Sir Samuel Fludyer, 1st Baronet (c. 1704 – 18 January 1768), of Lee Place in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, was an English merchant and banker who served as a

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 of ...

and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

Biography

Fludyer was the eldest son of Samuel Fludyer, a London clothier but originally from

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, and was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. He was by upbringing a religious dissenter, though in later years he moved towards the

established church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...

. Joining his father's business, he expanded it greatly until he was one of the city's foremost merchants; by the time of his death his fortune was said to amount to £900,000. (His younger brother, Sir Thomas, was his junior partner in the company and was knighted at a City of London reception for the King while Sir Samuel was Lord Mayor.) Becoming a member of the

Clothworkers' Company The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1528, formed by the amalgamation of its two predecessor companies, the Fullers (incorporated 1480) and the Shearmen (incorporated 1508). It succeeded to the position of t ...

, he was elected to Common Council in 1734, became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in 1751, was

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

in 1754–1755 and Lord Mayor in 1761–1762. In 1753 he also became a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, serving four terms, and was its Deputy Governor from 1766 until his death in 1768. In September 1755, in his capacity as sheriff, he presented an address from the Lord Mayor, aldermen and common council to

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

expressing satisfaction at the King's safe return from his German dominions, and the King marked the occasion by knighting him. Four years later, on 14 November 1759, he was raised to the dignity of a baronetcy. The elaborate wig that he wore on becoming Lord Mayor in 1761 was depicted in

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...

's 1761 engraving ''

Five Orders of Periwigs The ''Five Orders of Periwigs'' (''The Five Orders of Perriwigs as they were Worn at the Late Coronation Measured Architectonically'') is a 1761 engraving by William Hogarth. It contains several levels of satire. First, and most clearly, it lam ...

'', although George II had a snobbish dislike of merchants becoming peers so like other merchants he could not expect to be a peer.Page 14,

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...

, ''

The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' was a book written by Lewis Namier. At the time of its first publication in 1929 it caused a historiographical revolution in understanding the 18th century by challenging the Whig view ...

'' (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957) In 1754, Fludyer entered Parliament, having spent £1,500 to secure a seat at

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

in Wiltshire; Chippenham was a textile town, and Fludyer cemented his influence by agreeing to buy all its manufactured cloth at premium prices, which played an important part in establishing the town's prosperity. In the House of Commons he was generally considered a supporter of the Whig government, though not an absolutely reliable one; he is not recorded as having ever spoken during his 14 years in the House. At the general election of 1761 he stood as parliamentary candidate for the

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, but despite having been one of the four victors on an informal show of hands was defeated at the poll; however, as he had taken the precaution of also being returned once more for Chippenham, he remained an MP. In his second Parliament he seems to have actively sought government contracts for his business, which being an MP (with a vote valuable to the government) he was well placed to secure, and in 1763 took over (in partnership with Adam Drummond) as contractor to the Treasury as Paymaster to the British forces in the North American colonies. When the

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament f ...

's government replaced

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

's he was on the list of those whose contracts it was initially intended to cancel, but notice to terminate was not given to him until July 1766; days later Rockingham had resigned and Fludyer, by supporting the new

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

administration, saw his contract reinstated the following year. Caroline Fludyer, by Thomas Gainsborough

He married twice: to Jane Clerke (d. 1757), by whom he had one daughter; and to Caroline Brudenell (d. 1803), niece of the 3rd Earl of Cardigan, whom he married on 2 September 1758. They had two sons: * Samuel Brudenell Fludyer (1759–1833), who succeeded to the baronetcy, and was MP for Aldborough * George Fludyer (1761–1837), MP for

and Appleby Fludyer died in 1768 and was buried in the churchyard of St Margaret's, Lee. , -

References

* *''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' (1930) * Thomas Wotton,

Edward Kimber Edward Kimber (1719–1769) was an English novelist, journalist and compiler of reference works. Life He was son of Isaac Kimber; and in early life apprentice to a bookseller, John Noon of Cheapside. He made a living by compilation and editorial ...

and Richard Johnson, ''The Baronetage of England'' (London, 1771

External links

Chippenham Museum and Heritage CentreIndex of archive papers on Fludyer & Drummond
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fludyer, Samuel 1700s births 1768 deaths Fludyer, Samuel, 1st Baronet Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Whig (British political party) MPs Sheriffs of the City of London 18th-century lord mayors of London English bankers Year of birth uncertain Deputy Governors of the Bank of England

Biography

See also

References

External links