SWANSEA

SWANSEA , second largest industrial city and seaport in Wales. Swansea's Jewish community (the first in Wales) was established in the mid-18^th century; the first settler known by name was David Michael, who came from Germany in 1741. Religious services were held soon afterward and a cemetery acquired in 1768. The first synagogue was opened in 1780, being replaced by one erected in 1818. As in most British provincial centers, the community consisted of silversmiths, watchmakers, jewelers, and other shopkeepers and craftsmen; by 1850 it numbered around 100–150, increasing to 1,000 in 1914 as a result of immigration from Russia. In 1969 the Jewish population numbered 418 (0.3% of the total). In the mid-1990s the Jewish population was estimated at approximately 245. The 2001 British census found 170 declared Jews in Swansea. Its old synagogue was destroyed in an air raid in 1941 and a new one, which still functions, was erected after World War ii.

bibliography:

C. Roth, Rise of Provincial Jewry (1950), index; V.D. Lipman, Social History of the Jews of England: 1850 – 1950 (1954), index; R.P. Lehmann, Nova Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica (1961), 156, 192.

[Vivian David Lipman]

Swansea. Town of south Wales located at the mouth of the river Tawe (Abertawe). The name, Scandinavian in origin, reflects post-Roman Viking activity, but there is no evidence of settlement until the site was developed as a castle borough by Henry de Beaumont, the first Norman lord of Gower. After 1717 it became the centre of the early Welsh metallurgical industry, mainly copper, lead, and silver. Coal and coke transformed the industry and a specialization developed in coated steel plate, tinplate, and galvanized sheet. Initially production was in small mills but now only one integrated plant remains. An associated chemical industry devastated the lower Swansea valley but it has been extensively reclaimed. The port role is reflected in an oil refinery. Swansea acquired city status in 1969 and is now an industrial and administrative centre for the western coalfield. Its population in 2002 was 231,000. Ten per cent spoke Welsh.

Harold Carter

Swansea (Abertawe) City and county district on Swansea Bay at the mouth of the River Tawe, West Glamorgan, s Wales. The second-largest Welsh city, it is the administrative centre of West Glamorgan and an industrial city that grew with the export of coal in the 19th century. Formerly noted for its production of steel, it is now dominated by light industry. Pop. (1996 est.) 230,180.