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

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

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

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

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

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. 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 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 History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, 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 (UK Parliament constituency), Honiton on 12 Jul ...

. ''Goldsmid Road'' in the town of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

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

References

External links

*
Jewish Encyclopedia entry for Francis Henry Goldsmid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmid, Francis Henry 1808 births 1878 deaths 19th-century English philanthropists English people of Dutch-Jewish descent Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading Politicians 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 English politicians

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge