The life and times of a Jewish family in Victorian London. A unique insight into the life of a prominent London Jewish family over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The wealth of documents relate primarily to Victor Abraham (d.1848), an embroiderer of military and naval costume, and patriarch of the family. Newspaper clippings, articles of co-partnership, and a fascinating accounts book logging the price of various items of stock – four gold artillery epaulettes could be had for £8/8 in 1813 – attest to an immigrant family's success in building a thriving business in Victorian England.

The archive also bears positive witness to the Abraham family's gradual immersion into London's social elite. A letter from Lady Charlotte Albemarle to Hannah Rothschild (1783-1850), the wife of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, dated 14th November 1837 helped secure the appointment of Victor as 'Embroiderer to Her Majesty' Queen Victoria. Certificates show that Victor and his grandson Herbert were received as Freemasons by the United Grand Lodge. Letters from Alba Paynter, lady-in-waiting to the Princess Royal, and Major John Wickham, Private Secretary to Queen Mary indicate that by the twentieth century the family were operating on the fringe of royal circles.

The archive includes:
1. Register of births of the Abraham family in Hebrew and English on velum 1803-1828. The earliest being for 'Philip Abraham born Janu[ary] 1 1803', and the most recent 'Solomon born Sep[tember] 7 1828'. With an early translation of the last entry into English, and a later manuscript list of birth dates of various family members.
2. Transcriptions of tombstone epitaphs, one for Victor Abraham (d.1848) on velum, the others on paper.
3. Newcastle Ketubah (1850) on velum.
4. London Ketubah (1893) for Herbert Philip Abraham and Laura Cohen.
5. Invitation to attend meeting of the committee of the Western Synagogue Chambers, early manuscript notes of 'Notable days' (i.e. birth, death and marriage dates) to verso.
6. Membership certificates of the United Grand Lodge of Freemasons for Victor Abraham (1820), and Herbert Philip Abraham (1891).
7. Civil certificates of birth, death, marriage and probate.
8. Letter from Lady Charlotte Albemarle to Hannah Rothschild (wife of Nathan Mayer Rothschild), and from Hannah Rothschild to 'Jessy' (Hannah Rothschild's sister, and the wife of Myer Davidson). With early 20th-century transcription.
9. Letter to Mr. V. Abraham, 13 Denmark Court, The Strand from his brother-in-law D.B. Cohen.
10. Ephemeral receipts/accounts.
11. Correspondence from Sarah Bloom to Solomon Abraham et al.
12. Deed handing control over the embroidery business to Rebecca Abraham's sons Samuel and Solomon following her death (1864).
13. Newspaper advertising the dissolution of the partnership between Samuel V. Abraham and Solomon Abraham.
14. Letter to A.L. Abraham from Major John Wickham, the Private Secretary to Queen Mary, and letters from Alba Paynter, lady-in-waiting to the Princess Royal.
15. PRO copy of the 1851 census.
16. Ledger book for 'Mr Abraham in Acct. with Lamberts & MacLaurin' (1812).
17. Newspaper clippings from the obituary of Lawrence David Abraham in the Kobe Herald (1927).
18. Manuscript and early typescript records of the Abraham family dating back to the eighteenth century.

Archive of circa 50 documents including manuscripts, typescripts and printed materials in English and Hebrew, housed in a black oblong folio wallet (32 x 43 cm), MS label to upper panel.