Leon Emanuel Bergman

Leon Emanuel Bergman was a Freemason and member of Lodge Temperance 2557 who served in the 2nd World War. A letter to the Provincial Grand Secretary of Northumberland from WBro John Sowerby, Secretary, and dated 7th November 1947 attached a list of the names and service of forty three Brethren and Brother Leon is shown as a being in the National Fire Service.

At the Lodge Temperance 2557 meeting held at the Royal Assembly Rooms, Westgate Road, on 16th July 1923, Leon was proposed by Wbro Ralph West, Immediate Past Master and seconded by Bro Robert Petrie as a fit and proper person to be made a Freemason.

He was a 21 year old Importer residing at 6, Rosebury Crescent, Newcastle upon Tyne. A successful ballot was held the following month on 20th August 1923 and he was initiated into the mysteries and privileges of Ancient Freemasonry on 17th December. He was passed to the second or Fellowcraft degree on 21st January 1924 and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on 18th February.

He was a petitioner and founding member of King Solomon Lodge 7464 which was consecrated on 29th January 1958.

The National Fire Service (NFS) was created in August 1941 by the amalgamation of the wartime national Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and the local authority fire brigades (about 1,600 of them). It existed until 1948, when it was again split by the Fire Services Act 1947, with fire services reverting to local authority control.

Leon was born on 4th April 1902 Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, to Nathan Bergman and Emily (Amelia) Cohen. His father Nathan was variously a Gentleman’s tailor and clothier and married Liverpudlian Emily in Liverpool in 1899 and they had at least two children:

  • Ruby Zyvie (b 02/08/1900 – 02/01/1988)
  • Leon Emanuel (04/04/1902 – 09/05/1985)

Tragically, Leon’s mother passed away at the age of 30 years old shortly after he was born in 1902. Leon’s father, Nathan, went on to marry Rose Solomon in 1906 in Newcastle upon Tyne and they had a daughter Leah (Lily) born in 1907. Rose died in 1942 aged 60 and Nathan married Hulde (Hilda) Sara Freund, a German refugee, on 12th December 1943 in Salford, Lancashire.

Nathan Bergman was also a Freemason and member of Lodge Temperance 2557. He was initiated on 20th October 1902, passed to the 2nd degree on 15th December 1902 and raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason on 12th January 1903. He later went on to be a founding member of Fortitude Lodge 4017 which was consecrated on 13th January 1920 and became Worshipful Master of Lodge Temperance 2557 in 1923.

In 1935 Leon married Marie Walden in Birmingham and they had three children, a son and two daughters. In the 1939 register taken on 29th September 1939 Leon is living with his wife Marie at 48, Beatty Avenue, Gosforth and is a travelling wholesale fancy goods merchant. He was volunteering as an air raid precaution’s (ARP) warden and trained in first aid. The wardens had a range of duties, such as advising local people on air raid precautions and enforcing the night time ‘blackout’ to ensure no artificial lights were visible from the air. During a raid, wardens were responsible for monitoring and reporting bomb damage, and for helping to coordinate the response of other civil defence services. They were often first on the scene of bomb damage, and might be called on to treat the injured until first aid parties or the ambulance services arrived.

Leon passed away on 9th February 1985 in Wigton, Cumbria at the age of 82 and is buried in Hazelrigg Cemetery. His wife Marie died in 1978 at the age of 66 and is also buried in Hazelrigg Cemetery, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Updated 11/05/2022