Like many towns, Huntingdon had a small Jewish community during the Middle Ages.
During the 13th century Huntingdon went into a period of economic decline, and it seems that the Jewish community was singled out as a scapegoat. Documents held at the National Archives in London show that from 1272 Jewish townspeople had to pay a special tax of 3 shillings each year.
Further divisions between Jews and Gentiles were set up in 1279, when it was agreed with the Crown that the bailiffs of Huntingdon would receive a penny for every Jew or Jewess crossing Huntingdon bridge by horseback, and a halfpenny if they were on foot. This was not the medieval Huntingdon bridge which survives today, as that bridge was not built until 1332, but rather a wooden bridge situated slightly further upstream.
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Extract from Edward Griffith's "Huntingdon Borough Records" of 1817, quoting Edward I's writ of 1279 concerning Jews crossing Huntingdon bridge
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Modern photograph showing where the pre-1332 wooden bridge was probably located
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There is also some evidence to suggest that Huntingdon's synagogue was burned down in 1287. Three years later, in 1290, Edward I expelled all the Jews from England.
Breaking the barriers
From 1541 onwards Sephardic Jews, mainly from Portugal and Spain, began resettling secretly in London, operating as traders. But it was not until the 17th century that some Puritans began advocating the formal readmission of the Jews. One strand of Puritanism believed that the Second Coming of the Messiah would only occur when Jews lived in all the countries on Earth - which meant that the existing prohibition on Jews in England would delay Christ's return.
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The parish register of St John's Church, Huntingdon. The baptism entry for Oliver Cromwell, 1599, is at the top of the left hand page
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In 1656 Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell - who had been born and raised in Huntingdon, and who had probably listened to much Puritan preaching while living in St Ives and Ely - gave permission for Jews to live in England, to buy land, and to worship as they saw fit. In this way, 350 years after Huntingdon started to discriminate against Jews, a man from Huntingdon was the first to begin to break those barriers down.
Anniversary commemorations
2006 was the 350th anniversary of the Jews being allowed to return to England under the Protectorate. Cambridgeshire County Council marked this historic anniversary with a temporary exhibition at the Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon (1st November – 31st January 2007) and with a lecture at Huntingdon Library on 8th November, given by Edgar Samuel, former Curator of the Jewish Museum, London.
For more information please follow the Cromwell Museum link in the right hand column.