Ernest Joseph
Encyclopedia
Ernest Martin Joseph architect
and youth worker. He was a leading designer of synagogues, including the Art Deco synagogue at Sheepcote Street, Birmingham, and the classically styled synagogue in St. John's Wood Road, London. He was also a partner in the firm of Messrs Joseph, whose best known building is Shell Mex House
between the Strand
and the Thames Embankment
in London. He was one of six children of Nathan Solomon Joseph (1834-1909), also an architect and social worker, and his wife Alice who died in his infancy. N. S. Joseph was brother-in-law to the chief rabbi, Hermann Adler
.
Ernest Joseph was educated at St Paul's School and devoted himself to Jewish youth from his twenties until days before his death. In the First World War he worked to provide buildings for what later became the NAAFI
and was promoted Major and awarded the MBE. In the years before World War II he worked to provide for the influx of Jewish refugees from Germany. He returned to NAAFI work in World War II and was appointed OBE in 1947.
Ernest and his wife Emma had been founder members of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in 1910. His father had toyed with the Jewish Religious Union, his status as architect to the United Synagogue notwithstanding. Ernest became Honorary Architect to the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues and was responsible for the design of their premier building at St John's Wood in 1925 and for its reconstruction after bomb damage in November 1940. (The building was demolished in 1991 and only the portico remains.) He played a prominent role in the affairs of this synagogue, being elected to the Council in 1929, and serving as treasurer between 1936 and 1953 and vice-president from 1953 until his retirement in 1956.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and youth worker. He was a leading designer of synagogues, including the Art Deco synagogue at Sheepcote Street, Birmingham, and the classically styled synagogue in St. John's Wood Road, London. He was also a partner in the firm of Messrs Joseph, whose best known building is Shell Mex House
Shell Mex House
Shell Mex House is situated at number 80, Strand, London, UK. The current building was built in 1930-31 on the site of the Hotel Cecil and stands behind the original facade of the Hotel and between the Adelphi and the Savoy Hotel. Broadly Art Deco in style, it was designed by the architectural...
between the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
and the Thames Embankment
Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century civil engineering designed to reclaim marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria and Chelsea Embankment....
in London. He was one of six children of Nathan Solomon Joseph (1834-1909), also an architect and social worker, and his wife Alice who died in his infancy. N. S. Joseph was brother-in-law to the chief rabbi, Hermann Adler
Hermann Adler
Rabbi Hermann Adler CVO was the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1891 to 1911. The son of Nathan Marcus Adler, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica writes that he "raised the position [of Chief Rabbi] to one of much dignity and importance."Born in Hanover, like his father, he had both a...
.
Ernest Joseph was educated at St Paul's School and devoted himself to Jewish youth from his twenties until days before his death. In the First World War he worked to provide buildings for what later became the NAAFI
Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes
The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes is an organisation created by the British government in 1921 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families...
and was promoted Major and awarded the MBE. In the years before World War II he worked to provide for the influx of Jewish refugees from Germany. He returned to NAAFI work in World War II and was appointed OBE in 1947.
Ernest and his wife Emma had been founder members of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in 1910. His father had toyed with the Jewish Religious Union, his status as architect to the United Synagogue notwithstanding. Ernest became Honorary Architect to the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues and was responsible for the design of their premier building at St John's Wood in 1925 and for its reconstruction after bomb damage in November 1940. (The building was demolished in 1991 and only the portico remains.) He played a prominent role in the affairs of this synagogue, being elected to the Council in 1929, and serving as treasurer between 1936 and 1953 and vice-president from 1953 until his retirement in 1956.
Sources
- DNB, The Times, Sharman Kadish, A Good Jew and a Good Englishman': The Jewish Lads' and Girls' Brigade 1895-1995, London, 1995, p 111