Sir Samuel Hardman Lever, 1st Baronet, KCB (18 April 1869 – 1 July 1947), generally known as Sir Hardman Lever, and as "Sammie" to his friends, was an English accountant and civil servant. Lever was born in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and was educated at Merchant Taylors' School. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1890. He worked as an accountant in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In August 1915, he was appointed Assistant Financial Secretary at the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

, where he was in charge of contracts and finance. At the end of 1916, he was appointed

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

, usually a political office, and nominally held the post until 1921. From 1917 he held the post jointly with Stanley Baldwin and after 1919 left most of the duties to the latter. He also served as an Assistant Commissioner for Finance in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, 1917–1918,

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

Representative at the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

, 1919–1921, a member of

Weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

Committee on Electricity which led to the establishment of the National Grid, and Chairman of the Telegraph Committee of Enquiry. He also headed Air Missions to Canada in 1938, and to Australia and New Zealand in 1939. He was knighted as

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

(KCB) in 1917 and created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

in the 1920 New Year Honours. He was also awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and the Order of the Crown of Italy. He is buried with his wife, Edythe, in the churchyard of St Mary's, Kings Worthy, Winchester, Hampshire.

Footnotes

1869 births 1947 deaths People from Bootle People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath English accountants English civil servants Civil servants in the Ministry of Munitions Civil servants in HM Treasury Members of HM Government Finance Service {{UK-baronet-stub