Abraham Moryoseph

Abraham Moryoseph (1841-97) was born in London to Judah Moryoseph, a grocer who had migrated to London from Essaouira (formerly Mogador), Morocco, and his wonderfully named, Tuscany-born wife Luna de Raphael de Hezekiah Moses de Raphael de Eleazar Meldola.

The family were living in Bury Street, immediately next to Bevis Marks Synagogue, when Abraham was born. Bevis Marks was opened in 1701, and is today the oldest synagogue in continuous use in Britain. It serves the Sephardi community, who follow the Spanish and Portuguese rite.

In 1886 Abraham married Rebecca Joseph. They lived initially in Clephane Road, then 143 Southgate Road, both in Canonbury, and later moved to a flat at 19 Petherton Road in Highbury. They had two sons, Judah and Emanuel, born in 1888 and 1890 respectively.

Abraham was listed as a ‘drug merchant’ in the 1891 census. This does not carry the meaning it would today. He would have been selling pharmacological pills and potions, whether to retail pharmacists or direct to patients. He seems, on the face of it, to have led a fairly normal and low-key life.

How then did he come to be in possession of the two pineapples, cut from stone, that sit atop his gateposts in Petherton Road to this day? Discreetly placed on one of the gateposts, facing the house, is a plaque with the following words: ‘The pines above were originally placed on the gates of the Bevis Marks Synagogue שער השמים [literally ‘gateway to heaven’, the Hebrew name of the synagogue] ‘in the year 1701, and removed here in 1894.’

How Abraham came to get hold of the pineapples is a mystery. The timing fits with the construction of two new buildings on either side of the synagogue in the 1890s: see https://www.dowjonesarchitects.com/projects/bevis-marks-synagogue. This could well explain.