Samuel Lord (1803-1889) was a British-born American retail millionaire who founded
Lord & Taylor. It was the oldest luxury department store in the United States.
Early life
Lord was born in
Saddleworth,
West Riding of Yorkshire, the youngest of five children and was left an orphan while young.
Career
Lord served an apprenticeship in the trade of iron moulder, rising to be master of the craft.
He worked in James Taylor's iron-foundry and in 1824 married Taylor's daughter and emigrated to America shortly thereafter. He borrowed $1,000 from his wife's uncle and in 1826 established a "dry goods" store at 47 Catherine Street in what is now
Two Bridges, Manhattan
Two Bridges is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, nestled at the southern end of the Lower East Side and Chinatown on the East River waterfront, near the footings of Brooklyn Bridge and of Manhattan Bridge. The neighborhood ...
, New York. In 1826 he was joined by his young wife and child, whom he had left in England.
His wife's cousin, George Washington Taylor, joined in 1834, and the store was named Lord & Taylor. James S. Taylor, Lord's brother-in-law, replaced George Taylor in 1845, and the store moved to
Grand and
Chrystie Streets in 1854. In 1870, the Broadway store moved a mile uptown, to a new
cast-iron building at Broadway and
20th Street, in the area known as the "
Ladies' Mile".
The
Lord & Taylor Building, the
Starrett & van Vleck
Starrett & van Vleck (often spelled Starrett & Van Vleck) was an American architectural firm based in New York City which specialized in the design of department stores, primarily in the early 20th century. It was active from 1908 until at least ...
-designed
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
store and headquarters opened between 38th and 39th streets on February 24, 1914.
Retirement in England
Having retired in 1862
from managing his retail business, which he handed over to his two sons, in 1866 he returned to England and resided at ''Oakleigh'', on ''The Avenue'' in
Ashton upon Mersey, where he pursued his recreation of horticulture.
Marriage and progeny
He married Mary Taylor and left progeny as follows:
*George Washington Taylor Lord (1837–1903), who with his brother succeeded his father in the business;
*Samuel Lord Jr. (died 1895), who with his brother succeeded his father in the business;
*Kate Lord, who married her father's near-neighbour
Ernest Soares (1864-1926), then a solicitor in Manchester residing at ''Woodheys'',
[Website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme and Lis Nicolson, with the assistance of the John Cassidy Committee, Slane History & Archaeology Societ]
/ref> on Washway Road, in Ashton upon Mersey (today Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale), later a Liberal Member of Parliament for Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
, Devon.
His second marriage was to Sarah Ann Bradbury.
Death and burial
He died on 23 May 1889 in England and was buried in Brooklands Cemetery in 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 ...
. Following an approach by local historian Michael Riley, the Lord & Taylor company refurbished at their sole cost Lord's impressive monument in the cemetery.Charlie Hulme and Lis Nicolson; see image
/ref> Lord left nine million dollars (£1.848 million) at his death.
Notes and references
Notes
References
Further reading
*Biography of Samuel Lord in ''America's Successful Men of Affairs: An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous Biography'', New York, 1895, vol.1, p. 40
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Samuel
People in retailing
1889 deaths
1803 births
American businesspeople in retailing
19th-century American businesspeople