Ellis Arthur Franklin (28 March 1894 – 16 January 1964) was an English merchant banker.

Early life

Franklin was born in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London into an affluent

Anglo-Jewish British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British people, British citizens who are Jews, Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 202 ...

family. He was the son of Arthur Ellis Franklin, a merchant banker and senior partner at Keyser & Co, and his wife, Caroline Jacob. The family was related to both parts of the Montagu-Samuel banking-and-politics 'Cousinhood'. Franklin's grandfather was Ellis Abraham Franklin (1822–1909), a partner at Samuel Montagu and brother-in-law of Lord Swaythling. His uncle was Herbert Samuel,

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

(1916), and the first High Commissioner for the British Mandate of Palestine. His siblings included Helen Bentwich (wife to Norman de Mattos Bentwich,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

in the British Mandate of Palestine, active in

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

organisation,

Women's Suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, and the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

on which she was a member) and Hugh Franklin, a militant

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

and penal reform activist.

Career

Ellis Franklin was a banker at Keyser & Co, where his father was senior partner. Franklin became a teacher of a class in Electricity at The Working Men's College in 1919, having been introduced to the College by his uncle, the banker Lionel Jacob. By 1922 he had become Vice Principal of the College and was instrumental in attracting donations to the College from the

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, and new College Corporation members from the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

, The Bar, and the City. Harrison, J. F. C. (1954), ''A History of the Working Men's College (1854–1954)'', Routledge Kegan Paul, pp. 157, 164, 168.

Personal life

Franklin married Muriel Frances Waley (1894–1976). They resided in London. They had five children. David (1919–1986) was the eldest.

Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal ...

(1920 - 1958), was an influential biophysicist, being involved in the discovery of DNA among many areas of work. Colin Ellis Franklin (1923–2020) was a writer, bibliographer, book-collector and antiquarian bookseller. Sir Roland Franklin (1926-2024) was a merchant banker. Jenifer (born 1929) was their youngest child. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Ellis A. Franklin helped Jewish refugees fleeing from the Continent, some being taken into the family home.

References

1894 births 1964 deaths Bankers from London English Jews Ellis Arthur Officers of the Order of the British Empire Place of death missing 20th-century English businesspeople {{Judaism-bio-stub