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Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling (21 December 1832 – 12 January 1911), was a British banker who founded the bank of Samuel Montagu & Co. He was a philanthropist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1900 and was later raised to the peerage.
Montagu was a pious Orthodox Jew and devoted himself to social services and advancing Jewish institutions. He was the nephew of Moses Samuel.
Montagu was born in Liverpool as Montagu Samuel, the second son of Louis Samuel (1794–1859), a watchmaker of Liverpool, and his wife, Henrietta Israel, daughter of Israel Israel of Bury Street, St. Mary Axe, London.
Family
Montagu married Ellen Cohen, daughter of Louis Cohen, in 1862.
His eldest child, Henrietta, was known for improving children’s education whilst his daughter Lily helped to establish Liberal Judaism.
He was succeeded in the baronetcy and barony by his eldest son, Louis Samuel Montagu, co-founder of the anti-Zionist League of British Jews.
His second son, Edwin Montagu, followed his father into politics, becoming Secretary of State for India. In 1915, Edwin Montagu married Venetia Stanley (1887–1948), who in accordance with the will of the 1st Baron Swaythling converted to Judaism upon her marriage.
Another son, Gerald Montagu, was the grandfather of the chemist Sir Martyn Poliakoff, and director and playwright Stephen Poliakoff.
Lord Swaythling’s nephew was the leading Liberal politician and philosopher Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, the first High Commissioner of Mandate Palestine.
Samuel Montagu was the maternal grandfather of the medical researcher Philip D’Arcy Hart and also of the lawyer Walter D’Arcy Hart.
Montagu is also the great-grandfather of the 2016 Nobel Prize-winning economist Oliver Hart.
Early life
He was educated at the High School of Liverpool Mechanics’ Institute as Samuel Montagu. In 1853 he founded the bank of Samuel Montagu & Co. At first the company concentrated on the exchange of coins and the collection of foreign coupons. Later the firm also dealt in foreign bills of exchange.
Jewish causes
Montagu’s commitment to Jewish causes included both initiatives aimed at improving the lot of Jews in England, and his participation in the proto-Zionist “Lovers of Zion” movement. He was involved in founding new synagogues, and in establishing the Federation of Synagogues in 1887, which was an umbrella body for the small Orthodox congregations in the East End of London.[3] By 1911, the Federation represented 51 London congregations (6,000 male members), which made it the largest synagogal body in UK (larger, by around 1,000 male seat-holders, than the United Synagogue). This rapid growth brought Montagu into conflict with Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, and the United Synagogue.[4] Montagu’s funding helped the Federation secure the services of distinguished rabbinical scholars such as Dr Mayer Lerner of Wurzheim in 1890 and the Maggid of Kamenitsk, Chaim Zundel Maccoby.[4]
In 1889 Montagu stated that “one of the principal objects of the Federation was to endeavour to raise the social condition of the Jews in East London and to prevent anything like anarchy and socialism…The blessings of the Patriarchs that they would increase their cattle and amass wealth, and the prophecy would never cease out of the land, were in themselves evidence that Judaism did not recognise anything like social equality amongst all classes of people.”
Historian Geoffrey Alderman has described the Federation as the ‘largest single instrument of Anglicization, as well as social control, that Anglo-Jewry possessed.’
Political life
Montagu was elected at the 1885 general election Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Whitechapel, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1900 general election. His campaign in 1885 was run against his brother-in-law, Lionel Louis Cohen, who was controversially running as a Conservative. As a Yiddish-speaker, Montagu was able to appeal to the many immigrants within his constituency on religious grounds, arguing in 1886 that he hoped “not a single Jew would vote Conservative”. From 1887 to 1890, he was a member of the Gold and Silver Commission. He was created a Baronet, of South Stoneham House in the County of Southampton and of Kensington Palace Gardens in the County of London, on 23 June 1894.[8]
In September 1888, after the murder of Annie Chapman at the hands of an unknown man later called Jack the Ripper, Montagu tried to offer a reward of £100 for the discovery and conviction of the criminal. The Home Office did not accept the offer because that practice had been discontinued. Montagu offered it because the Whitechapel murders resulted in some anti-semitic incidents against the East End population.
In 1893, on behalf of the English “Lovers of Zion”, Montagu presented a petition in favour of Jewish colonisation in Palestine to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He asked that the minister forward it to the Turkish Sultan. The petition was evidence that what was to become political Zionism had already taken root in the minds of both Christian researchers of Palestine, and Jewish activists in search for solutions to the so-called “Jewish question”.
Montagu presented land he owned in Jeremys Green Lane, Edmonton—now known as Montagu Road—to the Federation of Synagogues as a burial strip. At that time he was aware of the overcrowding in his constituency, and wanted to encourage Jewish families to move to the suburbs. In 1898, he proposed that land south of Salmons Brook, Edmonton—some 25 acres (100,000 m2) in all—be used to construct 700 houses, to house between 3000 and 4000 people. The houses were to have low rents and to include small gardens, with preference given to those currently living in Whitechapel. He first proposed the project to the LCC, and then Edmonton UDC; both prevaricated. In 1899, after the proposals were rejected, Montagu subsequently gave £10,000 (equivalent to £1151,000 in 2021) towards LCC housing on the White Hart Lane estate, Tottenham.
Later years
Towards the end of his life, Montagu lived at South Stoneham House at Swaythling, a suburb of Southampton.
In 1907, Montagu was raised to the peerage as Baron Swaythling, of Swaythling in the County of Southampton. Montagu died in January 1911, aged 78.
Legacy
Located in Kidbrooke, South London, the Samuel Montagu Youth Centre provides recreational opportunities for young people. Montagu is remembered in Edmonton at: Montagu Road, Montagu Gardens, Montagu Crescent, Montagu Road School (demolished) and Swaythling Close.
Morning Leader – Tuesday 11 April 1893
A CHAT WITH MR. MONTAGU. M.P.
NEW LIGHT ON THE ALIEN QUESTION –
QUERIES FOR THE EAST-END JEWS.
There is a pleasant little room set apart the Jewish Working Men’s Club and Lads’ Institute, where Mr. Samuel Montagu M.P., may always be found whenever any service to his constituency requires him to stay in Whitechapel over the Jewish Sabbath. The room is Mr Montagu’s sanctum, and his faithful people are proud of nothing so much as the fact that they are able to accommodate their members within their walls upon terms of mutual convenience. It was at the club (writes a Morning Leader interviewer) that I had the pleasure of a chat with Mr. Montagu a day or two ago. The conversation turned upon the subject of pauper aliens, and Mr. Montagu fully admitted me into his confidence on that all important question.
“After the debate on the alien question,” he assured me, “I resorted to a plebiscite in Whitechapel with a view to ascertaining whether there should be an exclusion of foreign refugees or whether there should be legislative restriction in the case of foreign immigrants incapable of maintaining themselves.”
“And the result, Mr. Montagu?” I inquired. ” What is it?” “Well, there is at present nothing that I can give you definitely on that score. I have many returns still to come in. I put two alternative points. One ran:
I ______favor of foreign refugees being admitted.
The other ran:
I ___ favor of foreign immigrants incapable of maintaining themselves being. admitted.
[The Electors to fill in the words “am” or “am not” in the blank spaces.]
So far as I have at present been able to observe, some are in favor of excluding every class of immigrants, and some are in favor of
EXCLUSION IN CERTAIN CASES.
But there have been 300 removals within a few months, so that the returns are at present by no means complete. That only shows the absolute desirability of having the register made up to date as frequently as possible.” “What is your own estimate, Mr. Montagu,” I asked, “of the number of immigrants to this country?” The question seemed to revive a humorous recollection in Mr. Montagu’s mind, but I was prepared for his curiously interesting reply. “Well,” answered Whitechapel’s popular M.P., “the total is less than a quarter of a million, including prince and pauper.”
“Yes,” emphasised Mr. Montagu, “less than a quarter of a million all told. I had a pleasant little argument with an esteemed friend of mine on this subject, in which I offered to wager him an even £10, to be given by the winner to some charity, that the figure I have mentioned was not exceeded. Well, to come to the facts, Mr. Mundella has himself announced that the number of persons of foreign birth including Americans to this country is only some two hundred and odd thousand. In fact, they are fewer in this country in proportion to the number of inhabitants
THAN THEY ARE FRANCE.
In that country they number a million, and in the United States they reach the stupendous total of 9,000,000. I calculate that the Jews in the United Kingdom number 100,000—that is, including both English and foreign Jews. We are enable to arrive at that estimate by the burial statistics.” “And what is the view that presents itself to your eye, Mr. Montagu? ” “Simply this—that the raising of the question of pauper aliens in the House of Commons has resulted in a great deal of sympathy being shown to the Jewish people in all quarters. But I think the effect of the debate is inevitably to throw a great deal of responsibility on native Jews in respect of the good conduct of those immigrants of the Jewish faith already settled in the country. And in that direction, I hope this club will be a great Anglicising medium. here you will hear no Yiddish spoken, and the institution ought to be a great power in enabling the native-born Jews to Anglicise their foreign brethren by assisting them to adapt themselves to the language, habits, and customs of the English race.” However (proceeded Mr. Montagu) other questions apart from the alien question were dealt with in my circular to the electors. I had made a promise at the general election that I would consult the electors with regard to the disestablishment of the Church in Wales and Scotland; hence the circular and the opportunity it afforded me of seeking their views on the alien question, which is not a political matter. But apart from the removals to which I referred just now, there is always a percentage who regard subjects of this kind with a certain amount of apathy.”
“And now, Mr. Montagu, would you like to say a word regarding the scope, power, and influence of this club in which you are so deeply interested.”
“Well, you have already recorded the fact that when the club was founded in Hutchinson-st. 22 years ago a vast majority voted against the introduction of intoxicating liquors. The members have never voted in favor of it since, and I believe ours is the only club in England which is self-supporting without the sale of intoxicants. And you would be surprised at the strict code of morals which obtains within these walls. You have yourself witnessed the fact that there is a very eager competition for a seat on the committee; indeed, there has never been a year when we have been able to dispense with the voting-paper and the ballot-box, Well, there was a memorable occasion when a candidate came to me with tears in his eyes. He assured me that he had intended no harm, but having been beguiled in the excess of his enthusiasm into presenting members with cigars in consideration of their promising to vote for him, he had been unseated. You can see for yourself that all our members are nicely dressed, and yet perhaps nine-tenths of them will never earn more than 30s. a week. It is their sobriety which contributes to their well-being. In all London I cannot put my finger on any two Jews who drink that is, to excess. There may be some; but, if so, I don’t know them. I think (said Mr. Montagu, with a merry twinkle in his eye) they can stand a good deal, and
DON’T EASILY GET INTOXICATED.
I can only add that the Jews hate being separated as a class in politics, and you can see for yourself how cordially the Jews from the West associate with the Jews in the East. No Christian can be admitted to membership of this institution, but the club is affiliated with the Club and Institute Union, so that any member of an affiliated club is free to enter. We can accommodate 1,000 members in our great hall, so that in every way we have cause to be gratified with the progress we have made and are still making. I am also happy to say that we are strictly impartial—we let the hall to both political parties for their meetings. As to our members, they are mostly native born Jews; of course there may be many foreign-born members, but on the whole, they are either native-born, or they come to this country at a very early age. I want to see more foreign members introduced for the Anglicising purposes I have mentioned, and I have not the least doubt that the club will increase its present immense power for good.”
THE LEEDS TIMES, Saturday September 29, 1900
SIR SAML. MONTAGU, BART. Samuel Montagu, Bart., late M.P. for the Tower Hamlets Division of the County of London, and now contesting Leeds in the Liberal and Radical interest, is one of the most prominent figures of the day both in the Jewish and in the financial world. And this double prominence he owes to his untiring energy, his upright dealing, and the unswerving constancy of his faith. For he is, as is fitting in a Radical member, that splendid thing, a self-made man, and his name is known and respected all over the world as that of one whom, as he himself told his former constituents in first speech, “no one could reproach during the whole of his life with having sacrificed his religious principles, failed in one engagement, or left a promise unfulfilled.”
Although for many years now a citizen of London, Sir Samuel Montagu may be said by rights to belong to the North, for he was born in 1832 in Liverpool, where his father Mr. Louis Samuel—the name was altered for the sake of distinction later— had a business as watchmaker and silversmith, and his education was carried on at the Mechanics’ Institution, now the Liverpool Institute, so that his earliest recollections are of the bonnie North Countree, for a portion of which he is now standing.
Transferred South by the removal of his family, the young man, at the age of twenty-one, was established in business as Samuel Montagu & Co., and this was the beginning of the distinguished firm of bankers which now bears that name.
He was appointed member of the Gold and Silver Commission on its formation (1887-90). He is also a keen advocate of the use of decimal weights and measures currency, which system he considers necessary to the development of British Commerce, and to the simplification of the school curriculum.
A strong Liberal in politics, the progressive tendency of his mind has shown itself on more than one occasion in the City of London, in his agitation for much needed improvement in public works— notably in the roofing of the Royal Exchange, by which the comfort of those transacting business therein has been so materially increased. Under this roof, at the recent relief of Ladysmith, he induced the members of the Royal Exchange to join him in singing “God Save the King”. This was a unique incident in the history of this ancient institution.
A man of business Sir Samuel shows a particular degree the genius of his race for the intricacies of International Exchange, and his name is widely known as that of an authority on exchanges and currencies. As a member of the House of Commons he has done steady, loyal service on all occasions to his party, and has always displayed a marked and practical interest in the welfare of his constituents. This is testified by the Markets Enfranchisement Bill for placing Spitalfields and other markets under proper control, and by his successful efforts to secure for the use of the public the Gardens and Promenade of the Tower, and keeping up and embellishing of which he has himself contributed largely.
And this brings us to another phase of this varied and energetic character. Possessed of great wealth, acquired by hard work, ability, and perseverance, the name of Sir Samuel Montagu has come to be associated with philanthropy in the widest degree, outside the Jewish community as well as within its limits. He founded and became President of the East London Apprenticing Committee for the benefit of boys and girls of the Christian faith (Jewish children being already provided for), he contributed to the formation of the Free Library, and was one of the most active supporters of that scheme, and for a Picture Gallery now erected in Whitechapel. As a parting gift to his constituency, he offered to the London County Council 25 acres of land at Edmonton, within six miles of his constituency. He directed that this land, which is large enough to accommodate 700 cottages each with a garden, should be used primarily for the benefit of dwellers in Whitechapel irrespective of creed. This gift practically demonstrates Sir Samuel Montagu’s earnest efforts to solve the ever-harassing problem of the Housing of the Working Classes. He has long been intimately connected with various Jewish benevolent institutions, has founded several Synagogues and federated smaller places of worship into one body, and organised many schemes for the relief of his co-religionists in this and other countries, and between 1875 and 1886 he visited with this object many parts of the world, including Jerusalem, where he, together with Lord Rothschild, founded a secular and industrial Jewish school in 1875.
Sir Samuel married in 1862 the daughter of a well-known member of the Stock Exchange, Mr. Louis Cohen, and grandniece of the late Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart., whose sympathy with her husband’s work is widely known and appreciated. In 1885 he carried the Liberal vote into Parliament as member for Tower Hamlets, and the widespread satisfaction caused by his elevation to a Baronetcy, coming as it did as the recognition of his public services, showed that the confidence of his constituents was not misplaced. He had won by sheer merit what is too often the reward of favouritism, and not a single voice, even among his political opponents, was raised against the conference of the dignity upon him Nor can his acceptance of this title be viewed as in any way lessening the thoroughness of his political opinions. As he had himself explained some time previously in the columns of the “Jewish Chronicle,” it was not the inheritance of titles to which he, as a Radical, objected, but the treatment of the right of legislating as an hereditary apanage of noble families. Such, in a few words, is the man who now. seeks, at the urgent request of his party, to represent the Leeds interest in the National Parliament, a man very staunch and true, whose interests are those of the men he represents and who will faithfully stand up for those interests against all opposition.
Westerham Herald – Saturday 18 September 1909
LORD SWAYTHLING RETIRING
Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Co. announce that their senior partner, Lord Swaythling, is retiring from active work in their firm, owing to advanced age. He will continue his association with it as a limited partner, contributing to its capital the sum of £600,000, no part of which can be repaid before August 1st, 1919. In pursuance with the above arrangement Lord Swaythling will, as from September 30th next, cease to sign for the firm. The unlimited partners will be the other members of the firm, namely, the Hon. Louie Samuel Montagu, Mr. Stuart Montagu Samuel, M.P., Mr. Ernest Louis Franklin, Mr. Frederic Samuel Franklin, and the Hon. Gerald Samuel Montagu. Lord Swaythling was the son of a Liverpool watchmaker in a small way of business, and made his debut in London as a money-changer in Cornhill. He first acquired influential connections in the City by marrying a lady who was a grand-niece of Sir Moses Montefiore and the first Baron Rothschild.
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Saturday 03 May 1924: GREAT WEEK OF TREASURE THROVE AT CHRISTIE’S BEGINNING to-day (Friday), there is to be a great week at Christie’s historic rooms, for four striking collections of silver, porcelain, tapestry and pictures are going to be put to the hammer on May 2, 6, 8 and 9. The silver collection made by the first Lord Swaythling, and forming part of the Swaythling heirlooms, is familiar to enthusiasts, for it has been on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum for many years. It contains precious items showing us some of the finest triumphs of silver work, both English and foreign, for Lord Swaythling had a fine eye, collecting only the best. It is greatly to be hoped that the best pieces will remain in this country, for they serve to remind us that we are becoming proud again of the fact that the silver and art craftsmanship of our forefathers was truly very beautiful. The Swaythling sale takes place on Tuesday.
On Thursday, in the sale which mainly represents porcelain, a very curious aquamanile, as the mediaeval ewer was called, illustrated above, will be offered. Made in Dinant in the thirteenth century, it takes the form of a horse wearing a bridle which joins the handle on the back. The water, you will notice, comes from the front of the animal, a dog acting as cock to the tub.
Evening Mail – Wednesday 11 January 1911
LORD SWAYTHLING.
Shortly before midnight last night it was stated that Lord Swaythling was lying in an extremely critical condition at his house in Kensington Palace gardens. The family were summoned to his bedside early yesterday evening. when it was thought the end was near, but Lord Swaythling rallied somewhat early this morning. Lord Swaythling. who is 78 years of age, has never completely recovered from the attack of heart lung trouble from which he suffered two years ago but it was not until Saturday that he was obliged to take to his bed.
Lord Swaythling’s Funerall: Cambridge Daily News: 16th Jan 1911
Lord Swaythling’s will The Observer 6th March 1911
