Hart Family

The Hart family is a prominent Anglo-Jewish family who have contributed to public life in the United Kingdom. Members include Professor H. L. A. Hart, an influential British Jewish legal philosopher of the twentieth century, Louis Albert (Boy) Hart, founder and Chairman of Henry Ansbacher & Co merchant bank, an adviser to Margaret Thatcher, and . The family are directly descended from Saul Wahl (1541-1617) who was, according to legend, King of Poland for a single day, August 18, 1587.
Arrival in England
The Hart family originally came from Schubin, East Prussia, although the family can be traced back to Colmar in the mid 18th Century. The family name was originally 'Zadek' - meaning 'righteous man' in Hebrew. The origins of the change to Hart are obscure but certainly pre-date Albert Hart's arrival in England at the age of 19 in 1851. Albert's father Zadok Zadek (or Zadok Hart) (b.1789) was an established merchant in Schubin. Albert (b.1832) was the first member of the family to settle in England. He was naturalised as a British citizen on the 6th October 1856. The family had various business interests including in manufacturing and jewelry, with several members becoming Freemen of the City of London. Albert married Adelaide Barnett (Adelaide Baer), daughter of Are Leb Barnett (Baer), Dayan of the Great Synagogue in London, who was descended from Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen the Chief Rabbi of Padua, a family who produced several Chief Rabbi's of Padua and Venice including the celebrated Rabbi Saul Wahl (b. Padua 1545 - d. 1617) who was elected temporary King of Poland and was Adelaide's great, great, great, great-grandfather. Adelaide was also the great granddaughter of Phineas Phillips, a prosperous merchant with extensive connections at the Court of the King of Prussia, who settled in England in 1775.
References & Notes
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