Person    | Male  Born 14/5/1838  Died 13/1/1901

Samuel Lewis

Categories: Philanthropy

Samuel Lewis

Moneylender and philanthropist. A jew, born in a slum in Birmingham, who worked his way into being an established travelling jeweller by 1867, when he married and came with his wife, Ada, to London. He set himself up at 17 Cork Street, Mayfair, as a moneylender to the landed aristocracy and was soon foremost in that role. With homes in Grosvenor Square, Maidenhead, and on the front at Brighton the Lewises mixed in high society.

Shortly after retiring he died at 23 Grosvenor Square, leaving an estate of £2.6 million.

His will set up a charitable trust to provide housing for the poor, the first being in Liverpool Road, where the plaque has been erected. In 2001 the Samuel Lewis Housing Trust changed its name to Southern Housing Group.

Most of our information comes from the ODNB which quotes Lewis's motto 'I lend to the Lords; I give to the poor'.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Samuel Lewis

Commemorated ati

Ada House

Ada House This block was built in 1937 by the London County Council and was n...

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Samuel Lewis

Samuel Lewis, philanthropist, 1838 - 1901, Centenary Memorial Hall, opened on...

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Other Subjects

Milly Apthorp Trust

Milly Apthorp Trust

Founded by Milly Apthorp and her son John, as a grant-giving benevolent fund. It donates to a variety of causes within the Barnet area of London.

Group, Philanthropy

1 memorial
Hannah Sara Chadwick

Hannah Sara Chadwick

In 1850 she donated some funds to the Emery Hill almshouses in memory of her late husband, James Chadwick: £1500 3 per cent annuities, the interest thereof to be divided amongst the poor alms-peopl...

Person, Philanthropy

1 memorial
John Townsend

John Townsend

Nonconformist minister.  Born Whitechapel.   Minister at Kingston, Bermondsey and then the Orange Street Chapel.  1807 co-founder of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Old Kent Road, which he part...

Person, Philanthropy, Religion, Social Welfare

1 memorial
John Reynolds Roberts

John Reynolds Roberts

Shopkeeper and philanthropist. Born Camberwell. Aged 17 he and his brother Thomas, left their home in Newington Green and began work in London as errand boys in a drapers. In 1870 he opened a store...

Person, Commerce, Philanthropy

2 memorials
Samuel Gurney Snr

Samuel Gurney Snr

Banker and philanthropist. Born near Norwich. Father of Samuel and of Catherine who married Edward, the son of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton. Died Paris, returning, ill, from a stay in Nice.

Person, Philanthropy, France

1 memorial