LEWIS, SAMUEL

LEWIS, SAMUEL (1838–1901), British moneylender and philanthropist. Lewis was born in Birmingham, the son of an impoverished dealer, and originally worked as a peddler. He eventually became a successful salesman in jewelry, and from the late 1860s lived in London. In 1869 he began as a money-lender, specializing in making loans to aristocrats and landowners in embarrassing circumstances, often as they awaited their inheritance. From his office in Mayfair, London, Lewis became one of the most prominent moneylenders of his time, known for providing legitimate loans to Britain's aristocrats at competitive rates, often with conditions more favorable than commercial banks. Unlike many moneylenders, he was widely respected for his integrity and discretion, and even moved as an equal in upper class circles. While he attracted his share of hostility, remarkably little appears to have been antisemitic, and his sharpest critic was the Jewish solicitor sir george lewis . At his death Lewis left the vast sum of £2.6 million, one of the largest British fortunes of the time. He and his wife, Ada (d. 1906), were among the greatest philanthropists of their time, giving away over £3 million and founding the well-known Samuel Lewis Trust houses, cheaply rented flats for the working classes. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online; G. Black, Lender to the Lords; Giver to the Poor (1992). (William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)