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 An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. 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 Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, 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 port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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 HM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the ch ...

, usually a political office, and nominally held the post until 1921. From 1917 he held the post jointly with

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...

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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 1917–1918,

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

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 a ...

, 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 water 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 King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(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 14th ...

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

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

. He is buried with his wife, Edythe, in the churchyard of St Mary's,

Kings Worthy Kings Worthy is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hampshire, England, approximately two miles north-east of Winchester, Hampshire, Winchester. Kings Worthy was a Tithe, tithing of Barton Stacey when the Domesday Book was w ...

, 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 Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) {{UK-baronet-stub