Simon Marks, 1st Baron Marks of Broughton (9 July 1888 – 8 December 1964), was an English retail businessman and baron, the son of

Michael Marks Michael Marks ( yi, מיכאל מארקס Polish: ''Michał Marks''; 1859? – 31 December 1907) was a businessman and entrepreneur, who with Thomas Spencer co-founded the British retail chain Marks & Spencer. Biography Marks was born into a ...

, the co-founder of major British multinational company

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

Biography

Early life

Marks was born in the

Leylands, Leeds The Leylands was an area of Leeds, north of the city centre and west of Mabgate. John Cossins' 1726 ''Plan of Leedes'' shows two fields marked ''Ley Lands'' north of Lady Lane and west of the Sheepscar Beck (also later known as Lady Beck) whi ...

, on 9 July 1888, son of

and Hannah Cohen,''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' and educated at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

Career

In 1907, he inherited a number of "penny bazaars" from his father, which had been established with Thomas Spencer. With the help of

Israel Sieff Israel Moses Sieff, Baron Sieff (4 May 1889 – 14 February 1972) was an English businessman and Zionist who was chairman of the British retailer Marks & Spencer from 1964 to 1967. Early life and education He was born in Manchester, the son of ...

, he built

into an icon of British business. He was knighted on 4 July 1944 and on 10 July 1961 was raised to the peerage as Baron Marks of Broughton, ''of

Sunningdale Sunningdale is a large village with a retail area and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England. It has a railway station on the (London) Waterloo to Reading ...

in the

Royal County of Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

''.

Death and legacy

Marks died 8 December 1964, in London, and was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

. His ashes and memorial are housed within the internal columbarium (visible by arrangement). The ashes of his wife Miriam Marks (née Sieff, sister of Israel Sieff), and those of his business partner

, rest with his. He was succeeded in the barony by his only son, Michael Marks, 2nd Baron Marks of Broughton, who died in 1998 and was succeeded in the title by his own son, Simon Marks, 3rd Baron Marks of Broughton.

Coat of arms

References

1888 births 1964 deaths English Jews Businesspeople from Leeds British businesspeople in retailing Marks-Sacher family Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II Jewish British politicians 20th-century English businesspeople {{UK-baron-stub