The Samuell Family
by Saul Marks
The Samuell family came to Liverpool from the small town of Market Harborough in Leicestershire. This does not seem, today to be a place where a Jewish community of any size might settle but, in the 18th century, it had become an important staging point for coaches travelling from London to the North-West. By the end of that century, Liverpool had become the second city of the Empire and was emerging as the most prosperous Jewish community after London. It makes sense, then, that some Jews might settle at a known stopover point between the two communities.
A serialised article by J Rumney, MSc(Econ), DPhil, appeared in the Jewish Chronicle in December 1935 and January 1936, discussing the dispersion of the Jewish communities of the UK following the resettlement in 1656. When discussing Liverpool, he writes that the community here in the late 18th century “was recruited by arrivals from Plymouth, Falmouth, Penzance, Bath, Exeter, Barnstaple, Market Harborough, Yarmouth, Ipswich and London.” The reference here to Market Harborough must surely relate to the Samuell family, as no other family in the community is known to have had connections there.
Simpson Samuell (c.1781-1845)
Watchmaker
Castle Street 1811-24 (Loomes) (but not in Register Book)
Baillie’s Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the WorldBednall court case 1815 (BC2/282)
14 Canning Street
One of original 11 trustees of cemetery land 1830s
Treasurer 1818-19
Junior Treasurer 1833-34
Pic of watch
Edward Simpson Samuell (c.1815-90)
Simpson’s son
Watchmaker, “biscuit & corn merchant”, “guano merchant” (i.e. bat & seagull manure, used as fertiliser!)
President of Philanthropic Society 1846
Chairman of Mechanics Institute
Charles Simpson Samuell (1819-1911)
Simpson’s son
Merchant, then barrister & judge
Appointed Deputy Recorder 1881 – first Jew to sit on Recorders’ Bench
President of Hebrew Schools at least 1870-1911
Junior Treasurer 1854-55
Senior Treasurer 1855-56
Junior Warden 1856-57
Senior Warden 1857-59
Member of Athenaeum 1884-1911
“the grand old man of Liverpool Jewry”
JC obit 23 Jun 1911 & funeral rept 30 Jun 1911 (& probably other family members too)
Alfred Simpson Samuell (1830-1871)
Simpson’s son
Solicitor
Junior Treasurer 1862-63
Senior Treasurer 1863-64
Junior Warden 1865-66
Clara Samuell,
soprano,
b.1858, flourished 1890s
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_Harborough
http://bestrailroadpocketwatch.com/pocket-watches/exquisite-18k-war-of-1812-commemorative-pocket-watch-2
http://www.bednallarchive.info/bedcoll/BC2/bc2_276-300.htm
Other Sources
- Jewish Chronicle, 4 March 1904, page 33.
- Jewish Chronicle, 10 April 1908, page 37.
- Jewish Chronicle, 31 January 1936, supplement page iv.
Grave References
Simpson Samuell (c.1781-1845): A 01.38
Keturah Samuell (his wife; c.1795-1876): A 02.36
Edward Simpson Samuell (their son; c.1815-1890): B 18.02
Charles Simpson Samuell (their son; 1819-1911): B 28.01
Miriam Samuell (their daughter; 1821-1893): A 21.11
Henry Douglas Samuell (their son; 1824-1842): A 01.21
Alfred Simpson Samuell (their son; 1830-1871): A 09.22
Eliza Hiams (née Samuell, their daughter; 1817.1909): A 13.25
Henry Hiams (Eliza’s husband; c.1800-1878): A 12.25
Nancy Samuell (Simpson’s sister; 1790/1-1863): A 06.14
Sara Samuell (Simpson’s sister; 1799/1800-1854): A 04.05