BEARSTED, MARCUS SAMUEL, FIRST VISCOUNT
- BEARSTED, MARCUS SAMUEL, FIRST VISCOUNT
- BEARSTED, MARCUS SAMUEL, FIRST VISCOUNT (1853–1927), founder
of the Shell Oil Company. Marcus Samuel was educated at Jewish schools
in London and Brussels before joining the firm established by his father
Marcus Samuel, who had prospered in the Far Eastern trade, principally
from selling fancy shells and ornamental shell boxes. In 1878, the
younger Marcus Samuel formed his own business partnership with his
brother Sam (1855–1934), who later sat as a member of parliament for 20
years. Marcus Samuel successfully traded in the Orient, particularly
Japan. Subsequently he became London banker to the Japanese government.
Samuel entered the oil trade in 1892, built a fleet of tankers, and
founded the Shell Transport and
Trading Company in 1897. His neglect of his business during his year as
lord mayor (1902–03) resulted in Shell's amalgamation with the Royal
Dutch Petroleum Company on what seemed disadvantageous terms, but he
proved indispensable to the new organization. This move served Britain
well in World War I. Another momentous war service was
the supply of toluol, an essential ingredient in explosives. Marcus
Samuel made generous donations to both Jewish and non-Jewish charities.
The Bearsted Memorial Hospital, a maternity hospital in London, bears
his name and was financed by him. Samuel was lord mayor of London in
1902–03, the fifth Jew to hold this office. In 1921, he was made baron,
and in 1925, Viscount Bearsted. Although holding no important Jewish
communal offices, Samuel used his influence to help persecuted Jews.
While lord mayor of London he refused, in the face of opposition, to
invite the Romanian ambassador to the lord mayor's banquet as a protest
against Romania's treatment of its Jewish citizens. His brother Samuel
Samuel was the founder of M. Samuel, a prominent City of London merchant
bank.
His son WALTER HORACE SAMUEL, SECOND VISCOUNT BEARSTED
(1882–1948) succeeded his father as chairman of Shell in 1920. A notable
art collector, he was chairman of the trustees of the National Gallery
in London. He also held various Jewish communal offices. The third
viscount MARCUS RICHARD SAMUEL (1909–86) was chairman of
the Bearsted Memorial Hospital and president of the Jewish Home and
Hospital.
-BIBLIOGRAPHY:
R. Henriques, Marcus Samuel, First Viscount Bearstead…
(1960); Times (Nov. 10, 1948); JC (Jan. 21,
1927 and Nov. 12, 1948). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
ODNB online; DBB, V, 43–46.
(Vivian David Lipman)
Encyclopedia Judaica.
1971.
Look at other dictionaries:
Bearsted, Marcus Samuel, First Viscount — (1853–1927) British founder of the Shell Oil Company. Marcus Samuel’s father was an importer of goods from the Far East, especially ornamental shells that had a great vogue in the Victorian period. He and his brothers followed the same line of … Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament
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