Familieminder

— 106 — physician to King Charles II, and his consort, Katherine de Braganza, and in this capacity lived in Somerset House. Among his other cousins and partners were five brothers Mendez da Costa — Felipe, Fernando, Luis, Rafael and Jorge — who distri­ buted their banking activities over Amsterdam, Antwerp, Rouen, Bayonne and Venice, and worked hard in their spare time foi the rescue of their persecuted brethren in Portugal. They were all pillars of the synagogues in their respective cities, and one of their descendants, Benjamin Mendez da Costa presented the freehold of the present Sephardi Synagogue in London to the congregation. Among their many distinguished Gentile descen­ dants is the present Marquis of Crewe. Jorge Mendez da Costa, the ancestor of the Jamaica branch, was first established as a banker in Venice, but, together with his sons, Gideon and Daniel, afterwards joined his brother, Luis, in Amsterdam. Outside his banking business, he intrigued with inexhaustible energy and resource against the Inquisition, with the result that he was burnt in effigy at an au t o d a f é in Lisbon. His son, Daniel, emigrated to Jamaica, and had a large family, some of whose descendants are set forth in the accompanying chart.