New Communities in Moseley

New Communities in Moseley are broadly defined here as being those who have come from another country to make Moseley their home. In many cases, but by no means all, this includes people who are also defined by their religious belief. We have some evidence of immigrants coming to Moseley before the First World War with the censuses from 1841 to 1911 being the main source. Commonest among these are the Germans who came here to work as servants or as teachers and can be found in places such as Trafalgar Road. While the Germans in general were too scattered around Birmingham to form their own church (Lutheran) this was not so with another group, of whom many also came from Germany, the Jewish community. The demographics of Moseley prior to the Second World War showed from census evidence that it was a largely Caucasian population, the vast majority of whom were from Britain. Post war, with the influx of immigrants from the Commonwealth, this started to change – albeit on a smaller level than the inner city ring of suburbs, including the neighbouring Balsall Heath.

For more information, click HERE to see the ‘Moseley’s Got Soul’ New Communities booklet.

The Jewish Community in Moseley

When Henry William Carter, a former commercial traveller, died intestate in August 1950 his house at number 11 Park Road, named “Piercefield” was sold by his estate. It went, in 1952, for £2,250 to the orthodox New Synagogue. The New Synagogue was first established in Hurst Street in 1920,having replaced an earlier one in Holloway Head (now a Masonic Lodge) which had been registered in 1894. The Jewish community had originally been settled around the inner ring areas of Birmingham but by the 1950s had spread considerably out into the suburbs.  It was in reflection of this that the New Synagogue relocated to Moseley. Some rebuilding was done to make the building fit for purpose; proceedings got under way with the laying of the foundation stone on 25th October 1953 by one P. Newman. The Jewish population continued to spread, but decline as a large group in any particular area. As a consequence in 1996 the New Synagogue agreed a merger with the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation – the intention being to construct a new building at King David’s school, and vacate 11 Park Road. Park Road was sold in 1997 for £230,000 [indirectly] to Friends of the World Buddhist Order (Midlands).

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