Hebrew Ladies' Bazaar, 1875

The lady with the fan and locket necklace (handing a ribbon to the gentleman for his lapel) is Annie Myers ; the lady holding the boxed souvenir to the lady immediately to the left of the gentleman is her sister Adeline Solomon while the lady carrying the souvenirs in a cloth bag, with her back to the sketcher is perhaps Sarah (Solomon) Myers. It may also be George Myers to the right of the group.

The Hebrew Ladies' Bazaar was a fundraising initiative established by the Jewish women of Sydney in 1875. Its aim was to raise money to contribute to the Great Synagogue building fund. As Sydney lacked a venue for such a large fair at this time, a pavilion was purpose-built on vacant land (now Martin Place) near the General Post Office .

Several prominent women from Sydney's Jewish community organised the bazaar. Blanche Davis, whose husband Alexander Barnard Davis was to become the Great Synagogue's first senior minister, was committee president. Bessie Hoffnung, wife of the Sydney merchant Sigmund Hoffnung, was treasurer; while Jennie Cohen was the honorary secretary. 

Most of the goods sold at the bazaar were donated by Sydney businesses and by the general public. In addition, the 'Hebrew ladies' of Sydney produced many fine specimens of clothing, embroidery, jewellery and toys for sale.

The Hebrew Ladies' Bazaar was open for only a week in December 1875, and was a great success. One of the more prominent visitors was the Honourable Henry Parkes, later Sir Henry Parkes.

The entrance fees and sales of goods raised a profit of almost 5000 pounds, an impressive kick-start for the building of the Great Synagogue.

Two of the small group of organisers, Adeline (Joseph), wife of Henry Solomon and her sister Annie (Joseph) Myers, wife of Henry Myers, who were 31 and 27 at the time. Besides being on the organising committee, Adeline and Annie had a joint stall which raised one thousand, two hundred and thirty pounds of the nearly five thousand pounds raised.

The following information has been supplied by Toni Myers:

Henry Myers retained a copy of “Jubilee Souvenir The Great Synagogue Sydney 5638-5688” which came down through Isadore (Isaac) Myers to Richard Wolf Myers to John Richard Maldon Myers, my husband. On pages [Thirteen and Fourteen] of this booklet is a description of the Fancy Fair- Hebrew Ladies’ Bazaar of Sydney. On page fourteen is a statement about Mrs. Henry Myers and Mrs. Henry Solomon:

“A souvenir was presented by Mrs. Henry Myers and Mrs. Henry Solomon to all stallholders and to the Committee etc.

I can see in the sketch the two central women handing out ‘souvenirs’, however much more significant is the necklace/locket worn by the lady to the right of the gentleman- holding a fan. Not only do we still have the fan but I am now custodian/wearer of that locket/necklace, which has a woven piece of Annie (Joseph) Myers’ hair in it.

The Locket (2013) Annie Joseph (c 1865)

Photos by courtesy of Toni Myers