Lender to the Lords, Giver to the Poor

The story of Samuel Lewis, the most respected and philanthropic Jewish moneylender in Victorian society, is one of contrasts. Not only does Sam's life represent the classic rags-to-riches story but it also illustrates the difference in contemporary attitudes to usurers and the extravagant aristocrats who were their clients.Moneylenders were generally shunned and reviled by society, yet society, particularly those in the upper echelons, could not do without their services. Samuel Lewis, discreet and trustworthy, gained their confidence and even their friendship in solving the cash-flow problems of rich and famous clients, including close friends of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and members of the exclusive Jockey Club. England's premier earl, the 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, borrowed a total of [pound]370,000 (equivalent to [pound]13 million today).Sam's activities attracted the remorseless opprobrium of Sir George Lewis, society's leading solicitor and, like Sam, a Jew. Conscious that many an aristocrat was ruined by resorting to the services of West End usurers, Sir George branded Sam a 'curse to society and a danger to the community'. Yet to the poor of London, slum-born Sam was a benefactor, bequeathing money to establish accommodation at reasonable rents, and both he and his wife Ada were generous to deserving and appropriate charities.Although as a Jewish moneylender Sam could not be part of high society, he and Ada owned houses in Grosvenor Square, London, on the river at Maidenhead, and in Brunswick Terrace, Hove. Ada was a well-known Mayfair hostess, and the Lewises were seen at all the fashionable events of the season. After Sam's death Ada, the wealthiest widow in England, was received at court, travelled extensively, supported the arts (especially music), and, at the age of 60, remarried - in church - a Scots Guards officer less than half her age. But in her will she expressed the wish to be buried next to Sam, and they lie side by side in a Golders Green cemetery.Asked what he would like his epitaph to be, Sam replied, 'I lend to the lord and I give to the poor'. He saw himself as a latter-day Robin Hood.