David Lewis (English Merchant) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
David Lewis (1823 – 4 December 1885), was a British merchant and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
.
Biography
Lewis was born to aJewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Settling in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
in 1840, he had by 1856 accumulated enough capital to start his own business as a boys' clothier in Bold street. Subsequently, he opened a second establishment; and thereafter he gradually developed one of the largest retail businesses of the kind in England, erecting an establishment of the "Universal Provider" or department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
class (Lewis's
Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...
). Similar stores were founded by him in Manchester, Sheffield, and Birmingham.
Philanthropy
Lewis's ample means were freely given in aid of charitable and philanthropic works. He headed the local subscription list for the persecutedJews of Russia
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
with a donation of £1,000 ($5,000), and gave large sums in support of the synagogue. For many years he held the position of warden and treasurer of the Old Hebrew Congregation, Liverpool. He died in Liverpool
At his death he bequeathed very large sums (nearly a half-million sterling) for the erection of hospitals and other philanthropic institutions, which constitute some of the most important in Liverpool. The David Lewis Centre
David Lewis (also known as the 'David Lewis National Epilepsy Centre', David Lewis School and 'The David Lewis Centre' is a health foundation based in Little Warford, Cheshire. It provides residential accommodation, education and health service ...
based in Little Warford
Little Warford is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It has a population of 275. The parish contains the David Lewis Centre, a charity set up by David Lewis, ...
, Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, a charity providing residential accommodation for people with epilepsy and other neurological conditions, continues to operate under the David Lewis name, having been established with the funds from his estate.
He died in 1885 and is buried next to his wife Bertha in Deane Road cemetery, Kensington, Liverpool.
See also
*Lewis's
Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...
References
Sources
*''Jew. Chron. and Jew. World,'' 11 Dec. 1885. *''Liverpool Leader,'' 6 Dec. 1875. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, David 1823 births 1885 deaths English Jews English philanthropists Businesspeople from Liverpool British businesspeople in retailing 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English businesspeople