Samuel Lewis (1837 – 13 January 1901), was an English money-lender and philanthropist.

Early life

Samuel Lewis was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

in 1837.

Career

Lewis began work when thirteen years old. He became a salesman of steel

pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

s, then opened a jeweller's shop, and finally entered the business with which his name was most identified, that of money-lending. He became the most fashionable money-lender of his day. Nearly every noble family in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

is said to have been more or less in business connection with Lewis. He left nearly twenty million dollars, of which five million went to charity on the death of his widow, Ada Davis Lewis, a sister of

Hope Temple Hope Temple, born as Alice Maude Davis (27 December 1859 – 10 May 1938) was an Irish songwriter and composer. She was also known as Mrs André Messager. Life Alice Davis was born in Dublin, Ireland, and was known professionally as Hope Temp ...

, the composer.

Death and legacy

Samuel Lewis died in London in 1901. Upon his death, he left an endowment of £670,000 to set up a charitable trust to provide housing for the poor. A huge sum at the time and one that equates to £30 million at today's values. Samuel Lewis Trust Buildings Ixworth Place - geograph

Samuel Lewis Trust Buildings Ixworth Place - geograph

Samuel Lewis Housing Trust completed its first properties in 1910 at Liverpool Road in Islington, London. This was followed by other large London schemes at: *Ixworth Place,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

(1912) *Warner Road, Camberwell (1913–1919) *Vanston Place,

Walham Green Walham Green is the historic name of an English village, now part of inner London, in the parish of Fulham in the County of Middlesex. It was located between the hamlet of North End (now renamed West Kensington) to the north, and Parsons ...

(1920–22) *Dalston Lane, Hackney (1923) *Lisgar Terrace, Fulham (1927) *Amhurst Road, Hackney (1931–37) *Amhurst Park,

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...

(1938–39) all of which carry the name Samuel Lewis Housing Trust Estate. Samuel Lewis Housing Trust continued to develop and manage rented properties to become one of the largest providers of rented accommodation in the South East. In 2001 the Trust changed its name to

Southern Housing Group Southern Housing Group is an among the largest and oldest housing associations in the UK, managing 30,000 homes for over 77,000 residents in London and the south east of England. History Southern Housing Group began as the Samuel Lewis Housing Tr ...

to reflect the changing nature and scope of the organization.

References

*Bibliography: Jew. Chron. Jan. 18, 1901; *The Sketch (London), Jan. 23, 1901.
Southern Housing Group Website
1837 births 1901 deaths English Jews English philanthropists Jewish British philanthropists People from Birmingham, West Midlands 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English businesspeople {{England-business-bio-stub