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.
Video Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling
Early life
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.
Maps Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling
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. 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. 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.
Geoffrey Alderman has argued that the Federation represented the 'largest single instrument of Anglicization, as well as social control, that Anglo-Jewry possessed', with Montagu arguing in 1889 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'.
Political life
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. 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.
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 it 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 showed 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 that 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 £1033,000 in 2017) 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.
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 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 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.
Styles of address
- 1832-1885: Mr Samuel Montagu
- 1885-1894: Mr Samuel Montagu
- 1894-1900: Sir Samuel Montagu
- 1900-1907: Sir Samuel Montagu
- 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 Road, Montagu Gardens, Montagu Crescent, Montagu Road School (demolished) and Swaythling Close.
References
External links
- Works written by or about Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling at Wikisource
- JewishEncyclopedia.com
- Hansard 1803-2005: contributions in Parliament by Samuel Montagu
Source of article : Wikipedia
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