Whether we think that Jewish people resettled in the British Isles officially in 1656, after the expulsion of 1290, or whether we admit that there were Jews in the British Isles between 1290 and 1656, the Anglo-Jewish community decided to celebrate 300 years since the official resettlement in 1956.
This was celebrated very officially, with the formation of a Council for the Tercentenary of the Re-Settlement of the Jews in the British Isles, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.
There were various events, including the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a service of dedication and thanksgiving, held at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Bevis Marks, London.
The exhibition was opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum seventy years ago.
This collection of items related to the Tercentenary and Exhibition probably belonged to Hugh Harris. It includes a letter from Richard Barnett, the Chairman of the Exhibition Committee to Hugh Harris, who was the Literary Editor of the Jewish Chronicle and Editor of the Jewish Year Book.
Richard David Barnett (1909–1986) was President of the Jewish Historical Society of England. He was an archaeologist, museum curator, and scholar of Jewish history. He was also a long-time Keeper of Western Asiatic Antiquities at the British Museum (1955–1974).
Hugh Harris was born in Liverpool in 1897. He was headmaster of West Hampstead Day School, 1933-8; chairman of the Jewish Peace Society, and literary editor of the Jewish Chronicle during the 1950s. He was the Editor of the Jewish Year Book during the 1950s and 1960s.
Jewish Miscellanies 
Reading this feels especially painful in light of recent antisemitic attacks in the UK. It’s hard not to feel a deep sense of sadness, of anger—of terror— that these events have been allowed to unfold and escalate in an atmosphere where Anglo-Jewish life has, for so long, been part of the country’s cultural and civic fabric.
What your work highlights so clearly is that Anglo-Jewish life is not marginal or recent — it is deeply embedded in the story of these islands. That makes the current moment feel all the more dissonant and troubling. It is difficult to reconcile the richness of this shared history with how exposed and unprotected the Jewish community feels at this moment.
Thank you for continuing to keep this history visible. I only wish that those in positions of power would revisit this history and do more to protect the loyal and productive citizens it represents.