Sir Saul Samuel,1st Baronet KCMG CB (2 November 1820 –29 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 including the first Jew to become a magistrate,the first Jew elected to parliament,the first Jew to become a minister of the Crown. [1]
Samuel was born in London,England 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 190,000 acres (77,000 ha) 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,New Zealand) [2] and had one son.
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. [3] 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 until 1860. Samuel became member for Wellington 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.
Samuel served as Colonial Treasurer 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. [1] 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 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. [1]
Between 1872 and 1880,Samuel served as Postmaster-General on three occasions under Premier,Henry Parkes,including the first (1872–1875),second (1877),and third (1878–1883) ministries. During this period,Samuel established the General Post Office and negotiated a subsidized mail service from England to Australia via USA.
In 1875,he reopened a copper mine at Coombing Park near Carcoar—in partnership with Lewis Lloyd—and in 1876,a copper smelter was built close to it. [4] [5]
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 in London and was a director of Mercantile Bank of Sydney. [3] 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. [1] [6]
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. [1]
Samuel was invested as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1874, [7] and was elevated as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in 1882. [8] He was made a Privy Councillor in 1884, [9] was invested of a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1886 in recognition of his services in connection with the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, [10] and was created baronet in 1886. [1]
Sir Charles Cowper,was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870.
Sir James Martin,QC was three times Premier of New South Wales,and Chief Justice of New South Wales from 1873 to 1886.
Sir Patrick Alfred Jennings,was an Irish-Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales.
Sir John Robertson was a London-born Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales on five occasions. Robertson is best remembered for land reform and in particular the Robertson Land Acts of 1861,which sought to open up the selection of Crown land and break the monopoly of the squatters.
Sir Henry Watson Parker,was Premier of New South Wales. He fitted into colonial society and politics in the era before responsible government,but his style was not suited to the democratic politics that began to develop in 1856.
Sir George Wigram Allen was an Australian politician and philanthropist. He was Speaker in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1875–1883. Allen was held in high esteem. As speaker he showed dignity,courtesy and ability;it was said of him:'A man of calm judgment and much practical wisdom'.
Sir Edward Deas Thomson was a Scotsman who became an administrator and politician in Australia,and was chancellor of the University of Sydney.
Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott,was an Australian politician,pastoralist and solicitor.
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the fourth parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1860 to 1864:The Speaker was Terence Murray until 13 October 1862 and then John Hay.
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the eighth parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1874 to 1877. The 1874–75 election was held between 8 December 1874 and 12 January 1875 with parliament first meeting on 27 January 1875. There were 72 members elected for 52 single member electorates,6 two member electorates and 2 four member electorates. During this parliament the number of graduates of Sydney University exceeded 100 and the seat of University of Sydney was created. The maximum term of this parliament was 3 years and the assembly was dissolved after 34 months. Premiers during this parliament were Sir John Robertson 9 February 1875 till 22 March 1877 and from 17 August 1877 and Sir Henry Parkes 22 March 1877 till 17 August 1877. The Speaker was William Arnold until his death on 1 March 1875 and then George Allen.
Sir John Bayley Darvall was an Australian barrister and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1844 and 1856 and again between 1861 and 1863. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for three periods between 1856 and 1865. He held the positions of Solicitor General and Attorney General in a number of short-lived colonial governments.
The second Robertson ministry was the eleventh ministry of the Colony of New South Wales,and was led by John Robertson. It was the second of five occasions that Robertson was Leader of the Government. Robertson was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in March 1856.
The fifth Cowper ministry was the twelfth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales,and the fifth and final occasion of being led by Sir Charles Cowper.
The third Martin ministry was the thirteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales,and the third and final occasion of being led by Sir James Martin.
Sir Robert Wisdom,was a politician in colonial New South Wales and Attorney General of New South Wales.
Sir John Lackey was a magistrate and politician in colonial New South Wales,President of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1892 to 1903.
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council who served from 1872 to 1874 were appointed for life by the Governor on the advice of the Premier. This list includes members between the beginning of the 1872 colonial election on 13 February 1872 and the beginning of the 1874–75 colonial election on 8 December 1874. The President was Sir Terence Murray until his death on 22 June 1873 and then John Hay.
The Electoral district of Counties of Roxburgh,Phillip and Wellington and from 1851,Roxburgh and Wellington,was an electorate of the partially elected New South Wales Legislative Council,created for the first elections for the Council in 1843. The electoral district included the western counties of Roxburgh,Phillip,Wellington County. Polling took place at Montefiores,Mudgee,Bathurst and Hartley. The County of Phillip was removed from the district with the expansion of the Council in 1851 and became part of the Counties of Phillip,Brisbane and Bligh.
East Sydney,an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales was created in 1859 and abolished in 1894.
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Wellington on 1868 because Saul Samuel had been appointed Colonial Treasurer in the second Robertson ministry. Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion the other ministers were all re-elected unopposed.