Hybrid Identities
Over time many established Jewish families became less orthodox. They attended synagogue less frequently and often favoured Reform or Liberal Judaism, which had fewer ritual requirements.
Some of the Jewish gentry explored alternative or hybrid forms of spirituality. Others did not practice Judaism at all, even if they expressed a firmly secular Jewish identity through their charitable commitments, friendships and family relationships.
Repeated images of the sun at Bletchley Park reflect the unconventional religious beliefs of its owner.
Sir Herbert Leon MP was President of the Rationalist Association, a group of freethinkers who advocated the application of reason and science to spirituality. He nevertheless opted for an orthodox Jewish burial. Photo © Marcus Roberts
Jewish men and women who married into the aristocracy were stigmatised for their Jewish origins.
Sibyl Sassoon, who married the Marquess of Cholmondeley, never told her children that she had been born a Jew and converted. Others retained a proud attachment to their Jewish identity.
Hannah Rothschild refused to convert when she married the Christian Lord Rosebery, but her male relatives would not attend the wedding. She chose to be buried in Willesden Jewish Cemetery. Her tomb (pictured left) is set apart from that of her parents, suggesting that her religious status was uncertain. Photo © Marcus Roberts
Louis Montagu of Townhill Park House was famously observant. His son, Stuart, was less strict. Stuart’s nephew Jeremy recalled enjoying “the best of both worlds”: “Chanukah and Christmas, with stockings (and pillow cases) by our beds for Father Christmas… turkey, Christmas pudding with sixpences and little silver charms wrapped in greaseproof paper… and a Christmas tree with presents for all the staff.”
(Above) A Christmas card proof sent to Lady Bearsted for approval in 1933 from Truslove & Hanson, the London court stationer. The Bearsteds were pillars of the Jewish community. As one local recalled: “they didn’t observe Christmas themselves, but they did observe it for the estate workers and their families." © National Trust
