Abraham Saul (1779-1867) & Elizabeth Phillpot (c1782-1863)
Abraham Saul, sometimes called Abraham Saul Rodrigues, was born on 28 May 1779 in London, the son of David Saul Rodrigues and Reyna Da Costa Andrade.
A description of Abraham’s parents and upbringing is given in “The Jews of Georgian England” (Todd M Endelmann, 1999): “The father David Saul, a butcher with a shop in old Gravel Lane (which was in the East End, outside the jurisdiction of the City of London) was born in England and raised as a Jew. Sometime before the birth of his eldest son Abraham in 1779 he openly repudiated Judaism without, however, undergoing baptism. He carried on business on the Jewish sabbath, observed none of the festivals or fasts, belonged to no congregation, and sold pork in his shop. At his wife’s insistence, though, he did agree to have his sons circumcised, but she died soon after the birth of the youngest son, Saul, and he raised the boys as Christians. He sent them to Christian schools and apprenticed them to Christian butchers.”
On 18 November 1802, Abraham Saul married Elizabeth Phillpot in Hackney parish church.
Elizabeth Phillpot was born in the London parish of St George-in-the-East (according to the 1851 census return) in c1782.
Two of the witnesses at Abraham and Elizabeth’s marriage were William Genn and Lydia Genn. “William Genn and Philpot” were listed in the 1812 tax returns under Coleman Street London. Messrs Genn, Philpot & Co were Sheriffs’ Officers at No 7 Great Bell-alley, Coleman Street. William Genn (of 7 Great Bell Alley) was buried at St Stephen’s Coleman Street on 24 January 1830 aged 64. In the 1832 Robsons Street Directory, a Richard Phillpot was a sheriff’s officer at 13 Great Bell Alley. Earlier, a Lydia Genn, the wife of William Genn, of St George in the East, took on a female apprentice as a mantua (lace) maker in 1798. Moreover, William Genn, Gent. of St George’s in the East held a game licence in 1807.
It is therefore highly likely, given the middle name “Genn” later given to Abraham and Elizabeth’s youngest daughter, Emily, that these people were the family and business/social connections of Elizabeth.
In September 1803 Abraham, the son of David and Reyna Saul, was baptised at the church of St John at Hackney. This might have been a public repudiation of his Jewish heritage.
Abraham and Elizabeth lived at 22 High Street, Whitechapel and their eldest children were baptised at St Mary’s, Whitechapel: David Gill (20 November 1803), William (16 June 1805) Elizabeth (14 December 1806), William (13 November 1808), Lydia (23 October 1810), Richard (6 December 1812).,
The family moved to 56 Aldgate High Street and the younger children were baptised at St Botolph, Aldgate: Eliza (14 April 1816), Emma (11 February 1818), Sarah (15 March 1820), and Emily Genn (19 June 1822)1.
When the Saul families – both Abraham and his brother Saul – moved their business and family homes to Aldgate High Street, within the borders of the City of London, it meant that they had to apply for freedom of the City to carry out their trade which, at this time, required the person to take an oath as a Christian. The Saul brothers, in order to make this application, clearly regarded themselves (at least publicly) as Christians although they were regarded as being from Jewish heritage; Abraham in November 1815 and Saul in June 1816 applied to the Chamberlain’s Office to purchase the status of freemen.
The application was not successful and the brothers had to petition the Chamberlain’s Court because a standing order of May 1785 prohibited Jews from purchasing their freedom. As the Court did not respond to the petition, the brothers continued to carry out their business in Aldgate. There appeared to be business rivalry – and it was supposed that the opposition to the Saul brothers was driven primarily by commercial rivalry – combined with anti-semitism, and in 1819 the Saul brothers were prosecuted in the Lord Mayor’s Court for being in violation of the City’s statutes. When that court took no action, twenty-four separate penal actions were taken against the brothers on one day in December 1819.
“The legal expenses alone were ruinous, amounting to between £300 and £400, so the brothers agreed in January 1821 to move out of the City if all proceedings against them were dropped. But first they tried one more move and applied to the Court of Common Council, a more liberal body, whose Committee for General Purposes recommended to the Court of the Aldermaen, in July 1821, their admission to the freedom of the City. The Court of Aldermen ignored the recommendation and the status quo remained.” (The Jews of Georgian England” Todd M Endelmann)
Meanwhile, Abraham and Elizabeth’s eldest son, David Gill Saul, made his own application in July 1825 to be admitted as a freeman – on the basis that he had been born and raised as a Christian. This application was success and he was admitted as a freeman, but this also seemed to have triggered a new set of hostile suits against Abraham and Saul, who responded by once again petitioning the Court of Aldermen in 1826 to dismiss the charges against them and admit hem as freemen.
At this point, their cause became the focus of wider attention. The Philo-Judaean Society began to actively campaign on behalf of the Saul brothers and in 1828 the Court of Aldermen reversed their earlier decisions and the Sauls were admitted to the freedom of the City of London as butchers.
In the 1841 and 1851 census returns, the family were living at 56 Aldgate High Street; in 1851 Abraham was described as a butcher employing 5 men and Eliza as blind.
The electoral resgisters also listed him as owning two freehold houses at 103 and 104 Leman Street in Whitechapel.
In the 1860s Abraham and Elizabeth retired and lived at 37 The Minories.
Elizabeth died in 1863 was buried at the City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery on 28 February 1863.
Abraham died on 14 February 1867 and was buried in the same grave plot.
- The children of Abraham Saul and Elizabeth Phillpott:
David Gill Saul (1803-1867) baptised 20 November 1803 at St Mary, Whitechapel. Married Elizabeth Scales April 1827. Worked a meat salesman/agent. Buried at Hackney on 12 June 1845.
Elizabeth Saul (1806-1867) baptised 12 December 1806. Married James Killby in July 1833 abutcher. Lived at 63 High Street Aldgate. Died 9 January 1867.
William Saul (1808-1863) baptised 16 June 1805 / 13 November 1808. Lived at 59 High Street Aldgate and worked as a butcher and horse dealer then at 56 (1861). Married Sarah Thorn October 1833. Died 13 August 1863.
Lydia Saul (1811-1902) baptised 23 September 1810 at St Mary, Whitechapel. Married John Thorne September 1835. Died aged 91, and buried on 6 May 1902.
Richard Saul (born 20 October 1812) baptised 6 December 1812 at Whitechapel. Worked as a meat salesman and lived in Southwark. Died aged 62 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery on 2 October 1875.
Eliza (1816-17) baptised 14 April 1816 and was buried on 12 April 1817.
Emma Saul (1818) baptised 11 February 1818 at St Botolph Aldgate and was buried at Whitechapel on 15 November 1818.
Sarah Saul (1821-1885) baptised 15 March 1820. Married Joseph Goodwin Gardiner on 12 April 1855. Died 21 May 1885.
Emily Genn Saul (1822-1908) baptised 19 June 1822; married George Collingwood. ↩︎