Jewish lawmen of London



I recently wrote about Jews who were elected constable in colonial New York. It seems that New York was not the only place in which Jews were eligible for that office during the eighteenth century; the records of the Old Bailey reveal that Jews also enforced the law in contemporary London.



The advent of Jewish constables in London appears to have occurred somewhat later than in New York. The first Jew to hold that office in New York was elected in 1718, while Jewish names start cropping up in the London constables' rolls about 1760, with all but one serving in 1780 or later. The constabulary in London at that time was a minor civil office that was open to native-born homeowners; naturalized foreigners were excluded, but Jews born in Britain were apparently eligible. At least eight appear to have served between 1760 and 1800: Moses Benjamin, David Levy, Moses Barnet, Wolfe Solomon, Isaac Backrow, Jacob Lyon, Solomon Davis and Jacob Spinoza.



Benjamin and Spinoza, in particular, appear to have been substantial men in the Jewish community. Benjamin, who was a hatter by trade, held a number of other minor law enforcement posts, including headborough of Aldgate lower precinct and street-keeper of Rosemary Lane. His term as headborough coincided with the Gordon Riots of 1780, and he briefly confronted the rioting mob:

I live next door to Mr. Lebarty, in St. Catherine's-lane. I was at home on Wednesday night when the mob came; they came with a bell, a great many together; it was between ten and eleven o'clock; I would not go to bed left my house should be set on fire. I went down and took my long staff, I thought there would be other peace officers as well as myself; there were four; they went away, and then I went and put my staff in doors; I went to the house opposite Mr. Lebarty's; I saw the prisoner there, he is a neighbour. I have known him some little time; I saw him and his wife pulling the things about; he pulled down the window shutters on the outside of the house; then the mob went in and threw different things out at the window, beds and furniture; there was among the rest a shirt or shift, which the prisoner took up and put into his pocket. I said to a neighbour it was very hard to see these things taken away from a good neighbour as Lebarty was. I saw Turner take a grate out of the house; when I took him he acknowledged he had taken the grate, and his wife took me to the house where they had sold it.



During the time you saw the prisoner what were the mob doing? - There were twenty or thirty destroying every thing in the house, and throwing them out at the window. I apprehended the prisoner about four days after; there was no place to put people in, and we were afraid to take them sooner.

Spinoza, who served a decade later, also appears to have been socially prominent. He seems to have held office at a relatively early age; he was described as a "young fellow" during a 1789 episode in which he assisted in the capture of a robber after a street chase:

I live in Dunning's-alley, Bishopsgate-street. Last Saturday night, between six seven, I heard the cry of stop thief, and I ran out of the door, and faced the prisoner; he was running past my door; I stopped him, and I took the tippet from him; and I was not master enough for him: he chucked the muff into my arms, and I catched it; I kept close to him, running after him till he came into the broad way of Bishopsgate-street, and a young man faced him and caught him in his arms, and we delivered him to the patroles. I was not above half a yard off when he was caught.

His prominence is most apparent, however, from the fact that he was selected for jury service in 1794. This was an honor that was, at the time, reserved for key men in the community, and Spinoza was one of a very few Jews to be chosen during the eighteenth century.



David Levy's name appears frequently in the annals of the court, where he was well-known enough to be sworn as interpreter. His year as constable occurred in 1784, and included some hair-raising episodes:

... on the 31st of October, I being a constable, the watchmen, Thomas Bond, and Thomas Taylor, brought in the prisoner Goldsmith, into St. James's watch-house, Duke's Place, between three and four in the morning, he had a bundle under his arm, this is the bundle, I asked him what he had, he said he did not know, he said I came from Deptford, and my shipmates desired me to carry it along, I opened the bundle and saw it contained women's apparel, I bid him stand up, and in his coat pocket there were some half-pence, I put them into my hat, and asked him what half-pence he had, he said he did not know, out of his waistcoat there fell this linen waistcoat, then fell out some handkerchiefs from his bosom, then I found a silver purse in his pocket, half a guinea and three half crowns and seven shillings in silver, I opened his breeches, and there I found three pair of cotton stockings, and a pair of gloves, I opened the knees of his breeches, and behind there, in the bend of his knee, I found a watch, this watch fell out; I bid him open his mouth, and I took three guineas out of his mouth; I said then you had better tell me where your comrades are, and I will shew you some mercy, no, says he, damn my bloody eyes, I am done, and they are far enough off from me now, and you will never get them, I carried him to prison, and between six and seven, when the watchmen went off, I patrolled the parish myself, and I went round Leadenhall-street, and went into Houndsditch, and in Houndsditch I met the other three prisoners, and Aaron Levy who is another of the witnesses, and my watchman says to me, them are the three men, I followed the prisoners, and took them in the Minories, I took Jones, and I followed and knocked down Hall, I brought them all three to the watch-house, I first searched Jones, I opened his breeches and found two silk handkerchiefs, and a china snuff-box in his breeches pocket, and a crown's worth of halfpence he threw out of his pocket, they were picked up; on Hall I found four silver spoons, and two papers of half-pence; upon Smart I found a green purse, and seven shillings in silver, and six brass counters; when I took Jones to the counter, I bid him open his mouth, he would not, till he received a blow on the head, and then he did, I told him not to my fingers, when he opened his mouth I got two guineas out of his mouth, he swallowed something which had like to have checked him, I put my fingers down his throat, and pulled out the two guineas, and I gave him half a crown for not biting my fingers, here is all the property.

Levy was also something of a test case; in 1784, a non-Jewish prisoner he had arrested objected to his qualification as constable on religious grounds. The objection was unsuccessful, and the right of Jews to serve as constables was recognized by the court.



The names of the other three Jewish constables appear less frequently, although Solomon Davis held office at least three times: in 1784, 1786 and 1791. Isaac Backrow is noteworthy in that he was himself accused of theft in 1796 - apparently with respect to allegedly stolen goods that he had confiscated - and that his term in office ended when he became bankrupt. Jacob Lyon's name likewise comes up only once, but it does so in reference to a colorful encounter:

I am Constable: on the 20th of September [1791] there was a fire in Houndsditch; I met the prisoner with the bundle under his right arm, about half past ten o'clock, it was not concealed; this great coat was across the bundle when I took them, I asked him what he had there, he said I had no business with him; I collared him and took the bundles, I missed my hold of him, and took hold of his collar, he twisted round and hurt my finger, it has been lame ever since; he got away from me, I pursued him, and called stop thief, he was stopped by a young man; when he came to the watch-house he said damn your eyes you Jew b - r, I sha'nt weigh forty yet; he after that offered to give me a strike, not to swear against him; he told me a strike was a guinea.

The term "weigh forty" is apparently a reference to the forty pound reward for bringing in a robber.



It is likely that there were more Jewish constables. During the trial of Porter Ridout, which I discussed in my first Old Bailey article, one of the witnesses testified that he "went to look for some Jew constables, knowing their people could disperse them better than ours." It may have been common during the late 1700s for Jews to serve as constables in heavily Jewish neighborhoods such as Aldgate, where five of London's six synagogues were located. The great majority of the Jewish constables whose names appear in the record served in Aldgate, although Spinoza lived in the adjacent Bishopsgate ward. Indeed, the first question John Hurd was asked when he identified himself as an officer of Aldgate in 1794 was "are you a Jew?"



The experience of London's Jewish constables bespeaks a society where Jews could move fairly high up the social ladder. It was difficult for foreign-born Jews to be naturalized in eighteenth-century Britain, but those who were native-born or managed to acquire citizenship faced relatively few restrictions compared to their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. The legal profession, Parliament and the universities at Oxford and Cambridge were closed to them, and they faced considerable social prejudice, but those of middle-class status could achieve civil office and the respect of their neighbors.