Quick Facts
Biography
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.
Life and career
Montagu was born in Liverpool as Montagu Samuel, the second son of Louis Samuel, a watchmaker of Liverpool, and his wife, Henrietta Israel, daughter of Israel Israel of Bury Street, St. Mary Axe, London. He was educated at the High School of Liverpool Mechanics' Institute as Samuel Montagu. In 1853 he founded the bank of Samuel Montagu as a foreign banker.
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, which was an umbrella body for the small Orthodox congregations in the East End of London.
He 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. 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.
In September 1888, after the murder of Annie Chapman at the hands of an unknown man later called Jack the Ripper, he 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 this because the Whitechapel murders created some anti-semitic incidents in the East End population.
In 1893, Montagu presented on behalf of the "Lovers of Zion" in England a petition in favour of Jewish colonisation in Palestine to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with the request that he forward it to the Turkish Sultan. The petition did not lead to any concrete result, but it shows that what was to become political Zionism had already taken roots in the minds of both the Christian researchers of Palestine, and the Jewish activists in search for solutions to the so-called "Jewish question".
Land owned by Montagu in Jeremys Green Lane, Edmonton—now known as Montagu Road—was presented to the Federation of Synagogues as a burial strip. At this time he was aware of the overcrowding in his constituency, and was especially keen to see Jewish families move out to the suburbs. In 1898, therefore, he proposed that land south of Salmons Brook, Edmonton—some 25 acres (100,000 m2) in all—be used for 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. The project was first offered to the LCC, and then Edmonton UDC; both prevaricated. In 1899 the proposals were rejected and Montagu subsequently gave £10,000 (equivalent to £1015,000 in 2016) towards LCC housing on the White Hart Lane estate, Tottenham.
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.
Family
Montagu married Ellen Cohen, daughter of Louis Cohen, in 1862.
His daughter Lily would eventually help to establish Liberal Judaism.
He was succeeded in the baronetcy and barony by his eldest son Louis Montagu, co-founder of the anti-Zionist League of British Jews.
His second son Edwin Samuel 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.
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 seminal medical researcher Philip D’Arcy Hart and also of the lawyer Walter D'Arcy Hart.
Montagu is also the great-grandfather of the 2016 Noble Prize winning economist Oliver Hart.
Styles of address
- 1832–1885: Mr Samuel Montagu
- 1885–1894: Mr Samuel Montagu MP
- 1894–1900: Sir Samuel Montagu Bt MP
- 1900–1907: Sir Samuel Montagu Bt
- 1907–1911: The Right Honourable The Lord Swaythling
Legacy
Located in Kidbrooke, South London, the Samuel Montagu Youth Centre provides recreational opportunities for young people. Montagu is remembered in Edmonton at Montagu Rd, Montagu Gardens, Montagu Crescent, Montagu Road School (demolished) and Swaythling Close.