Moses Zangwill

From Dictionary of National Biography, account of Israel Zangwill:

Moses Zangwill, ........ married to Ellen Hannah Marks ............ was a Russian refugee, who had come to England as a lad in 1848, alone and friendless, in order to escape the severe decree of Jewish child-conscription instituted by the Tsar, Nicholas I. .......... they moved to London in 1872 in order to provide (their son Israel) with more advanced education at the Jews' Free School at Spitalfields.
(Israel's) father was a very pious man, who throughout a laborious career as a small trader retained his connexion with the synagogue as a scripture-reader.


From 'Israel Zangwill' by Joseph Leftwich:

Described by Jacob de Hass (p. 76) as "a fairly tall, slightly bent figure, with long black hair and side-locks, extremely religious, one of that harsh, unyielding type that read well in books but make life difficult."

p. 74: Moses Zangwill had dreamed of ending his days in Jerusalem. His son Israel Zangwill was able to make that dread come true. So he went to Jerusalem where he lived till his death in 1908, praying and studying and fasting, living abstemiously, doing good deeds, helping others with all he had............ (Israel's) mother had refused to leave the children, to go with her husband. I have been told that interpreting this as desertion he sent her a 'Get,' a Jewish religious divorce, from Jerusalem. Census information: provided by Raymond Airton, August 2006

1881 Census:

19 Cath W Alley, London, Middlesex. RG11 film 1341080, piece/folio 0371/90, page 43.

Moses Zangwill Head M Male 42 Russia Dealer & Pedlar in Sponge

Ann Ellen Zangwill Wife M Female 38 Poland

Leah Zangwill Dau U Female 18 Plymouth, Devon Seamstress & Dressmaker

Israel Zangwill Son U Male 17 London, Middlesex Pupil, teacher, undergraduate L U

Mark Zangwill Son Male 12 Plymouth, Devon Scholar

Louis Zangwill Son Male 11 Bristol Scholar

Dinah Zangwill Dau Female 7 London, Middlesex Scholar

1891 Census:

24 Oxford Road, Willesden, Harrow. RG12/1046

Moses Zangwill Head M 60 Retired sponge merchant Russia

Ellen Zangwill Wife M 47 Poland

Sarah Zangwill Dau S 28 Devon, Devonport

Israel Zangwill Son S 27 Journalist Middlesex, London

Mark Zangwill Son S 23 Artist Devon, Devonport

Lewis Zangwill Son S 21 Printer Gloster, Bristol

Dinah Zangwill Dau S 17 Middlesex, London