacobs , Goodman Lipkind , Victor Rousseau Emanuel , Thomas Seltzer , Isidore Harris , Israel Davis

Anglo-Jewish family which derives its name from a town in Italy. In 1856 there were three towns so named in the Pontifical States, but from which of the three the family came is not definitely known. As far back as 1630 the Montefiores were settled at Ancona as merchants. From Ancona they, or some of them, seem to have gone to Leghorn. Thither, about the end of the seventeenth or the commencement of the eighteenth century, Judah Montefiore went, and was taken into business by his uncle, Isach Vita Montefiore. Judah married a daughter of the Medinas, by whom he had four sons. The third son, Moses Vita (Haim) Montefiore, married, in 1752, Esther Hannah, daughter of Massahod Racah, a Moorish merchant of Leghorn. Moses had seventeen children. The third, Samuel, married Grace, daughter of Abraham Mocatta, and became the grandfather of Haim Guedalla. The fourth, Joseph Elias, was the father of Sir Moses Montefiore. The seventh, Eliezer, married a granddaughter of Simon Barrow of Amsterdam, and emigrated to the West Indies. He became the father of Joseph Barrow Montefiore (1803-93) and Jacob Montefiore (1801-95), both of whom were among the early pioneers of Australia. But the most notable was the sixth son, Joshua, who had seven children by a second marriage.

Abraham Montefiore:

Stock-broker; born in London 1788; died at Lyons 1824; son of Joseph Elias Montefiore and brother of Sir Moses Montefiore, with whose commercial career he was afterward identified. He first adopted a trade and was apprenticed to Mr. Flower, silk-merchant of Watling street. In the silk trade he realized a small fortune, but being ambitious to push forward more rapidly, he joined his brother Moses in business; the firm of Montefiore Brothers thus formed carried on business in Shorters' court, Throgmorton street.

Montefiore was exceptionally fortunate on the Stock Exchange and left behind him a very large fortune. In 1824 he died at Lyons, on his way home from Cannes, whither he had gone for the reestablishment of his health. He was twice married: by his first wife, a daughter of George Hall of the London Stock Exchange, he had one daughter, Mary, who married Benjamin Mocatta; and by his second wife, Henrietta Rothschild, he had two sons and two daughters.

Charlotte Montefiore:

Authoress; born in London 1818; died there July 2, 1854. She took an active part in the Jewish Ladies' Benevolent Loan and Visiting Society as well as in the Jewish Emigration Society, of which she was one of the founders. She was the active friend of the Jews' Free School, the Jews' Infant School, the West Metropolitan School, and of many other educational establishments. Her reading was extensive, especially in moral and ethical philosophy. She was a contributor to many publications calculated to improve and elevate Jewish youth. For the "Cheap Jewish Library" she wrote "The Way to Get Rich," "The Birthday," "Caleb Asher," etc.; she wrote also "A Few Words to the Jews" (London, 1851).

Claude Goldsmid Montefiore: Montefiore Pedigree . Montefiore Pedigree .— Continued .

English scholar and philanthropist; younger son of Nathaniel Montefiore; born in 1858. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he obtained a first class in the classical final examination, and where he came under the influence of Jowett and T. H. Green. Intended originally for the ministry of the Reform congregation of England, he studied theology in Berlin, but finding himself unable to sympathize with the arrest of the Reform Movement, he devoted himself instead to scholarly and philanthropic pursuits. He nevertheless continued to be a spiritual teacher and preacher, though in a lay capacity, and published a volume of sermons, in conjunction with Israel Abrahams, entitled "Aspects of Judaism" (London, 1894). In 1886 he was selected by the Hibbert trustees to deliver the Hibbert course of lectures for 1892 ("The Origin of Religion as Illustrated by the Ancient Hebrews"). In these lectures Montefiore made a permanent contribution to the science of theology. In 1896 he published the first volume of his "Bible for Home Reading," forming a commentary on the Bible with moral reflections from the standpoint of the "higher criticism"; the second volume appeared in 1899. In 1890 Montefiore founded and edited, in conjunction with Israel Abrahams, the "Jewish Quarterly Review," a journal that stood on the very highest level of contemporary Jewish scholarship, and in which numerous contributions from his pen have appeared.

Montefiore is one of the leading authorities on questions of education; he was for some time a member of the School Board for London, and he is (1904) president of the Froebel Society and the Jews' Infant School, London, and a member of numerous other educational bodies. Montefiore has been mainly instrumental in enabling Jewish pupil teachers at elementary schools to enjoy the advantages of training in classes held for the purpose at the universities; he is on the council of Jews' College and of the Jewish Religious Education Board. He ranks as one of the leading philanthropists in the Anglo-Jewish community and holds office in various important bodies. He was elected president of the Anglo-Jewish Association in 1895, and he is a prominent member of the Council of the Jewish Colonization Association.

Montefiore has shown great sympathy with all liberal tendencies in Jewish religious movements in London and is president of the recently formed Jewish Religious Union. He was president of the Jewish Historical Society in 1899-1900.

J. G. L. Sir Francis Abraham Montefiore (Bart.):

English communal worker and Zionist; son of Joseph M. Montefiore, president of the Board of Deputies; born Oct. 10, 1860. In 1886 he took up the baronetcy previously held by Sir Moses Montefiore. He became high sheriff of the county of Kent in 1894, and of Sussex in 1895. He is chairman of the executive committee of the English Zionist Federation and has represented the English section at recent Zionist congresses. Montefiore was recently elected chairman of Elders of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation.

J. V. E. Jacob Montefiore:

Merchant; born in Bridgetown, England, Nov. 23, 1801; died Nov. 3, 1895. He entered into business with his brother Moses, and when in the early thirties the movement for the financing of Australian colonization from London was incepted Montefiore, who had been connected with the Colonial produce trade, became active in the various public schemes as a member of the South Australian Colonization Association, organized to settle South Australia on the Wakefield system. He was also appointed member of the first board of commissioners entrusted by the British government with the administration of the colony. He visited the colony in the year 1843 and again in 1854. His reception on his first visit by the governor, Sir George Grey, and the people was enthusiastic. During his visit to South Australia in 1843 he acted as an agent for the Rothschilds, at the same time holding a partnership with his brother Joseph Barrow in the firm of Montefiore Brothers of London and Sydney. The township of Montefiore, at the confluence of the Bell and MacQuarrie rivers, in Wellington Valley, was founded by the brothers, and they contributed actively to the establishment there of places of worship for all denominations. The organization of the Bank of Australasia was largely due to their efforts. In Adelaide there is a hill named after them. In 1885, at the request of the directors of the Art Union Gallery of Adelaide, Jacob sat for the artist B. S. Marks, the portrait being hung in that gallery.

J. T. Se. Jacob Isaac Levi Montefiore:

Australian merchant; son of Isaac Levi and Esther Hannah Levi (daughter of Eliezer Montefiore); born at Bridgetown, Barbados, Jan. 11, 1819; died at Norwood, London, 1885. In 1837 he proceeded to Sydney, where he assumed his mother's maiden name. There he became one of the leading merchants and took an active part in the development of the city. In 1857 he was nominated a member of the first legislative council of the colony of New South Wales. He acted as president of the chamber of commerce, and was for many years a director of the Bank of Australasia. In 1876 he left Australia and settled in England, where he became a director of the Queensland National Bank, the Queensland Investment Company, and several other important commercial undertakings. One of his brothers is Edward Levi Montefiore, a member of the financial house of Cahen d'Anvers et Cie., and another, George Levi Montefiore, of Brussels, is a member of the Belgian Senate; both are still living (1904).

J. I. H. Joseph Barrow Montefiore:

Merchant; son of Eliezer Montefiore; born in London June 24, 1803; died at Brighton, England, Sept. 4, 1893. In 1826, during the mayoralty of Sir William Magnay, he became one of the twelve "Jew brokers " in the city of London, purchasing the privilege for £1,500. He did not remain long in the city, but seized a favorable opportunity of emigrating to Australia, where several members of his family were already settled. In New South Wales he traded in partnership with his brother and made many fortunate speculations in town allotments. He helped to found the township of Montefiore and the Bank of Australasia, and was one of the chief agents in the organization of the Jewish congregation in Sydney. In 1832 he obtained a grant of land from the government for a Jewish burial-place. At the same time he helped to organize the society which developed into the Sydney Hebrew Congregation. On retiring from business Montefiore settled in London and joined the Reform Congregation.

Joseph Elias Montefiore:

Son of Moses Vita (Haim) Montefiore; born in London 1759; married Rachel Mocatta (1783). He became the father of three sons and five daughters, the eldest son being Sir Moses Montefiore. The second son, Abraham,was twice married, and by his second wife, Henrietta Rothschild, became the father of Joseph Mayer (father of Sir Francis Montefiore), Nathaniel (father of Claude G. Montefiore), Charlotte (d. 1854; author of "A Few Words to the Jews"), and Louisa (afterward Lady Anthony de Rothschild). The third son, Horatio (1798-1867), became a merchant in London, and was one of the principal founders of the London Reform Community (1841). He married a daughter of David Mocatta, by whom he had six sons and six daughters. The youngest of these sons, Emanuel Montefiore (b. 1842), became a lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Artillery, assistant secretary of the London Charity Organization Society, commandant of the Jewish Lads' Brigade, and a member of the council of the West London Reform Synagogue.

Of the daughters of Joseph Montefiore the eldest, Sarah, married Solomon Sebag of London; she became the mother of Joseph Sebag, afterward Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore (1822-1903), who had three sons— Arthur (father of Robert Sebag-Montefiore), Cecil, and Edmund. Sarah had also five daughters: Jemima (married Haim Guedalla), Esther (died prematurely), Abigail (wife of Benjamin Gompertz, the mathematician), Rebecca (married Joseph Salomons; brother of the late Sir David Salomons), and Justina (married Benjamin Cohen, father of Arthur Cohen and Lionel Benjamin Cohen).

J. I. H. Joseph Mayer Montefiore:

English communal worker; nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore; born in London May 10, 1816; died there Oct. 9, 1880. In 1844 he was elected a member of the Board of Deputies, London, as one of the representatives of the Spanish-Portuguese congregation. He retired from the office in 1853, but was reelected in 1857. In 1858 he became vice-president of the board, acting as president during the absence abroad of Sir Moses, whom he succeeded, Oct., 1874. Montefiore was elected treasurer of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue in 1846, and warden in 1851. He was a liberal subscriber to and took much interest in the charitable and educational institutions connected with the congregation. He was a director of the Alliance Insurance Company for twenty-three years, and acted for some years as director of the National Provincial Bank of Ireland. He was a justice of the peace and deputy-lieutenant for Sussex, and served as high sheriff of that county in 1870.

Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore:

Stock-broker; son of Solomon Sebag and Sarah, eldest sister of Sir Moses Montefiore; born in 1822; died at London Jan. 18, 1903. On succeeding (1885) to the estate of his maternal uncle he assumed the name of Montefiore by royal license. He was one of the leading members of the London Stock Exchange, on which he amassed a large fortune.

He was a justice of the peace for Kent and the Cinque Ports and lieutenant of the city of London; and in 1889 he served as high sheriff for Kent. He was for many years a leading member of the Spanish-Portuguese congregation and was president of the elders of that body. In 1895 he became president of the Board of Deputies, after having been vice-president for many years; and in 1896 he was appointed by the King of Italy Italian consulgeneral in London. He was knighted in 1896.

Joshua Montefiore:

English lawyer, soldier, and journalist; born in London Aug. 10, 1762; died at St. Albans, Vt., June 26, 1843. After graduating at Oxford he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1784. While practising in London he attained considerable success as an author, his "Commercial Dictionary" being regarded as the standard work of its kind. In 1791 he joined a band of adventurers under Moses Ximenes, who purposed establishing a colony on the coast of Africa; Montefiore took charge of the military side of the expedition. The party occupied the Island of Bulama and raised the British flag; but after several conflicts with the natives, they were compelled to withdraw. Of this early attempt at African colonization he has left a lively account. Before the settlement was broken up Montefiore attempted to establish schools for the children of his companions. On his return to England he declined the honor of knighthood and entered the army as a captain, being the first Jew to hold a military commission in England. He was present as an officer of the York Light Infantry at the taking of Martinique and Guadalupe in 1809. After serving in various parts of the world, he resigned his commission and emigrated to the United States; for some time he published and edited in New York "Men and Measures," a weekly political journal; he afterward took up his residence at St. Albans, Vt.

Montefiore published: "Commercial Dictionary" (1803); Commercial and Notarial Precedents" (1804); "Trader's Compendium"; "United States Trader's Compendium": "Law of Copyright"; "Synopsis of Mercantile Laws" (1830); "Law and Treatise on Bookkeeping" (1831); "Laws of Land and Sea" (1831).

Lady Judith Montefiore:

Wife of Sir Moses Montefiore; daughter of Levi Barent Cohen; born in London in 1784; died Oct. 1, 1862. She was an accomplished linguist and musician. She married Moses Montefiore in 1812. For thirteen years they lived at New Court, Saint Swithin's Lane, London. Her prudence and intelligence influenced all her husband's undertakings, and when he retired from business the administration of his fortune in philanthropic endeavors was largely directed by her. Lady Montefiore accompanied her husband in all his foreign missions up to 1859, and was the beneficent genius of his memorable expeditions to the Holy Land, Damascus, St. Petersburg, and Rome. By her linguistic abilities she was enabled to materially assist her husband in his self-imposed tasks. During the journey to Russia, in 1846, she was indefatigable in her efforts to alleviate the misery she saw everywhere around her. The wife and daughter of the Russian governor paid her a ceremonious visit and expressed the admiration she had inspired amongall classes. Her sympathies were greatly widened by travel; two journals of some of these travels were published anonymously by her. The last years of her life were spent alternately in London and Ramsgate. At her death Sir Moses founded in her memory the Judith Montefiore College at the latter place.

J. G. L. Leonard Montefiore:

English author and philanthropist; brother of Claude G. Montefiore; born in London May 4, 1853; died at Newport Sept. 6, 1879; educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he came under the influence of Jowett, T. H. Green, and of his fellow student Arnold Toynbee. Even before he left college he had contributed to some of the principal periodicals, as "The Nineteenth Century" and "The Fortnightly Review," and was at the time of his death devoting himself to the study of the German struggle for emancipation, on which he published some preliminary essays. Montefiore was associated with many philanthropic movements, especially with the movement for women's emancipation. His "Literary Remains" were privately printed by his family after his death (1880).

J. Sir Moses Montefiore (Bart.): Jewish Broker.

English philanthropist; born in Leghorn, Italy, Oct. 28, 1784; died at Ramsgate, England, July 25, 1885. Moses Ḥayyim Montefiore and his wife, both of Leghorn, settled in London in the middle of the eighteenth century. One of their seventeen children, Joseph Elias Montefiore, took his young wife, Rachel, daughter of Abraham Lumbroso de Mattos Mocatta, on a business journey to Leghorn, where their eldest child, Moses, the subject of this article, was born. On their return they lived at Kennington, where Moses went to school and was apprenticed to a provision merchant. Later he entered a counting-house in the city of London, and ultimately became one of the twelve Jewish brokers then licensed by the city. His career was not entirely uncheckered by adversity. In 1806 he was deceived by a man whom he had trusted in a large transaction in Exchequer bills, and had to ask for time in which to settle certain obligations. This his high character and popularity enabled him to secure. His brother Abraham joined him in business; and they remained in partnership till 1816. Moses married (1812) Judith, daughter of Levi Barent Cohen. Levi Barent Cohen was an Ashkenazi, and it was a sign of indifference, on the part of the Montefiores, to current prejudice that, although they belonged to the London Sephardim, they married German Jewesses. Moses lived in New Court, close to his friend Rothschild; and the brothers Montefiore, as the brokers of that financial genius, became wealthy men. Moses was able to retire from the Stock Exchange in 1821; and in 1824 he assisted in founding the Alliance Assurance Company, of which he was the first president.

Sir Moses Montefiore in 1818. (From a sketch by Dighton .) Dignities.

He was among the founders of the Imperial Continental Gas Association, which extended gaslighting to the principal European cities; and he was one of the original directors (1825) of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, which gained for him the honorary freedom of Londonderry. For a short time he was also a director of the South Eastern Railway. In 1836 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society; and in 1837 he was elected sheriff of the city of London, being the second Jew to fill that office ( see Salomons , Sir David). In the same year he was knighted by Queen Victoria on her accession. He had become acquainted with her in 1834, while she was staying at Broadstairs with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, to whom he had been able to show courtesy by placing at her disposal the secluded grounds of his house near that seaside resort. In 1846 he was created a baronet, and in 1847 became high sheriff for Kent. He was a deputy lieutenant and a magistrate in more than one jurisdiction. At an earlier period of his life (1810-1814)he had been captain in the Surrey local militia and practised assiduously the bugle calls and drill. In part he owed his stately bearing to these early days of military training.

While Sir Moses was winning wealth and social distinction, he was living the life of a most pious and observant Jew. His diaries record his regular attendance at the synagogue, his scrupulous performance of the functions of a member of the ancient Society of Lavadores, which made it a sacred duty to perform the last rites for members of the synagogue; and they show also that under great difficulties he strictly complied with the dietary laws as well as with those which enjoin rest and forbid travel upon Sabbaths and festivals. In pursuance of inflexible principle, he resisted all attempts at congregational reform. The following is an account in his own language of his life in 1820:

"With God's blessing, rise, say prayers at 7 o'clock. Breakfast at 9. Attend the Stock Exchange, if in London, 10. Dinner, 5. Read, write, and learn, if possible, Hebrew and French, 6. Read Bible and say prayers, 10. Then retire. Monday and Thursday mornings attend the Synagogue. Tuesday and Thursday evenings for visiting." "I attended," he says on another occasion, "many meetings at the City of London Tavern, also several charitable meetings at Bevis Marks, in connection with the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue; sometimes passing the whole day there from ten in the morning till half-past eleven at night (Jan. 25, 1820), excepting two hours for dinner in the committee-room; answered in the evening 350 petitions from poor women, and also made frequent visits to the Villa Real School."

He cooperated also with the Rothschilds and the Goldsmids in the movement for parliamentary emancipation of the Jews. In 1814 he became treasurer of the Sephardic Synagogue in London, and in due course passed through all its highest offices, being six times warden-president. From 1838 to 1874 he was president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews; and on his retirement £12,000 was subscribed as a testimonial to him and was used by his wish in aid of building industrial dwellings at Jerusalem. His time in office was vigorously employed in the relief of his suffering brethren.

Visits to Palestine.

Seven times Sir Moses Montefiore visited Palestine, in 1827, 1838, 1849, 1855, 1857, 1866, and 1875; being accompanied by his wife each time before her death in 1862, and making the last journey when he was ninety-one years old. Another regular companion was Dr. L. Loewe, who became his literary executor. In the Holy Land he endowed hospitals and almshouses, set on foot agricultural enterprises, planted gardens, and built synagogues and tombs. He not only gave bounteously of his own means, but administered public and private subventions, among others a fund bequeathed by Judah Touro of New Orleans, who left $50,000 to be applied, as Sir Moses thought fit, for the benefit of the Jews in the Holy Land. The events of these journeys were carefully narrated in his own diaries and in those of Lady Montefiore, some of which have been published in full, while others have unfortunately been destroyed, though not till extracts from them had been printed. Besides passing references to interesting personages whom the travelers met, the diaries furnish incidentally a history of the gradual development of the means of travel. In their early adventures the courageous couple encountered serious dangers; even in England they were shot at, presumably by highwaymen, on the Dover Road. But they were not deterred by the fears of slavery and imprisonment which then beset travelers in the East, or by breaking ice or by wolves in Russia. On one of his journeys (1840) Sir Moses obtained from the Sultan of Turkey a firman denouncing the inveterate charge of ritual murder brought against the Jews.

(From a photograph when 100 years old.) Visits Morocco.

He obtained promises of friendliness from two czars (1846 and 1872), crossed the desert of the Atlas and at the age of seventy-nine won for his brethren the favor of the Sultan of Morocco; made an unsuccessful journey to Rome to obtain the return to his parents of the boy Mortara (1858), and went to Rumania (1867), where he presented himself at an open window to a mob at the imminent risk of his life. It was at the age of seventy-six that he went to the office of the London "Times" after midnight, with a letter soliciting relief for the Christians of Syria. His own contribution was £200, and he collected over £20,000.

His Popularity.

The affection which his magnetic personality and his native goodness inspired can not be exaggerated. In Palestinehis brethren flocked to kiss the hem of his garment. On his entering into his one hundredth year (Nov. 8, 1883) Queen Victoria, Albert Edward Prince of Wales, and many hundreds of his most distinguished fellow citizens sent telegrams of congratulation. The birthday was a public festival at Ramsgate, where he passed the evening of his days.

Sir Moses was buried at Ramsgate, near the synagogue he had founded, side by side with his wife in the mausoleum which he had erected for the purpose, a reproduction of the building known as the Tomb of Rachel on the Bethlehem road. By his will (proved at £370,000) he directed the continuance of many and various charities, and among others added to the endowment of the Montefiore College and Library, Ramsgate, which he had first established in memory of his wife. The college is now devoted to a few learned men who spend their days in the study of the Law. For a time an institution for younger students was also maintained, but the trustees in lieu thereof make an annual subvention to Jews' College, London.

Sir Moses Montefiore had no children; but the baronetcy was revived by the crown in favor of Francis Montefiore, grandson of Abraham, Sir Moses' brother and partner; while his seat at Ramsgate became by his will the property of Joseph Sebag (afterward Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore), son of Sir Moses' sister.

J. I. Da. Nathaniel Montefiore: Synagogue And Tomb of Sir Moses Montefiore, Ramsgate England . (From a photograph.)

English communal worker; second son of Abraham Montefiore and Henrietta, daughter of Mayer A. de Rothschild; born in London 1819; died there 1883. He married Emma, the youngest daughter of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid. He was trained for the medical profession at Guy's Hospital and was elected a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1858. He did not establish a practise, but used his medical knowledge for the benefit of the inmates of the Beth Holim Hospital, an ancient charity of the Spanish-Portuguese, Jews of London of which he was treasurer for over a quarter of a century. He filled also numerous other communal offices. He was president of the Jewish and General Literary Institution, in Leadenhall street, which was known as "Sussex Hall"; president of the Jews' Infant Schools; and president of the Jews' Emigration Society. But most of his communal work was in connection with the Spanish-Portuguese congregation, to which most members of his family belonged. He served as senior warden of the congregation, president of the board of elders, president of the Gates of Hope school, andrepresentative of the congregation on the Board of Deputies. He was buried in the Balls Pond Cemetery of the West London Reform Synagogue, by the side of his son Leonard.

J. I. H.