Because 230 years ago Rabbi Joseph de la Penha of Portugal paid off a 2,000,000 guilder loan for King William III, a Jamaica, L. I. family of four are today seeking to recover a large part of the Laborador peninsula, claiming that the King gave Rabbi Penha the territory in return for the money and that they are his lineal descendants.
The claimants are Mrs. Anna Springer and her three children, David, Semon and Mrs. Catherine Epstein. They expressed themselves as willing to accept from the British government “a reasonable cash settlement” for the claim.
The action was first filed in the British courts by Rabbi Isaac de la Penha, who died in Montreal last April. Mrs. Springer claims relationship to Rabbi Penha on her mother’s side.
Speaking for the family, David Springer said his father and the late Rabbi Penha worked together as diamond polishers in New York while Isaac studied to become a cantor and later a rabbi. He expressed confidence that the British government would recognize the claim.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
