Ellis Abraham Franklin
Ellis Abraham Franklin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Liverpool, England |
| Died | May 11, 1909 (aged 86) London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant banker, philanthropist |
| Known for | Partnership at Samuel Montagu & Co.; founding "the poor Jew's temporary shelter" in Whitechapel |
Ellis Abraham Franklin (October 5, 1822 – May 11, 1909) was a British Jewish merchant banker and philanthropist.
Biography
Franklin was born in Liverpool in 1822, and his family subsequently relocated to Manchester. He received his education at Manchester Grammar School, where he and his siblings upheld their Jewish heritage despite facing difficulties. His father, Abraham Franklin (1784–1854), belonged to a distinguished Anglo-Jewish lineage originally from Breslau, Prussia, and worked as a silversmith and licensed navy agent.
Though his family initially envisioned an artistic path for him, Franklin chose to enter the banking sector alongside his father. To support his brother’s work in the Jamaica branch, he pursued Spanish studies at Owen's College. Later, he became affiliated with the merchant bank Samuel Montagu & Co., established by Samuel Montagu, whose sister Adelaide became Franklin’s wife. He attained partnership status in 1862 and fathered seven children.
His oldest son, Arthur Ellis Franklin (1857–1938), rose to become a senior partner at the merchant bank A. Keyser & Co. Another son, Sir Leonard Benjamin Franklin (1862–1944), distinguished himself as a barrister, banker, and Liberal politician. Franklin's daughter Beatrice married Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, a leader of the Liberal Party.
In 1885, together with Montagu, Franklin helped establish "the poor Jew's temporary shelter" in Whitechapel, an institution dedicated to providing meals and short-term accommodation for those in need. He retired early in the twentieth century and passed away in London in 1909, leaving behind an estate valued at £511,000.