Winocour family

Winocour family is a Scottish Jewish family based in Glasgow, known for their early involvement in money lending and subsequent transition into the cinema industry in the early 20th century. Today, they are central to the "Caledonian Cousinhood," a tightly networked group of Scottish Jewish families influential in Zionist advocacy, community leadership, and charitable activities.

Origins

The Winocour family traces its roots to Eastern European Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia. Key early members include Harry Winocour (original name: Hersz Winokur, 1896–1950), who was naturalized as a British citizen in 1947, and his wife Dora Winocour (née Silver, died 1970). Other brothers included Claude Winocour (1889–1941), Myer Winocour (1892–1974), and Percy Winocour (1882–1950).

The family established themselves in Glasgow, integrating into the local Jewish community amid waves of Eastern European immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Money lending history

Early in their Glasgow history, members of the Winocour family were involved in money lending operations, as revealed in a 1920 exposé in Truth magazine (21 April 1920). The article, which examined moneylending advertisements in Glasgow, stated: "George Ramsay, Limited, 75, Jamaica Street, invites all classes to apply for loans from £5 to £5,000. The paid-up capital of this concern is £20, and the directors are Myer Winocour and his wife, both of Russian nationality, 13, Langside Place, Glasgow. Three more of the Russian tribe of Winocours (Claude and Polly, 119, Albert Road, and William, 102, South Portland Street) masquerade as Edward Scott, Limited, 68, Bath Street, and with a paid-up capital of £30 offer advances up to £3,000." The article critiqued the practice of foreign nationals operating under Scottish-sounding company names to comply with the Moneylenders Act while offering loans, describing it as a way to defeat the Act's intent to require trading in one's own name.

Business history

By the 1930s, the family shifted to the entertainment sector. Harry Winocour and his brother Claude Winocour partnered with Henry Maitles (from another prominent Jewish family) in owning cinemas and theatres. Key ventures included:

The Embassy Cinema in Shawlands, Glasgow, built for Harry Winocour in 1936 (now the site of the Sir John Stirling Maxwell pub). A cinema in Chapel Lane, Irvine. A Picture House in Townhead Street, Hamilton.

These businesses marked the family's move from traditional immigrant trades to established leisure enterprises.

Family members

Notable members include:

• Bertram Winocour (died 2015), a former GP in Glasgow’s East End, married to Sandra Winocour.
• Elliott Winocour (died 2009), brother of Bertram.
• Amanda Winocour (born 1960), daughter of Bertram and Sandra, married to Raymond Strang (Vice Chair of the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust).
• Paul Anthony Winocour (born 1951), son of Elliott, married to Helena Joanne Winocour (née Black, Hon. Secretary of the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust). Paul serves as a director of Jewish Care Scotland since 2014.
• Richard Alan Winocour (born 1956), older brother of Paul, married to Simone Ruth Plotnikoff in 1986. He and his family are settlers in occupied Jerusalem.
• Toby Winocour (born 2001), son of Paul and Helena, Social Media Manager at Glasgow Friends of Israel since September 2024 and BBC Media Accuracy Reporter for CAMERA since December 2024.

Other offspring of Richard: Jacob (born 1993, served in IDF), Yael (born 1996), Leah, and Naftali (IDF member). The family resides in affluent Glasgow areas like Giffnock (G46 postcode).

Caledonian Cousinhood

The Winocour family is central to the "Caledonian Cousinhood," an interconnected network of Scottish Jewish families driving Zionist activities for over a century. This network includes families in property, retail, and finance, providing resources for Zionist initiatives. Key involvements:

• Helena Winocour as Hon. Secretary of the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust, funding Zionist projects for 60 years.
• Paul Winocour as director of Jewish Care Scotland, committed to Zionist principles.
• Richard Winocour and family as settlers in occupied Jerusalem, with sons in the IDF.
• Toby Winocour in roles at Glasgow Friends of Israel and CAMERA.
• The Dora Winocour Charitable Trust (created 1969, wound up 2012) transferred resources to the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust.

Connections extend through intermarriages (e.g., Amanda Winocour to Raymond Strang) and business ties to families like Maitles and Berkley.

Caledonian Cousinhood extract

After the death of his first wife, Maxwell Berkley (1925-2018) married Irene Maitles (nee Sless, 1925-2020) in 1975. Irene’s first husband was Marcus (who died in his forties in Pollok, Glasgow, in 1946). The Maitles family had a business connection with another of the Zionist families through Marcus’ brother, Henry. He owned cinemas and theatres with the Winocour brothers, Harry and Claude. Official Valuation records for 1935 list Henry as ‘proprietor’ of a cinema in Chapel Lane, Irvine and a Picture House in Townhead Street, Hamilton, both of which are towns near Glasgow.

The Embassy Cinema in Shawlands, Glasgow (on the site that is now the Sir John Stirling Maxwell pub). Built for Harry Winocour in 1936. Sir Harry Lauder and Al Jolson entertained on opening day.

Harry Winocour (original name Hersz Winokur) was from Poland and naturalized as a British citizen in 1947. He married Dora (nee Silver, who died in 1970), in whose name the Dora Winocour Charitable Trust was created in 1969. The Trust was wound up in June 2012 and its remaining resources transferred to the pre-eminent trust bankrolling Scottish Zionism, the Glasgow Jewish Community Trust. Today, its secretary is Helena Winocour (nee Black).

Helena Winocour is actively promoting the ideology of Zionism through the GJCT. Paul Winocour (born in 1951), her husband, is also involved, serving as a director of Jewish Care Scotland (since 2014), an organization that has explicitly committed to Zionist principles. Other directors of the company over the years have included a roster of surnames from the Caledonian Cousinhood of Zionism, including Beach, Dover, Lewis, Links, Livingston (twice), Morron, Strang, Tankel (twice), Tenby, and Walton. Other members of the extended Winocour family have also played significant roles in the Zionist movement.

Richard Alan Winocour (Paul’s younger brother, born in 1956) became a settler colonist in occupied Palestine after having married Simone Ruth Plotnikoff in Eastwood and Mearns, Glasgow, in 1986. His son, Naftali, is now a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Their other offspring, Jacob (born in 1993), Yael (born in 1996), and Leah are all settler colonists in Palestine, Jacob and Yael having moved there from a childhood in Glasgow. Jacob served in the so-called IDF for two years and eight months (August 2013 to March 2016), where he says he was “combat trained,” and “Reported field intel to superior officers.”

Other extended family members involved are David Winocour, who attended the Zionist Jewish Free School (JFS) in London, studied American Studies & Politics at the University of Nottingham, and has worked with the Zionist group Aish On Campus. Back in Glasgow, Paul and Helena’s son, the twenty-something university student Toby (born 2001), formerly attended the 20,000-pound-a-year fee-paying Hutchesons’ Grammar School in Glasgow. Zionist activism—under the heading Jewish Activities in Mainstream Schools, bankrolled by the UJIA — is welcome within the school and involves setting up a “Jewish society” to radicalize the pupils before they even reach university or the world of work. He has already signed up to work with the Zionist movement through his role as Social Media Manager at Glasgow Friends of Israel (since September 2024) and “BBC Media Accuracy Reporter” for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) (since December 2024).

Family tree

• Elias Winocour (b 1855, d 1920 in the Gorbals at 65. and Annie Winocour(nee Marcus).
  • Percy Winocour(b 1882 d 1950) married Mattie Winocour (nee Jackson) in 1908 in Greenock.
    • Rebecca Winocour (also 'Becky') (b 1909, Cathcart. d 1976)
    • Jack Emanuel Winocour (also 'Jackie') (b 1913, Govanhill - 1978)
    • Henry Marcus Winocour (b 1915, Govanhill)
    • Fred Winocour (b 1915, Govanhill)
    • Gerald Winocour (b 1917, Govanhill
  • Aaron Winocour (b 1888) Married Clara Winocour (nee Furst)
  • Claud Winocour (1889 - 1941). m. Polly Leah Winocour; and Alice Mabel Green
    • Rebecca Winocour (1917 - 2004);
    • Evelyn Gladys Winocour (1920-2005);
    • Private;
    • Private and
    • Robert Whitelock (1919-1993)
  • Myer Winocour (b 1892, died in 1974 at 82 in Eastwood and Mearns.
    • Elliot Winocour (b 1920, Cathcart Married Yvette Winocour (nee Davidson, born, died 2016, at 87, Eastwood and Mearns.) in 1949 in Glasgow.) Her mother's maiden name was Caron.
      • Paul Winocour m. Helena Joanne Winocour
        • Toby Winocour
      • Richard Winocour
        • Naftali Winocour
    • Bertram Winocour (b. 1925, d. 2015 at 90 in Eastwood and Mearns). m. Sandra Winocour
      • Amanda Strang (nee Winocour) (born 1960)
  • Wolfe Winocour (1894-1952)
  • Harry Winocour (b 1896- 1950) Dora Winocour (nee Silver, died in 1970 at the age of 73 in Glasgow). She married Harry Winocour in Milton, Glasgow in 1919.
  • Fanny Winocour (1899-1993)

Charities

Dora Winocour Charitable Trust

Timeline

• 21 April 1920 - Anyone guileless enough to believe what he reads in moneylending advertisements might imagine That Glasgow swarms with wealthy Scotchmen whose noble mission it is to relieve the financial needs of brother Scotchmen by means of advances on easy terms without inquiry or security. At the suggestion of a local correspondent I have looked into the credentials of some of these Scottish philanthropists and the results are rather entertaining. For instance, the usurer trading as Andrew Walker, Limited, 180, Hope Street, boldly proclaims himself "a Genuine Scotsman." But Andrew Walker is really Aaron Green (formerly Greenberg, and originally of Russian nationality), and two or three other members of the same family, who reside at 20, Campbell Avenue, Langside. The company, which offers to lend thousands to all and sundry has a capital of £5OO. "Scotsmen" also figure in the advertisement of Robert M'Leod, Limited, 96, Renfield Street, Glasgow, but the company actually consists of Daniel Abrahams, 11, Cranworth Street, two other members of his family, and one Carl Horsman. George Ramsay, Limited, 75, Jamaica Street, invites all classes to apply for loans from £5 to £5,000. The paid-up capital of this concern is £2O, and the directors are Myer Winocour and his wife, both of Russian nationality, 13, Langside Place, Glasgow. Three more of the Russian tribe of Winocours (Claude and Polly, 119, Albert Road, and William, 102, South Portland Street) masquerade as Edward Scott, Limited, 68, Bath Street, and with a paid-up capital of £30 offer advances up to £3,000. Harry Levitus, 31, St. Andrew's Drive, Pollokshields, Glasgow, and Emanuel Levitus, 18, Montague Street, Edinburgh, run a usury shop under the name of Henry Smith, Limited, 173, Vincent Street, Glasgow. "We kill large interest," they announce. "We are the right people to deal with" is the claim of what seems to be a rival firm, the City Financiers, Limited, 51, Gordon Street. But the same Harry Levitus is also one of the City Financiers, his fellow-director being Maurice Leon Miller, who was of Russian nationality before he became British. Levitus adorns the board of yet another company styled Edward Carswell, Limited. These cases show how easily and completely one of the Purposes of the Moneylenders' Act is defeated. It was intended that this Act should compel Shylock to trade in his own name, but by a simple and inexpensive process under another Act he forms what is practically a private company, and so we have Russian Hebrews blossoming forth as Andrew Walkers, George Ramsays, and so on.
• 1925 - Claud Winocour was a tenant in a house at 45 Camphill Avenue, Glasgow - occupation given as 'financier'.

See also

• Furst family