By the end of the 17th century Statia had grown into a busy port facilitating inter-island trade in the northeastern Caribbean. It was during this time that first Jewish merchants began to arrive on the island from Amsterdam and Curacao. The Sephardic and Ashkenazi population continued to grow during the first quarter of the 18th century due to the expanding trade network. By the 1730's the Jewish population had grown so large that it petitioned the synagogue in Curacao for help in constructing their own synagogue. In 1739 Honen Dalim (she who shows mercy to the poor) was consecrated in the center of Oranjestad. Both Sephardic and Ashkenazi denominations worshipped at the synagogue. The Jewish community grew to be a powerful constituency within the trade economy throughout the rest of the 1800s and peaked during the last quarter century. Although the Jewish population recieved especially harsh treatment when the British sacked the island in 1781, it was not until the French and English occupation of Statia that begin in 1795 that the Jewish community left permanently.