Yoav Aran's Genealogical Research

The Bellems

In 1656, Oliver Cromwell permitted the return of Jews to England. The origins of the Bellem family are unknown, but it is likely they came from other Ashkenazi communities in Europe, Czechoslovakia, Germany, etc. 

It is of oral history, that, Matathias Chaim Ben Elijah Bellem, came from Europe, and was a leader of a community in Dartmouth and may have even founded a synagoue there, this is still to be proven. Matathias was in Dartmouth before 1786 and was a member of the Plymouth Congregation. 

​

Matathias had one son that is known of, Aaron, born 1783, probably in Dartmoith (according to his Freemasonary record of 1814). Aaron married Rachel, a Plymouthian, and together they had several children: Harriet, Hannah, Jacob, Abraham, Esther and Aaron. Hannah married into the Assenheim family to Amsterdam, and they were in London by 1841.

​

The origins of the Bellem family are unknown. There are several theories online that you will find. Some say Amsterdam and Czechoslovakia.  There is even a theory that they came from a place called "Bellem" in Belgium. We simply don't know. 

​

None of this research would have been possible without the work of Dr Rabbi Bernard Susser ז"ל.