 1671 - 1740 (69 years)
-
| Name |
Salomon David de Castro |
| Born |
1671 |
Hamburg, Germany  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Biography |
Copy of will held.
To be buried near his wife in the Jews burying ground. Son David to whom he leaves his Sefer Torah in the Synagogue. Exra Son David and Mr Benjamine Mendes da Costa and appoint them guardians of his son Daniel. Witnesses Daniel Curial Abaz & Soloman Ximines. 23 April 1740.
Translated from Portuguese 28 April 1740
probated 3 June 1740 by son and other excs
Ref PCC 156 Brown
1671 Born we do not yet know where. It is not known where the birth date was found. It was added to some trees after they were typed/written. If not an inspired guess by some person then either some birth record was found or his age is given when he died or was married. I suspect the latter as no person has ever been able to say Solomon was English born.
1710 Married Rachel Bravo, daughter of Abraham Bravo of Bayonne France. The marriage is registered in the Bevis Marks Synagogue. From a note on the Keith de Castro tree it is reported he settled the sum of 20,000 pounds on his wife when he married. If this is true and we are talking of 1710 then this was a huge sum of money. We must not of course forget that it was Solomon's father who would have provided the dowry.
That he was married in 1710 is documented in the Bevis Marks Synagogue. Rachel Bravo came from France, or her father was said to be from France. Bravo is said to be a Spanish and Portuguese name.
When two people married in those days especially within the Jewish community then the marriages were organised to the mutual benefit of both families. The wishes of those being married were not taken into account. In most cases a contract was drawn up to set down the conditions that were entered into when the marriage was organised.
In the Jewish church at the time these Aramaic marriage contracts occasionally mention the dowry in sterling though the more usual practice was to specify this in the currency of the fourth century Babylon and to discreetly omit to mention the rate of exchange employed.
Thus when we read of a dowry of 20,000 pounds being given we must take this into account.
D.J.Steel states"
The "London Magazine" and the "Gentleman's Magazine" frequently reported the marriages of members of prosperous Jewish families. There is abundant evidence to indicate that eighteenth century journalists were highly optimistic in estimating the dowries and estates of those whose marriages and deaths they thought worthy of report, but their testimony is useful in determining the date of the marriage even though they frequently made mistakes in the names of the parties and other details."
So we know where and when and to whom Solomon was married. The amount of settlement was recorded some place possibly in the press, however it is hoped the marriage contract exists and that a translation can be obtained as apparently they gave a great deal of information even if the values expressed were in ruzim's.
In most writings of the early Jewish settlers in England mention is made of their wealth. Should the dowry figure is be correct then these comments about the community being wealthy cannot be an over statement
1723 the book "Tryal of David Cohen Henriques" mentions Solomon as living in Capel St Dublin. This book was found in Ireland round the 1900's and is apparently in the University in Dublin. A way must be found to have this examined to see what the reference is as it will possibly throw some light on why Solomon was living in Ireland with his family. It should be noted that at the time of writing that we believe but cannot actually make the link that there was a connection between the Henriques family and de Castro's. Paul de Castro in his research mentions going to Amsterdam and meeting "The daughter of the last male Henriques de Castro" Unfortunatly he gave no details but from this we have assumed a further link.
We have no record or any idea what Solomon was up to in Ireland in 1725 when his son Samuel was born.It is noted that he was there organising a Jewish burial ground but details cannot be found. It was obviously not a business trip as in those days he would have been unlikely to have taken his very pregnant wife and no doubt young family with him
1725 On 17th June Samuel son of Solomon was born in the Parish of St Mary's Dublin. This birth was one of two de Castro births recorded in the special register established by the Royal College of Heralds in 1747 to record the births of the Dissenters. (His brother Daniel born in 1733 is likewise recorded. Why the other members of the family were not also registered we do not know.)
In D.J. Steels book on "Sources for Roman Catholic and Jewish Genealogy" there is a part covering the birth register maintained for a time by the Royal College of Heralds. This was set up to record birth, marriages etc of persons "Not baptised in the Established Church" as it was basically illegal to be anything other than a member of the Church of England those people who followed other faiths such as the Jewish Community could only with great difficulty register the births of their children, if one could not be registered then it was not lawful for that person to inherit an estate. Equally so if you could not give proof of your birth as an English Man then if you left the country would could have difficulty in returning. Two de Castro's are registered one in 1725 (Samuel born in Dublin) and 1733 Daniel. There are also some de Castre registered and as this was a variation of the spelling of de Castro these should be explored at some time to extract the full details of the entries.
1733 - 1740 was Secretary of the Portuguese Community in London
1740 Died buried in the Jews Burial Ground at Mile End in St Dunstan's, Stepney.
There are two dates given for Samuel's death, one as 1740 and the other as 1761. If he died in 1740 then he was not about to make use of the register at the Royal College of Heralds in 1745 to register two of his children's birth. From Steels book there were a number of forms that the registration could take place. If the actual entries could be sighted then the form of entry could be examined and it could be established if Solomon was alive at the time. His will is dated 1740 and that is the date used. (in which case his sons presumably had them selves registered)
It is recorded he is buried at the Jewish Cemetery at Miles End.Solomon 1681-1761
1681 Born we do not yet know where.
1710 Married Rachel Bravo, daughter of Abraham Bravo of Bayonne France. The marriage is registered in the Bevis Marks Synagogue. from a note on the Keith tree it is reported he settled the sum of 20,000 pounds on his wife when he married. If this is true and we are talking of 1710 then this was a huge sum of money. We must not of course forget that it was David's father who would have provided the dowry.
1723 the book "Tryal of David Cohen Henrigues" mentions Solomon as living in Capel St Dublin. This book was found in Ireland round the 1900's and is apparently in the University in Dublin. A way must be found to have this examined to see what the reference is as it will posibly throw some light on why Solomon was living in Ireland with his family.
1725 On 17th June Samuel son of Solomon was born in the Parish of St Mary's Dublin. This birth was one of two de Castro births recorded in the special register established by the Royal College of Heralds in 1747 to record the births of the Disenters. (His brother Daniel born in 1733 is likewise recorded. Why the other members of the family were not also registered we do not know.)
1732 - 1740 was Secretary of the Portusese Community in London
1740 Died buried in the Jews Burial Ground at Mile End in St Dunstan's, Stepeny. He is also reported to have died in 1761. I tend to believe the former date is correct as it is repeated on page 303 of Gedalia Yogev,s book.
His "Will" is reported to have been written in Portuguese and on some trees is given the reference P.C.C 161 Browne
It is not known where the birth date was found. It was added to some trees after they were typed. If not an inspired gues by some person then either some birth record was found or his age is given when he died or was married. I suspect the latter as no person has ever been able to say Solomon was English born.
That he was married in 1710 is documented in the Bevis Marks Synagogue. Rachel Bravo came from France, or her father was said to be from France. Bravo is said to be a Spanish and Portuguese name.
When two people married in those days especially if they were titled or were wealthy, then the marriages were organised to the mutual benefit of both families. The wishes of those being married were not taken into account. In most cases a contract was drawn up to set down the conditions that were entered into when the marriage was organised.
In the Jewish church at the time these Aramaic marriage contracts occasionally mention the dowry in sterling though the more usual practice was to specify this in the currency of the fourth century Babylon and to discreetly omit to mention the rate of exchange employed.
Thus when we read of a dowry of 20,000 pounds being given we must take this into account.
D.J.Steels states
The "London Magazine" and the "Gentleman's Magazine" frequently reported the marriages of members of prosperous Jewish families. There is abundant evidence to indicate that eighteenth century journalists were highly optimistic in estimating the dowries and e states of those whose marriages and deaths they thought worthy of report, but their testimony is useful in determining the date of the marriage even though they frequently made mistakes in the names of the parties and other details.
So we know where and when and to who Solomon was married. The amount of settlement was recorded some place posibly in the pres, however it is hoped the marriage contract exists and that a translation can be obtained as apparently they gave a great deal of information even if the values expresed were in ruzim's.
In most writings of the early Jewish settlers in England mention is made of their wealth. If the dowry figure is correct then these comments about the community being wealthy cannot be an over statement. Solomon was described in one text as a diamond merchant but I do not know the source, however as the coral trade usually ended up with the coral being exchanged in India for diamonds that were normally sent to London for sale then the description probably fits. We have no record or any idea what Solomon was up to in Ireland in 1725 when his son Samuel was born. It was obviously not a busines trip as in those days he would have been unlikely to take his very pregnant wife and no doubt young family with him.
There are two dates given for Samuel's death, one as 1740 and the other as 1761. If he died in 1740 then he was not about to make use of the register at the Royal College of Heralds in 1745 to register two of his children's birth. From Steels book there were a number of forms that the registration could take place. If the actual entries could be sighted then the form of entry could be examined and it could be established if Solomon was alive at the time.
It is recorded he is buried at the Jewish Cemetery at Miles End. Within the genealogy movement there is a lot of time spent by members transcribing the details from head stones in cemeteries. If this cemetery has been transcribed then it is posible we could find what members of the early family are interred there. Often additional information is available in the stones that can add to the picture. Such a record is being looked for. The marker if any will be probably written in Hebrew or the like. It is reported that Solomon's will was originally written in Portuguese and there is the reference to this document. It suggests the document has been sighted and could be found again. Again these documents often throw additional light on proceedings of the times. There is no mention of daughters in the tree. While it is posible there were none, it was the custom when researching families to omit the females, as they were not part of the direct line.
It is only of general interest to know if there was any and certainly no indication of any attempt to track their respective families. A reasonable amount is known about Solomon and it is posible a deal more could be found out. |
| Immigration |
London, England |
| Residence |
Hamburg, Germany |
| Residence |
London, England |
| Died |
Apr 1740 |
London, England |
| Buried |
London, England [2] |
|
|
| Person ID |
I16069 |
Blank Family |
| Last Modified |
27 Oct 2010 |
| Father |
David Namias, b. 1651, Hamburg, Germany , d. 6 Mar 1702, Hamburg, Germany (Age 51 years) |
| Mother |
Sara Levie-Ximenes, b. 1653, Amsterdam, Netherlands , d. 14 Apr 1722, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Age 69 years) |
| Married |
1670 |
Amsterdam, Netherlands [3] |
| Family ID |
F11353 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Rachel Bravo, b. Abt 1685, Bayonne, France , d. Bef 1740 (Age ~ 54 years) |
| Married |
1 Oct 1710 |
Bevis Marks Synagogue, London, England |
| Notes |
- Marriage
Date: 1 OCT 1710
Place: Bevis Marks Synagogue, London, England
|
| Children |
| | 1. Isaac v.Salomon de Castro, b. 1715, Dublin, Ireland , d. 1767, Livorno, Italy (Age 52 years) |
| | 2. Jacob v.Salomon de Castro, b. Abt 1717, d. Aft 1779 (Age ~ 63 years) |
| | 3. Abraham Salomon de Castro, b. 1711, London, England , d. 7 Jul 1760, London, England (Age 49 years) |
| | 4. David v.Salomon de Castro, b. 1720, London, England , d. 7 Oct 1761, London, England (Age 41 years) |
| | 5. Samuel Salomon de Castro, b. 17 Jun 1725, Dublin, Ireland , d. 18 May 1779, London, England (Age 53 years) |
| | 6. Moses Salomon de Castro, b. Abt 1715, Dublin, Ireland , d. 26 Mar 1761, Curacao, Netherland Antilles (Age ~ 46 years) |
| | 7. Daniel Salomon de Castro, b. 1733, Dublin, Ireland , d. 1 Nov 1790, London, England (Age 57 years) |
|
| Family ID |
F11345 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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-
| Sources |
- [S521] Gedcom file from Kevin Bowman.
- [S586] Descendants of David de Castro, Garry Carr-Smith.
- [S583] Jewish Marriages in Amsterdam, Verdooner et al., Amsterdam Municipal Archive, Cert. No. 688-147.
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: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set