This site, purchased in 1761 and closed in 1858, was earlier known as North Street, Whitechapel, and originally as Ducking Pond Lane. Situated on the western side of Brady Street, it lies slightly north of Whitechapel Station. Brady Street is the site of an old cemetery, opened for the New Synagogue in 1761 and subsequently used also by the Great Synagogue.
The cemetery became full in the 1790's so it was decided to put a four-foot thick layer of earth over part of the site, using this for further burials. This created a flat-topped mound in the center of the cemetery. The cemetery is perhaps the only one where, because of the two layers, the headstones are placed back to back.
Among those buried here are Solomon Hirschel (Chief Rabbi from 1802-1842) and Nathan Meyer Rothschild (1777-1836, the banker).
To view the cemetery, contact the United Synagogue Burial Society, Tel. +44 20 7387 7891. Source: The Jewish Travel Guide. London: Jewish Chronicle, 1992.
See http://www.ibiblio.org/yiddish/Places/London/london.htm#bradys [October 2000]
See also Cemetery Scribes - Brady Street Cemetery, which images of all extant headstones and histories of the site [January 2017].
The United Synagogue Burial Society for additional information and photos and tombstone maintenance at 020 8950 7767 and select option 2. Melvyn Hartog, Head of Burial, Tel: 020 8343 6283. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. [June 2011]
[UPDATE] New book on 2 London East End Jewish Cemeteries [June 2017]
The United Synagogue website has a "Find a Grave" search facility (at https://www.theus.org.uk/gravesearch) that enables one to search for a grave at its cemeteries, including this one. The search result will generally include the date of burial, the position of the grave and a photograph of the gravestone, if available. Source: David Shulman, Webmaster JCR-UK [June 2017]