FRANKLIN, JACOB ABRAHAM:

By: Joseph Jacobs, Goodman Lipkind

English journalist and philanthropist; born at Portsmouth 1809; died Aug. 3, 1877. On his retirement from business he went to London and took an active part in communal affairs there. He established a weekly periodical, "The Voice of Jacob"—the first organ in the Anglo-Jewish community—in which to expresshis views against the Reform movement of 1842. Franklin represented the Manchester community at the board of deputies; was chairman of a committee of the Jewish board of guardians; was a founder of the Anglo-Jewish Association, and a member of its executive. Animated by a zeal for Jewish education, he was anxious to establish a Jewish board-school in London, and succeeded in obtaining participation by the Jewish schools in parliamentary grants. He was a fellow of the Society of Arts, and read a number of papers on decimal coinage, education, etc., being examined on the latter subject before a parliamentary committee. At his death he bequeathed the bulk of his property for the carrying out of certain educational projects, among them the publication of Jewish text-books. Under the auspices of the Franklin Fund appeared such works as N. S. Joseph's "Natural Religion," Lady Magnus' "Outlines of Jewish History," and Friedländer's "The Jewish Religion."

J. G. L.