Arthur Michael Samuel, 1st Baron Mancroft (6 December 1872 – 17 August 1942) was a British Conservative politician.

Background

Lord Mancroft was the eldest son of Benjamin Samuel, of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

(19 April 1840 – 16 April 1890), and Rosetta Haldinstein (died 29 April 1907, daughter of Philip Haldinstein and wife Rachel Soman), and grandson of Michael Samuel (1799–1857), all of them were

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

Early life

He was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

. He was Lord Mayor of Norwich from 1912 to 1913. He as the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Norwich and was made an Honorary Freeman of the City of Norwich in 1928.

Member of Parliament

in the two General elections of 1910 he stood for the Conservatives in the Stretford division of Lancashire, near Manchester, but was unsuccessful on both occasions. In 1918 he was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Farnham, a seat he would hold until 1937, and served under Stanley Baldwin as

Secretary for Overseas Trade The Secretary for Overseas Trade was a junior Ministerial position in the United Kingdom government from 1917 until 1953, subordinate to the President of the Board of Trade. The office was replaced by the Minister of State for Trade on 3 Septem ...

from 1924 to 1927 and as

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

from 1927 to 1929. He was also chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in 1930 and 1931. Samuel was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

, of Mancroft, in the City of Norwich in the

County of Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies no ...

, on 15 January 1932, and on 23 December 1937, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Mancroft, of Mancroft (referring to the area around

St Peter Mancroft St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. After the two cathedrals, it is the largest church in Norwich. It was originally established by the then Earl of East Anglia, Ralph de Gael between ...

church) in the City of

Family

Lord Mancroft married Phoebe Fletcher, daughter of George Alfred Chune Fletcher and wife, in 1912. He died in August 1942, aged 69, and was succeeded in the baronetcy and the barony by his son Stormont Mancroft, 2nd Baron Mancroft. He was also to become a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

government minister. The papers of Lord Mancroft are in the

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

Churchill College Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

, Cambridge.

Author

He published: "Life of

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...

"; "The Working of the Bill of Exchange with an Explanation of the Overseas Trade Balance"; "The Herring: its Effect on the History of Britain"; and "The Mancroft Essays".

Arms

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mancroft, Arthur Samuel, 1st Baron 1872 births 1942 deaths Politicians from Norwich British people of Jewish descent British Ashkenazi Jews People educated at Norwich School Samuel, Arthur Samuel, Arthur Samuel, Arthur Samuel, Arthur Samuel, Arthur Samuel, Arthur Samuel, Arthur Samuel, Arthur UK MPs who were granted peerages Mayors of Norwich Jewish British politicians Barons created by George VI