Shenkin family

Prominent Glasgow Jewish family involved in business, bridge, medicine and community leadership

The Shenkin family is a prominent Glasgow-based Jewish family with roots in Latvia. Members have been active in the local business community, particularly in the import of oriental carpets, as well as in bridge, medicine, and Jewish communal leadership.

Origins

The family traces its roots to Latvia. Barnet Shenkin was born in Daugavpils (then Dvinsk) in 1882. His wife Freda Shenkin (née Monfried) was born in Riga in 1892. The family left Latvia and settled in Glasgow, where Barnet established himself as an importer of oriental carpets, initially as a partner in Wolfson & Shenkin and later as B. Shenkin & Co.

Barnet and Freda lived at 25 Moray Place (now 52 Marywood Square) in Glasgow from around 1925. Barnet died in Glasgow in 1950.

Business

The family business focused on the import and trade of oriental carpets. Louis Shenkin joined the business after studying dentistry and remained involved for over 60 years. The firm later merged with Mercado in the 1950s.

Miriam 'Mamie' Leah Shenkin (née Epstein, born 21 February 1917), wife of Louis Shenkin, graduated with a BCom from the University of Edinburgh in 1937 and helped grow the family business. She was also a marriage guidance counsellor in Glasgow and a leading figure in the Group of 35 in the 1970s.

People

Notable members

Key members of the Shenkin family

Name	Birth/Death	Notable roles and contributions
Barnet Shenkin	1882 (Daugavpils) – 1950 (Glasgow)	Founder of family carpet import business; prominent in Glasgow Jewish community
Freda Shenkin (née Monfried)	1892 (Riga) – after 1949	Wife of Barnet Shenkin
Louis Shenkin	17 January 1917 (Glasgow) – 22 April 2003	Joined family business; leading bridge administrator and player (Chairman of British Bridge League, represented Scotland); prominent in Glasgow Reform Synagogue
Miriam 'Mamie' Leah Shenkin (née Epstein)	21 February 1917 – c. 2009	Businesswoman; marriage guidance counsellor; co-author of history of Glasgow Reform Synagogue (1934–94)
Alan Shenkin	(born Glasgow)	Professor of Clinical Biochemistry; Chairman of Glasgow Hebrew Burial Society (2013–2024); oversaw major cemetery restoration project at Glenduffhill
Arthur Manfred Shenkin	d. 25 January 2002	Pioneering consultant psychiatrist at Southern General Hospital, Glasgow; brought psychiatry into general hospitals post-war; university lecturer, poet and Jewish scholar
Jonathan Shenkin	c. 1978 – December 2022 (Ukraine)	Former IDF soldier; paramedic in Ukrainian Armed Forces; killed while serving; recipient of Valour in Combat medal

Family Tree

• Chaim Moshe Reichman (1865 - 1883) Birthdate: circa 1865 Death: circa 1883 (9-26 - possibly 18 at death) (Peritonitis)Immediate Family: Husband of Sprinca (Jane Janet) Reichman (Richman) (nee Toltz, mothers maiden name, Shenkin) (1860 - 1928) Sprinca/Jane remarried to Israel William Shenkin and there were no children. In 1901 they were listed in the census as married and living in Stonehouse (in south Lanarkshire, between the towns of, Larkhall and Strathaven) with their 'son', Isaac and 'daughter' Eva (as well as Israel William's brother William). In 1902 William married her daughter. Census records for 1911 show that as Jane Shenkin (50) she was living with her daughter Eva and her husband William and their three kids (Morris (7), Leah (6), Flora (3) and May (1)) in Portobello in Edinburgh.
  • Isaac Richman Shenkin (Born, 1879, (when his mother was 19 and his father was 14. His father died when he was about 5. He died 1940 at 61 in Edinburgh.) Married Rachel Shenkin (Also Rochel) in 1910 in the Gorbals, the sister of Barnet Shenkin.
    • Phyllis Richmond Shenkin (b 1910, d 2015).
    • Lilian Richman Torrance (nee Shenkin) (Birthdate: February 19, 1912 Birthplace: Glasgow, Glasgow City, Scotland, United Kingdom Death: August 24, 2006 (94) Auckland, New Zealand.)
    • Harry Richman Shenkin (b 1915 d 2004)
    • Miriam Richman Raskin (Nee Richman Shenkin) (b 1918, d 1994)
    • Hannah Richman Zermati (nee Richman Shenkin) (b 1920, d 2020)
  • Eva Richman Shenkin (born May 20, 1881, when her mother was 21 and her father was 16. Death: September 23, 1964 (83) )
• Yehuda Leib Shenkin ((1843 - 1882) Also Known As: "Louis". Birthplace: Latvia. Death: Dvinsk, Latvia. Publican) Married Buna Shenkin(nee Leizerowitz/Lazerovich/Lazerovitch, born, 1843, in Daugavpils (Dvinsk) LATVIA. Died in Brodick on the Isle of Arran in 1931 at the age of 87. Daughter of Israel Leizerowitz and Leah Leizerowitz)
  • Israel William Shenkin (born, 1864. Died 1935 in Glasgow at 71.) Husband of Sprinca (Jane Janet) Reichman (Richman) (nee Toltz, mothers maiden name, Shenkin) (1860 - 1928) Sprinca/Jane remarried to Israel William Shenkin and there were no children. In 1901 they were listed in the census as married and living in Stonehouse (in south Lanarkshire, between the towns of, Larkhall and Strathaven) with their 'son', Isaac and 'daughter' Eva (as well as Israel William's brother William).
  • Laiser Shenkin/Lyon Shenkin (Birthdate:1865 Birthplace: Daugavpils, Latvia Death: 1903 (38) Scotland, United Kingdom, age 38. Married Hannah Shenkin.
  • William Shenkin (1872 - 1938)Married Eva Richman Shenkin (nee Richmond/Richman/Reichman) in 1902 in Kelvin when she was 21 and he was 28.
    • Hyman Morris Shenkin (b 1903)
    • Leah Shenkin (b 1905)
    • Flora Shenkin (b 1908)
    • May Shenkin (b 1910)
  • Rochel Shenkin (Later called Rachel)(1881 - 1969) - Married Isaac Richman Shenkin in 1910 in the Gorbals, the brother of Eva Richman Shenkin.
  • Barnet Shenkin (b 1882, d 1950 at 68 in Govan) - married Freda Shenkin (nee Monfred/Monfried)(b 1892)in 1914 in the Gorbals in Glasgow.
    • Arthur Manfred Shenkin (b 1915, d 25 January 2002) Born Israel Shenkin. Married Lillian Shenkin (nee Links) in Cathcart, Glasgow in 1943.
      • Ethne B Shenkin (b 1945)
      • Judith Lesley Shenkin (b 1949)
      • Jennifer Kate Shenkin (b 1951) - Married David Jeremy Aron Goldberg (born April 1948) in 1971 in Eastwood and Mearns. Divorced 2019 in Hamilton.
        • Nicolas Anthony Goldberg (b 1977)
        • Gillian Rachel Goldberg (b 1979)
        • Suzanne Frances Goldberg (b 1981)
    • Louis Shenkin (born 'Lewis' in 1917, mothers maiden name Monfred, d 2003 at 86 in Eastwood and Mearns) married Miriam 'Mamie' Leah Shenkin (née Epstein) (1917-2009 at age 92) in 1938 in Blythswood., d 2009). 'She was involved in promoting the interests of women in WIZO (Women's International Zionist Organisation) in Scotland, and in 1995, she received the prestigious Rebecca Sieff Award for her outstanding support. As part of the 35 Group, she worked to secure the emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union.' Mamie Shenkin who was 'the grande dame of Glasgow Jewry, died last year aged 93' (2009).
      • Lorna Hope Soifer (nee Shenkin) (b 31 December 1940 in Glasgow, died in occupied Palestine, 15 November 2022. Married Zvi Soifer (b 1930 d 1977)
      • Alan Shenkin (b 1943)
      • Barnet Joseph Shenkin (b 1950) married Lavinia Eva Shenkin (nee Din/Dean) in Glasgow in 1975. Barnet married Margaret Mary Shenkin (nee McPaul/McLeay) in 1991 in Glasgow. Lavinia married William Purkiss in Kilmarnock in 1990.
        • Jonathan Shenkin (b 1977 in Glasgow, d December 2022 at 45 in Ukraine) - became a settler colonist in Palestine and then enlisted in the Ukrainian military.
        • Daniel Benjamin Shenkin (b May 1980)
    • Leonard Shenkin (b 1919)
    • Percy Shenkin (b 1922, Glasgow, Scotland, Death: October 27, 2001 (80) Glasgow, Scotland)
    • Flora Shenkin (b 1924 d 2017 at 94
• Robert Shenkin married Fanny Shenkin (nee Fletcher) in 1920 in the Gorbals.

Companies

• Wolfson and Shenkin
• M. Mercado (Glasgow) Ltd is one of three related companies operating under the Shenkin Group umbrella. The others are B. Shenkin & Co Ltd, which specialises in importing carpets and rugs from all over the world, and Clarendon Carpets Ltd.

Community involvement

The family has been deeply involved in Glasgow's Jewish community, particularly with the Reform movement. Mamie Shenkin co-authored a history of the Glasgow Reform Synagogue. Louis Shenkin and other members were active in synagogue life.

Alan Shenkin served as Chairman of the Glasgow Hebrew Burial Society and led a major project to restore and improve Glasgow's Jewish cemeteries, including Glenduffhill.

Members have also maintained strong connections to Israel, with several becoming settler colonists or serving in the Occupation forces.

Family members have been involved in a wide variety of Zionist groups and activities including: Glasgow Grove in the Balfour Forest | Scottish WIZO Council | Western WIZO | Glasgow Commission of the JNF | Glasgow Jewish Workers' Circle | Glasgow Zionist Central Council | Glasgow B'nei Zion | Herzl Zionist Institute, Glasgow

See also

Glasgow Reform Synagogue Glasgow Hebrew Burial Society