Correspondence relating to Mr D. J. Harper, the gardener: maintanence work at Brynmawr Jewish Cemetery, 1979

Description

Letters dating from 02 July 1979 to 06 November 1979, concerning the matter of Mr D. J. Harper, a gardener, who placed an application to the Brynmawr & District Jewish Burial Board to carry out maintenance work on the Brynmawr Jewish Cemetery. The letters are written and sent between Mr D. J. Harper, Mr Anthony Morris, Mr Gerald N. Robinson and Mr Joel Lyons, in which they are discussing this matter.

In Harper's initial letter, he writes that the cemetery is badly overgrown but could be restored to former condition. He writes a list of work that needs to be carried out and states he is prepared to undertake the work if he could rent/lease the adjoining ground where his horses may graze. In later letters, Mr Harper is offered a letting at a sum of £10 per year on the condition that he carries out the repairs he suggested were needed in his original application. The trustees reserve the right to terminate the lease if the Council take over the responsibility of the cemetery maintenance. There is also reference to the current tenant, Mr Merrick the Farmer, who's tenancy will have to be terminated.

There is no name at the bottom of a number of these letters, however in regard to the content of these and other items in this collection, it is likely they are written by Anthony Morris.

Brynmawr Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1889 and the opening of the Brynmawr Synagogue took place in June 1901. The trustees were Barnett Isaacs, pawnbroker; Isaac Isaacs, pawnbroker; Isaac Brest, house furnisher; and Isaac Goldfoot, draper. In 1920, they opened in the Brynmawr Jewish Cemetery. Abel Myers of Abersychan paid for the land purchased from the Brynmawr Urban District Council and conveyed by a document of 23 October 1919 to five men: Abel Myers, pawnbroker, of Abersychan; Jacob Morris, jeweller, of Brynmawr; Isaac Brest, furniture dealer, of Brynmawr; Joel Ballin, draper, of Brynmawr; and Jacob Myers, clothier, of Nantyglo. The land measured 2 acres, 3 roods, and 3 perches, and the cost was £206.

Sources:
'The Jewish Community of Brynmawr, Wales' - Jewish Journal of Sociology: jewishjournalofsociology.org/index.php/jjs/article/download/15/16;
'Brynmawr Hebrew Congregation': https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/val1_brynmawr/index.htm.

Depository: Gwent Archives.