Sampson Gideon
Sampson Gideon | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 1699 London Wall, London, England |
| Died | 17 October 1762 Belvedere House, near Erith, Kent, England |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, philanthropist |
| Known for | Underwriting Hanoverian government finances during the Jacobite rising of 1745; advocate of the Jewish Naturalisation Act 1753 |
Sampson Gideon (February 1699 – 17 October 1762) was a prominent British financier and philanthropist operating within the City of London during the Georgian era. He gained recognition primarily for underwriting the Hanoverian-aligned Whig administration's efforts to quell the Jacobite rising of 1745. Gideon emerged as a trusted advisor to the government, notably endorsing the Jewish Naturalisation Act 1753. Historian James Picciotto referred to him as the "Rothschild of his era" and regarded him as a fundamental figure in maintaining state credit.
Background
Sampson was born in London Wall as the second son of Rowland Gideon (originally Rohiel Abudiente), a merchant engaged in West Indies trade, and Esther de Porto, whose father was a diamond merchant based in Madras, India. His paternal grandfather, Moses Abudiente, was a Sephardic Jew born in Lisbon who later settled in Holstein near Hamburg, where Rowland was born. The Abudiente family belonged to the upper echelon of Sephardic planters in the West Indies, accumulating wealth through sugar plantations located in Barbados, Antigua, and Nevis, which depended on enslaved Africans and indentured servants for labor.
Upon moving to London, Rowland joined the ranks of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers in 1698, likely becoming among the first Jews granted status as a Freeman of the City of London. His acceptance was supported by his trading links to Barbados through Samuel Swynock, a Warden connected with Sephardic merchants allied with Oliver Cromwell. Additionally, Rowland held the position of Treasurer at Bevis Marks Synagogue during its establishment. Sampson had three sisters—Bara, Sara, and Rahel—and brothers-in-law who were active investors in London's stock market.
Finance
At age twenty, Gideon launched his financial career by speculating on lottery tickets, government bonds, and shares of the South Sea Company. By the 1730s, his dealings expanded to include securities from Britain, the Netherlands, and France alongside marine insurance contracts. Throughout the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748), he overcame prevalent antisemitism within London's finance sector by mobilizing funds from Jewish networks to aid the British Army. He became an influential consultant for both the Pelham government and the Bank of England on matters involving large-scale finance. His assets grew impressively from £1,500 in 1719 to £350,000 by 1759.
Beginning with an inheritance of £1,500 in 1720 (equivalent to £276,100 in 2019), Gideon rapidly expanded his capital base and attained sworn broker status in 1729 with £25,000 (£6.67 million in 2019). He served as both broker and intermediary in metal trading with the East India Company, joining fellow Sephardic financiers such as Abraham Mocatta, who specialized in metal brokerage.
The Swedish pro-Jacobite Hats administration invited British Sephardic Jews to participate in the Swedish East India Company, which also involved Scottish freemasons. In reaction, the British government promoted pro-Hanoverian freemasons like Joseph Salvador and Gideon to attract influential Scots into the East India Company as a countermeasure against Swedish Jacobite influence.
Gideon adeptly survived the South Sea Bubble collapse that ruined many contemporaries. He provided private financial backing and political support to Robert Walpole’s Whig government under Hanoverian rule. Early on, he financed efforts such as the War of Jenkins' Ear against Spain—a conflict that jeopardized Sephardi commercial interests due to Spain’s active Spanish Inquisition.
His most significant financial intervention occurred during the Jacobite rising of 1745, within the context of the War of the Austrian Succession, when he supported the Whig-Hanoverian government opposing Charles Edward Stuart’s Jacobite forces allied with Bourbon France. With much of Britain’s military engaged overseas, alarm spread through London following the Young Pretender’s arrival in Scotland. A banking crisis threatened both the Bank of England and government finances under the Pelham Ministry. While many investors liquidated their holdings, Gideon purchased government bonds at depressed prices and advised on a government loan issuance—taking a substantial portion himself. This action helped stabilize public finances; by the time Jacobite troops withdrew, Gideon had doubled his fortune. The Pelham-led Whig government and Hanoverian monarchy owed considerable gratitude for their financial security to his support.
Politics
Gideon aspired to create a lasting family legacy by acquiring substantial landed properties in England, akin to the later achievements of the Rothschild dynasty. Nevertheless, Jewish ownership of land was fraught with legal ambiguities. Jews had begun returning to England during the period of Cromwell after being barred for centuries. Despite their resettlement, nonconformists—including Jewish individuals—were subject to various limitations: they were barred from holding public office, entering the legal profession, receiving naval commissions, attending universities, or voting. Jews who had obtained denizen status needed parliamentary authorization to possess real estate. Capitalizing on their allegiance to the Hanoverian-Whiggish government, Gideon and Joseph Salvador effectively persuaded Henry Pelham to pass the Jewish Naturalisation Act of 1753, which alleviated these restrictions.
Death
Gideon passed away from dropsy at Belvedere House near Erith, Kent, in October 1762 at the age of 63, leaving behind a fortune valued at £350,000 (equivalent to several millions today). He left a legacy of £1,000 to the Sephardi Jewish congregation in London, conditioned upon his interment with dignity as a married man in their Mile End burial ground, although he had not married within the faith. In 2005, the Bexley Civic Society restored his monument at All Saints Church in Belvedere, honoring him as a financier of national importance who played a crucial role in funding the national debt and supporting military efforts during both the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 and the Seven Years' War. Among his descendants were notable individuals such as Hugh Childers, Chancellor under Gladstone; Erskine Childers, Irish nationalist and writer; and Sir Culling Eardley, who was instrumental in church construction.
Personal life
During the 1740s, Gideon married Jane Ermell (who died in 1778), daughter of Charles Ermell, and they had three children together. Sampson Gideon Sr. petitioned Prime Minister the Duke of Newcastle for a baronetcy but was refused due to his Jewish background. Nevertheless, his son—raised Anglican and educated at Eton College—was awarded a baronetcy in 1759 and subsequently elevated to Baron Eardley of Spalding in 1789.