Samuel Salt (died 1792) was an English lawyer and Whig 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 ...

from 1768 to 1790. He is also known for his connection to the family of author

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

Early life

Salt was the son of John Salt, vicar of

Audley, Staffordshire Audley is a large village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Audley Rural, in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Newcastle-under-Lyme district, in Staffordshire, England. It is the centre of Audley Rural parish, approximately four ...

. He was admitted at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1741, at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1745, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1753. He was a Director of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

from 1769 to 1775 and was deputy Governor from 1775 until his death.historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Salt, Samuel (c.1723-92), of the Inner Temple''.
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Political career

Salt was a lawyer for the Eliot family of Port Eliot. On the interest of the Eliot family Salt was returned to parliament at the 1768 general election for their pocket-boroughs of St Germans and

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

. He chose to sit for Liskeard and was returned there again in

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and feathers British customs ...

and

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to all ...

. In politics he was a Whig. Salt was expected to stand again at Liskeard in the 1784 general election but instead he stood for

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

on the interest of Philip Champion de Crespigny. Crespigny's brother was also a director of the

. Salt did not stand in

1790 Events January–March * January 8 – United States President George Washington gives the first State of the Union address, in New York City. * January 11 – The 11 minor states of the Austrian Netherlands, which took pa ...

Lamb family

John Lamb, father of Charles Lamb, was Salt's clerk for nearly 40 years. Charles was born in Crown Office Row, where Salt owned chambers, and it was the home of the Lamb family until 1792. Salt procured the admission of Charles to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

. Through Salt's influence as a governor of the

, Charles and his elder brother obtained clerkships under the company.

Later years

Salt became bencher at the Inner Temple in 1782, reader in 1787 and treasurer in 1788. He died at his chambers in Crown Office Row, Inner Temple, on 27 July 1792, and was buried in a vault of the

Temple Church The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...

. A shield with his coat-of-arms was placed in the sixteenth panel (counting from the west) on the north side of the Inner Temple hall. He was unmarried.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Salt, Samuel Year of birth missing 1792 deaths English barristers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall People from Audley, Staffordshire British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Inner Temple