The Sheffield City Archives and Local Studies Library is a local authority archive open to the public that holds records and reports concerning the city’s historic Jewish population dating from the mid-nineteenth century onwards.

Archive Information

The archives hold general records such as local newspaper reports relating to the Jewish community and obituaries of local Rabbis and Jewish Community leaders from 1851 onwards, pictures and photographs relating to Sheffield’s Jewish community, Sheffield Year Books which list local synagogues and Jewish community associations and committee members, the Sheffield Jewish Journal from 1946-1980, and Sheffield Trade and Street directories which including reference to members of Sheffield’s Jewish community and businesses.

They also hold a range of published historical books and articles relating to different aspects of local Jewish community, and personal and business papers of members of the local Jewish community, for example Abraham Simon Graham (birth name Guttenberg) (1872-1958) a waterproof garment dealer and amateur poet. A full list of records can be found on the research guide on Sheffield’s Jewish community which is available to download via their webpage:

The archive will soon be expanding it’s holding with the substantial archive of records from the Sheffield Central Synagogue which date back to the 19th century

Access Information

The archives are open to the public and can be accessed through their two separate service points: Sheffield City Archives for original archival sources and Sheffield Local Studies Library for secondary sources and printed or published material. Sheffield City Archives is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays 9.30am – 5.30pm, while Sheffield Local Studies Library is open Wednesdays 1pm – 8pm, Thursdays 9.30am – 5.30pm, Fridays 9.30am – 5.30pm and Saturdays 10am – 4pm.

The archive requires researchers to register for which they need to show two forms of ID including proof of address and a signature.

It is not strictly necessary to give advance notice but a proportion of the archives holdings are held in offsite storage for which up to two weeks’ notice is required before they can be made available. The archive recommendeds that researchers contact us in advance to make sure that documents of interest can be made available on the day. It can be contacted at this address: archives@sheffield.gov.uk,

Digital Accessibility

Sheffield City Archives’ online catalogue can found here, and the Sheffield Local Studies Library’s online catalogue can be searched on their website by choosing ‘Local Studies Library’ from the relevant drop-down menu.

The archive’s photograph and picture collection is digitised and freely available to consult online .

Street Address

Sheffield City Archives:
52 Shoreham Street
Sheffield
S1 4SP

Sheffield Local Studies Library:
Central Library
Surrey Street
Sheffield
S1 1XZ