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

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, was an English merchant and banker who served as a Member of Parliament and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

Biography

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

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, and was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

. He was by upbringing a religious dissenter, though in later years he moved towards the established church. 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 is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. It was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1528, following the merger of two older guilds: the Fullers (incorporated in 1480) and the Shearmen (incorporat ...

, 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 jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

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, the , which is common ...

in 1754–1755 and

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

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 Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, 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 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, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...

's 1761 engraving ''

Five Orders of Periwigs 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

'', although George II had a snobbish dislike of merchants becoming peers so like other merchants he could not expect to be a peer. In 1754, Fludyer entered Parliament, having spent £1,500 to secure a seat at

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

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

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, 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 Marquess of Rockingham, Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family ...

's government replaced

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, during the early reign of the young George III. He served for only two years (1763-1765), and attempted to solv ...

'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 administration, saw his contract reinstated the following year. 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 St. Margaret's Church, Lee, is a Church of England parish church in Lee, London. It was built between 1839 and 1841 in a simple early Victorian style (to a design by Norwich architect John Brown (architect), John Brown), replacing an earlier chur ...

. The tomb to both Sir Charles and his brother is a Grade II-listed monument.

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

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

Biography

See also

References

External links