British Protégés and Subjects (1839-1914) among Eretz Israel Jews
Mathilde A. Tagger
Introduction
The British Consulate in Jerusalem opened its doors in 1839 as a result of increasing interest in Eretz Israel by European missionaries that coincided with the onset of immigration by Jews especially based on nationalist reasons. On the other hand, the Ottoman rule lost its power due to the Egyptian invasion of Eretz Israel.

Eventually, the Ottomans re-conquered the land but weakened, they were forced to authorized the activities of Europeans in the country. England was one of the most active powers in Eretz Israel.

With the outbreak of WW I in 1914, the British Consulate had to close. The Consul burnt one part of the archives, but the remaining part was moved to the American Consulate until the USA joined the war against Turkey, when the archives were moved to the Spanish Consulate. At the end of the British Mandate in 1948, the archives were transferred to the Israel State Archives. The Israel War of Independence unfortunately caused more damage to these archives.

Aside from various types of correspondence, today the Israel State Archives and the Archives Department of the Jewish National and University Library hold lists of British protégés and subjects of Eretz Israel that were registered, not only in Jerusalem, but also in Jaffa, Haifa and Safed.

The Israel Genealogical Society has indexed all these lists that contain diverse information on Jews. Sometimes whole families are registered and sometimes one can only find heads of families. Many of the Jews were Russians who rejected their Russian citizenship or were from North Africa, especially from Algeria, who rejected their French citizenship.
 
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