Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid, 2nd Baronet (1 May 1808 – 2 May 1878) was an

Anglo-Jewish British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British citizens who identify as Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 2021. History ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and politician.

Early life

The son of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and a member of the Goldsmid banking family, Francis was born in London, and privately educated.

Career

Goldsmid was called to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1833, becoming the first Jew to become an English barrister, and was made

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1858. In 1859 he succeeded to his father's honors. After the passing of the Jewish Disabilities Bill, in which he had aided his father with a number of pamphlets that attracted great attention, he entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1860 as member for the Reading constituency, and represented that constituency until his death. Goldsmid was strenuous on behalf of the Jewish religion, and the founder of the great

Jews Free School JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlot ...

. He was a munificent contributor to charities and especially to the endowment of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. He married

Louisa Goldsmid Lady Louisa Sophia Goldsmid (2 September 1819 – 12 June 1908) was a British philanthropist and education activist who targeted her life at improving education provision for British women. She took a leading role in persuading Cambridge Universi ...

who was his cousin. His wife was a campaigner for women's education. He employed the author and translator

Frederica Maclean Rowan Frederica Maclean Rowan (22 April 1814 – 23 October 1882) was a British author and translator. Life Rowan was born in the West Indies in 1814. She worked for some years for the barrister and philanthropist Sir Francis Goldsmid. His wife was Lo ...

as his secretary for some years.F. T. Marzials, 'Rowan, Frederica Maclean (1814–1882)’, rev. Susanne Stark,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 15 Nov 2015
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Marriage

He married his first cousin Louisa Sophia Goldsmid on 10 October 1839 at London, England. His nephew was Sir Julian Goldsmid.

Death and legacy

Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid 2nd Bt., died ''dsp'' on 2 May 1878 in St. Thomas's Hospital London following an accident that day when he fell between the platform and a carriage from which he was alighting at Waterloo Station. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew Sir Julian Goldsmid, son of

Frederick Goldsmid Frederick David Goldsmid (31 January 1812 – 18 March 1866), son of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and his wife Isabel, was an English politician. He was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) for Honiton on 12 July 1865. Goldsmid married, on 23 July ...

. ''Goldsmid Road'' in the town of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

is named after Francis Goldsmid, and is the location of the town's

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

synagogue.

References

External links

*
Jewish Encyclopedia entry for Francis Henry Goldsmid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmid, Francis Henry 1808 births 1878 deaths English philanthropists English Jews English people of Dutch-Jewish descent Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading People from Reading, Berkshire UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 19th-century King's Counsel Members of Lincoln's Inn Jewish British politicians

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge