Jewish or crypto-Jewish families in Hoxne area

[Eppingjewish]

I have been tracing my family on my fathers mothers line after undertaking a genetic DNA test which showed that I had some Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. This was the only line which seemed to fit and my paternal grandmother told me that people often stopped her in the 1930s in London to ask whether she was Jewish. Her grandfather was a Solomon Rayner who was born in the 1840s in the village of Hoxne. At first it seemed highly unlikely for a Jewish family to be living in this area given that the only Jewish communities close by were in places like Ipswich and Norwich. Looking into the family siblings of Solomon had some typically English names such as William and Henry and some Old Testament Hebrew names such as Aron and Naome. I know that many non-conformists gave their children Old Testament names although in such families it tended to be most or all children, whilst for Jewish anglicised families it was some children rather than all. I know the family and other Rayners in the village were working as cordwainers and shoemakers. One likely uncle has the name Jabez which I imagined to be less typical and his wife had the name Mahala.

The mother of my Solomon Rayner is a Harriet Harvey and I discovered someone who has a Harvey ancestor in the area who had been told by two people that they had Jewish ancestry and that people in the village commented on the dark complexion and hair of the family and that two Harvey family members wore skull caps and had long beards around the 1840s. Also they stated that one of these two Harvey family members was 'cast out' from the village of Wilby for twice marrying nieces, something that was acceptable under Jewish Law but not under English Church Law.

My Rayner family is married and christened in the parish church so either it would mean partial Jewish ancestry intermixed in or a form of crypto-Judaism where certain elements were retained but not full religious allegiance etc.

The only things I can think is that either they trace back to Jewish origins before the 1290 expulsion where there would have been Jewish communities in nearby places such as Diss and possibly Eye or that they came to England perhaps as immigrants from say the Netherlands/Germany or even France/Belgium as either Protestants or Hugenots with some memory of former Jewish identity.

Any information on anyone who knows of either Rayner/Harvey family Jewish roots/connections or who knows of Jewish connections in the Hoxne area or nearby villages such as Wilby, Debenham etc. it would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Nicky

[Dulverton]

Nicky,

Are you aware of the Harvey family that has lived at Tannington Hall, Suffolk for many years?

They were a long line of farmers (who I believe may have originally come from the Braiseworth area of Suffolk), they still farm in a big way, but also have other allied businesses.
The Rayner & Rainer families were to be found living in Pulham Market/St Mary, Scole Norfolk as well as Eye, Oakley, & Hoxne, Suffolk
There are remains of a Jewish graveyard in the Salthouse Street area of Ipswich. Perhaps you could check with the Suffolk Record Office to see if they are to identify as to where the Jewish community lived in the 19th century?
I believe that since the war Ipswich Jews have had to travel to Colchester to worship.

[Hephzibah]

Frank Grace in his book 'Rags & Bones' mentions a Nathan Rayner living in Ipswich in the 1880's*
who originally came from Hoxne & Diss. Nathan worked as an engine driver at the gas works.
*1880 White Elm Street then on 1881 census Albion Street. Prior to this, in Haverhill.

If you haven't already found it, Hoxne Heritage Group has a website with a contribution from a descendant of George? Rayner.

Hephzibah