Sir Julian Goldsmid, 3rd Baronet, DL, JP (8 October 1838 – 7 January 1896) was a British lawyer, businessman and Liberal (later

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

) politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1866 and 1896.

Background and early life

Goldsmid was the son of

Frederick Goldsmid Frederick David Goldsmid (31 January 1812 – 18 March 1866), son of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and his wife Isabel, was an English politician. He was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) for Honiton (UK Parliament constituency), Honiton on 12 Jul ...

and his wife Caroline Samuel. His father was a banker and Member of Parliament for

Honiton Honiton () is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, Devon, River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 12,154 (based on 2021 census). History The ...

. Goldsmid was educated privately until he entered

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In 1864 he became a fellow of University College, and was also called to the bar.Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
/ref> After a brief period on the

Oxford circuit The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

, he gave up practising law when he was elected to parliament.Jewish encyclopedia
/ref>

Career

Goldsmid first stood for Parliament at a by-election in February 1864 for the

borough of Brighton Brighton was a non-metropolitan district with borough status of East Sussex, England covering the town of Brighton. Formed in 1854 as a municipal borough, in 1889 it became a county borough independent of the newly formed East Sussex County Counc ...

, without success, and he was defeated again at the 1865 general election, when he contested

Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...

. He was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for

at a by-election in March 1866. In that year, Goldsmid inherited

Somerhill House Somerhill House ( ) is a listed building, Grade I listed Jacobean architecture, Jacobean mansion situated near Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. It was built for Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde, The 4th Earl of Clanricarde in 1611–13. T ...

near

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, on the death of his father. Honiton was disfranchised in 1868 by the

Reform Act 1867 The Representation of the People Act 1867 ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102), known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act, is an act of the British Parliament that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the ...

and at the 1868 general election Goldsmid stood unsuccessfully for Mid Surrey. He was elected for Rochester at a by-election in 1870 and held the seat until his defeat at the 1880 general election. In 1879, Goldsmid began expanding Somerhill to accommodate his large family; he had eight daughters. The work took until 1897 to complete. He then contested a by-election in May 1880 for

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

, and was returned to the Commons after a five-year absence at the 1885 general election as MP for St Pancras South, holding that seat until his death in 1896. In 1894 Goldsmid was deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1878 Goldsmid succeeded his uncle,

Sir Francis Goldsmid Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid, 2nd Baronet (1 May 1808 – 2 May 1878) was an English lawyer and politician. Early life The son of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and a member of the Goldsmid banking family, Francis was born in London, and privately edu ...

to the baronetcy and to the estate of

Whiteknights Park Whiteknights Park, or the Whiteknights Campus of the University of Reading, is the principal campus of that university. The park covers the area of the manor of Earley Whiteknights, also known as Earley St Nicholas and Earley Regis. Whi ...

Earley Earley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Along with the neighbouring town of Woodley, Berkshire, Woodley, the Office for National Statistics places Earley within the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area; fo ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, as well as others in Sussex, Kent and elsewhere. He also bore the Portuguese title of Baron de Goldsmid e da Palmeira. His business interests included being chairman of the

Submarine Telegraph Company The Submarine Telegraph Company was a British company which laid and operated submarine telegraph cables. Jacob and John Watkins Brett formed the English Channel Submarine Telegraph Company to lay the first cable across the English Channel. An un ...

and the Imperial and Continental Gas Association, and he was a director of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway. A

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

was named ''Goldsmid'' after him in 1892.Brighton St Ann's Well
/ref> Goldsmid was treasurer of University College in 1880-81 and was a member of the council of

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

. He was vice-chancellor of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

when he died. He was Deputy lieutenant of Kent, Sussex, and Berkshire, J. P. for Kent, Sussex, and London, colonel of the 1st Sussex Rifle Volunteers, and honorary colonel of the 1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers. Goldsmid was one of many who was concerned about the Russian persecutions of the Jewish community in 1881. He was assigned as chairman of a fund that focused on the relief of Russo-Jewish refugees. This fund supported the Board of Guardians, a body that performed the Russian exodus into England. The number of refugees permanently residing in London was not large. The majority of refugees continued their voyage to America.

Marriage

In 1868, Goldsmid married Virginia Philipson of Florence and had eight daughters. As he had no son, his

entailed In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust law, trust, established by deed or settlement, that restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate (law), estate in real property and prevents that property from being sold, devised by ...

property passed to a male relative, his house in

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

being converted into the Isthmian Club.

Death

Goldsmid died at the age of 57 at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

where his grandfather, Sir Isaac Goldsmid had purchased the Wick Estate in 1830. "Julian Road" in the estate is named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmid, Julian, 3rd Baronet 1838 births 1896 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Jewish English politicians English people of Dutch-Jewish descent English justices of the peace Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 Deputy lieutenants of Kent Deputy lieutenants of Sussex Deputy lieutenants of Berkshire Alumni of University College London Academics of University College London Vice-chancellors of the University of London People from Earley People from Tonbridge Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Julian Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Honiton Burials at Balls Pond Road Cemetery