Commerce
From 1867 to 1877 he lived and worked in New York. In 1877, his brothers retired, so he returned to Belfast to head the family business, “The Jaffe Brothers” at Bedford Street. He built it up to become the largest linen exporter in Ireland.
He was a member of the Belfast Harbour Commission. In 1894, he successfully agitated for the reporting and destruction of derelicts in the North Atlantic Ocean.
He was a Justice of the Peace, a governor of the Royal Hospital, a member of the Irish Technical Education Board and a member of the Senate of Queen's College, which later became Queen's University of Belfast. He was the German consul in Belfast. He was an active member of the committee which got the Public Libraries Act extended to Belfast, leading to the first free library being established there.
In 1910 he erected the Jaffe Spinning Mill on the Newtownards Road, also known as Strand Spinning. This provided work for 350 people, rising to 650 in 1914 when the company expanded to make munitions. He was lavishly charitable and contributed to Queen's College.
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