Mocatta

Mocatta, also de Mattos Mocatta, Lumbrozo de Mattos Mocatta and Lumbroso de Mattos Mocatta. An influential, powerful, distinguished and ancient Anglo-Jewish family famed for philanthropy, leadership and sponsorship and appreciation of the arts and letters not only in the Anglo-Jewish community but also beyond, particularly in the United Kingdom. The family left Spain in 1492 after the edict of Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain and began the Spanish Inquisition. Much of the family moved to England in 1658, from France, Holland and Italy, when Oliver Cromwell allowed Jews to return to England.

In 1671 Mocatta & Goldsmid, the prominent bullion brokering firm was founded by Moses Mocatta; it exists today as ScotiaMocatta. In 1790, one branch of the family obtained a royal licence from King George III to have permission to cease the use of "Lumbrozo de Mattos". Later, members of the Mocatta family were amongst the principal founders of the Reform movement in Judaism.

The origin of the name Mocatta is unknown. Possibly it comes either from Mukattil, Arabic for champion, or a river called Wady Mokatta. The Mocatta family are considered to be one of the principal families in the "cousinhood" of senior Anglo-Jewish families; the de facto Anglo-Jewish aristocracy. As such, the Mocatta family tree shows close relations, through blood or marriage, with most, if not all, of the prominent Jewish families of Europe and to a lesser extent Asia, including d'Avigdor Goldsmid, Cohen, Henriques, Kadoorie, Rothschild, Goldsmid, Lousada, Montefiore (Sir Moses Montefiore's mother was a member of the Mocatta family), Samuel (Bearsted) and Marks.

Prominent members of the Mocatta family have included Frederic David Mocatta, a prominent philanthropist, bibliophile, patron of the arts, and bullion broker. Also among them are David Mocatta, a well-known architect, as well as more recently Edward Mocatta, a distinguished bullion broker and director of Hambros Bank, and Sir Alan Abraham Mocatta, a famous British Judge. The brother-in-law of F.D. Mocatta, Sir Julian Goldsmid, was a distinguished Member of the British Parliament, but the family have tended to be involved not in politics, rather finance, commerce, and the law.

A description of the coat of arms entitled to be borne by some members of the Mocatta family is "Per chevron, a seven-branched candlestick in base, two cinquefoils in point. Crest: A leopard issuant, gardant, holding a cinquefoil between his paws. Motto: Adhere and prosper." For more information on Heraldry, including that of the Mocatta family and entitlements to bear arms, contact:

the College of Arms
Queen Victoria Street
London
EC4V 4BT
England

See also entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica for Mocatta, Frederic David (1828-1905), (after whom the Mocatta Library at University College London was named) and see information on David Mocatta (1806-82), noted architect who designed Brighton Station, inter alia. See also [[1] - the Jewish Encyclopaedia (of 1901) entry for "Mocatta"

For more information about Mocatta & Goldsmid, see http://www.scotiamocatta.com/house/aboutus.htm

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