Poor Jews arriving in England normally had the address of a friend or relative they could visit on arrival. Those without personal contacts often had to rely on the Jewish community until they had found a job and lodgings; but the communities in cities like Hull, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool were large and well-organised.

On arrival at the main railway station at Leeds, newly-arrived immigrants usually headed straight to the Leylands, the area in the centre where most Jewish immigrants had their homes: 75 per cent of the board school children there were Jewish. The housing was some of the cheapest in the city, but its inn-and-court accommodation - though better than its counterpart in the East End of London - was overcrowded and unsanitary, doubling as home and workspace.

At each of the cities where East European Jews settled, local Jewish Boards of Guardians were established to look after their poor brethren: the Leeds Board was founded in 1878.

The help depended on whether the Jew was 'casual' or 'permanent'. Casual residents (those who had been in the country for less than six months) were given help in finding employment, food and refreshments on religious celebrations such as Passover. Sometimes they would also be given a ticket back to Europe, or on to the next stage in their journey, such as Manchester, Sheffield or Liverpool.

They would rarely be given any immediate cash, unlike those who had been here six months or longer, for fear that this would lure yet more poor Jewish immigrants, and overburden the established Jewish communities.

Hachnasath Orechim (Poor Jewish Shelters) were established to provide limited temporary lodging, food and reception for immigrants, normally confining them to 'approved nearby lodging houses'. The shelters were nevertheless a successful attempt by established Jews to minimise the burden on the wider community, which in turn helped the Anglo-Jewry establishment to preserve their credibility.

In 1888, a Parliamentary investigation into the sweating system in Leeds noted that newly-arrived Jewish immigrants had taken over the Leylands; and that they were mostly employed in tailoring - particularly coat making - and better organised, in larger workshops, than in the East End of London. One witness, however, gave evidence that the workers still had to work long hours, for low pay, in filthy conditions.

Large communities of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Latvia quickly developed - not just in Leeds, but in the Osborne Street area of Hull, the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, and other centres. Each community offered the facilities - kosher butchers, bakers and synagogues - that new arrivals would want if they were to stay. Those who had already settled, and who had established their own businesses, could offer them a living in the sweated tailoring workshops of Leeds, the haberdashery shops of Hull and Grimsby, and the hardware stalls of Manchester.

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