Builders brandish boxes to help Manchester Jewish Museum remember bygone board

A set of charity boxes shaken by Jewish leaders in Manchester more than a century ago have been found by builders working three doors down from the city’s Jewish Museum.

Workmen on the building site at Cheetham Hill Road found nine boxes under the rubble, bearing the words ““Board of Guardians for the Relief of Jewish Poor of Manchester”.

“Number 187 was the second home for the Jewish Board of Guardians,” says Alexandra Grime, the curator of the Manchester Jewish Museum.

“They moved there in 1919 when the premises were donated by Isidore Frankenburg, an industrialist and the Mayor of Salford.”

Founded in 1867, the Board changed its name to Manchester Jewish Social Services (MJSS) in the 1960s. In 1997 it merged with Manchester Jews’ Benenvolent Society to become Manchester Jewish Federation, or The FED.

Frankenburg’s spirit of generosity may explain why he enjoyed three terms as mayor between 1905 and 1908.