Sir Saul Samuel, 1st Baronet (2 November 182029 August 1900) was an Australian colonial merchant, member of parliament, pastoralist, and prominent Jew. Samuel achieved many breakthroughs for Jews in the colonial community of
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
including the first Jew to become a magistrate, the first Jew elected to parliament, the first Jew to become a minister of the Crown.
Early years and background
Samuel was born in
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 ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
on 2 November 1820, the posthumous son of Sampson Samuel and his wife Lydia, née Lyons. Samuel arrived in Australia on 25 August 1832 aboard ''The Brothers'' with his mother to meet with Samuel's brother, Lewis, and their uncle,
Samuel Lyons, was had arrived in colonial New South Wales a few years earlier. Educated at schools run by
W. T Cape, Samuel was initially employed at his uncles' accounting house, before he and his brother formed their own mercantile firm.
After purchasing of land at
Bathurst, he abandoned pastoral interests following the
1851 gold rush and business interests became his main focus.
He married Henrietta Matilda Goldsmith-Levien on 16 December 1857 and had two daughters and two sons. He married Sarah Louisa Isaacs on 31 October 1877 (in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
)
and had one son.
Political career

In 1854, Samuel became an elective Member of the first
Legislative Council of New South Wales, representing the
Counties of Roxburgh and Wellington between 1854 and 1856.
Elected to the first responsible government, Samuel became a member of the
Legislative Assembly representing the Counties of Roxburgh and Wellington from 1854 until 1856. Re-elected to the Assembly in June 1859 and then again in November 1859, Samuel served as member for
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
* Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...
until 1860. Samuel became member for
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...
in 1862, serving until 1869, and then again as member for Orange, serving between 1869 until 1872, before briefly serving as member for
East Sydney during 1872. In 1872, Samuel was appointed a Life Member of Legislative Council, where he sat until he retirement from parliamentary life in 1880.
Treasurer and Postmaster General
Samuel served as
Colonial Treasurer
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 a ...
three times during his parliamentary career including in the
Forster ministry between 1859 and 1860, the
fourth Cowper ministry between 1865 and 1866, and the
second Robertson ministry between 1868 and 1870. Samuel resigned as Treasurer in the Cowper ministry after his budget proposals for trade licences and increased duties on tea and sugar had been defeated.
In 1870, at the Intercolonial Conference in Melbourne, Samuel proposed intercolonial free trade to settle the border customs dispute. He hoped to abolish ''
ad valorem
An ''ad valorem'' tax (Latin for "according to value") is a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of property. It is typically imposed at the time of a transaction, as in the case of a sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). An ...
'' duties but his plans for a tax on incomes of over £200 were bitterly contested and led to the downfall of the government in December 1870.
Between 1872 and 1880, Samuel served as
Postmaster-General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsibl ...
on three occasions under Premier,
Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...
, including the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
(1872–1875),
second (1877), and
third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
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* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* Hi ...
(1878–1883) ministries. During this period, Samuel established the
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state mail, postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II of En ...
and negotiated a subsidized mail service from England to Australia via USA.
Mining involvement
In 1875, he reopened a copper mine at
Coombing Park near
Carcoar—in partnership with
Lewis Lloyd
Lewis Kevin Lloyd (February 22, 1959 – July 5, 2019) was an American basketball player. A 6'6" swingman from Drake University, he played most of his professional career for the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets.
Early life
Nick ...
—and in 1876, a copper smelter was built close to it.
Career after politics
After politics, Samuel pursued his business interests including Chairman of
Australian Mutual Provident Society and of Pacific Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Between 1880 and 1897, Samuel was the sixth
Agent-General for New South Wales
The Agent-General for New South Wales is the representative of the State of New South Wales in the United Kingdom. The position is appointed by and the expenses and salaries paid by the state government to represent their commercial, legal, and ...
in London and was a director of Mercantile Bank of Sydney.
An energetic, shrewd and efficient representative, he helped negotiate government loans and by 1885 claimed that he had raised £30 million. He fostered assisted immigration, negotiated with the Peninsular and Oriental and the Orient shipping companies for weekly mail services to the colony and in 1885 about the
New South Wales Contingent to the Sudan. He was a commissioner for New South Wales at the 1883
Amsterdam Exhibition and represented the colony at the 1887 Colonial Conference in London. In 1891 he also represented Queensland at the Postal Convention in Vienna.
He was active in Jewish affairs, including the Board of Management of York Street Synagogue. On 26 January 1875 he laid the foundation stone for the
Great Synagogue in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, and was later its president.
Samuel was invested as a
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in hono ...
(CMG) in 1874, and was elevated as a
Knight Commander
Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders.
The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mi ...
(KCMG) in 1882. He was made a
Privy Councillor
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
in 1884, was invested of a
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Companion may refer to:
Relationships Currently
* Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance
* A domestic partner, akin to a spouse
* Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach
* Companion (caregiving), a care ...
in 1886 in recognition of his services in connection with the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition
The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majes ...
,
and was created baronet in 1886.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, Saul
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Australian recipients of a British baronetcy
1820 births
1900 deaths
Jewish Australian politicians
Treasurers of New South Wales
English emigrants to colonial Australia
19th-century Australian politicians
Agents-General for New South Wales
Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom