Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted

Sir Marcus Samuel, Bt, ca. 1902.

Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted JP (5 November 1853 – 17 January 1927), known in later life as Sir Marcus Samuel, Bt between 1903 and 1921 and subsequently as The Lord Bearsted until 1925, was the founder of the Shell Transport and Trading Company, which was later restructured including a Holland-based company commonly referred to as Royal Dutch Shell.

Career

Samuel was born into a Jewish family from modern-day Iraq, in Whitechapel, London. His father, also used the name Marcus Samuel, ran a successful import-export business, M. Samuel & Co., trading with the coalition in the Far East, which Marcus carried on with his brother, Samuel Samuel. Marcus Samuel realised the potential of the oil trade during a trip to Bukharia, near the Black Sea in 1890, and ordered the construction of eight dedicated tankers, the first of which was Murex, which was under the command of Captain John R Coundon. His were the first such ships to satisfy the Suez Canal company of their safety, allowing him to ship his product to Bangkok and Singapore. In 1897 he formed Shell, after his first business, which sold painted seashells. He was knighted in 1898 for assisting in the salvage of HMS Victorious, which had grounded under questionable circumstances and was pulled to safety by the Shell tanker SS Pecten.

In 1907, Samuel's company combined with a "Dutch" company of the Netherlands to create the company today known as Royal Dutch Shell. M. Samuel & Co., having transformed over the years to a merchant bank, merged in 1965 with Philip Hill, Higginson, Erlangers Ltd to create Hill Samuel, which is now a part of Lloyds TSB.

Samuel was elected an Alderman of the London ward of Portsoken in 1891, Sheriff of the City of London in 1894, Lord Mayor of London from 1902 to 1903, and received the traditional Baronetcy in 1903. In recognition of his contribution to the British cause in World War I, he was created 1st Baron Bearsted of Maidstone in the County of Kent in the 1921 Birthday Honours.^[1] In 1925, he became 1st Viscount Bearsted. Lord Bearsted was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law (LLD) from the University of Sheffield during his lifetime.^[2] His son, Walter Horace Samuel, succeeded him both in his titles and as Chairman of the Shell Transport and Trading Company.

His country estate at The Mote in Maidstone was sold after his death to Maidstone Borough Council for use as a public park now known as Mote Park. The house has since been used as an orphanage and a nursing home and was commandeered by the British Army during the Second World War. It is now being converted into retirement housing.

Titles

Mr Marcus Samuel (1853–1898)
Sir Marcus Samuel (1898–1903)
Sir Marcus Samuel Bt. (1903–1921)
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Bearsted Bt. (1921–1925)
The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Bearsted Bt. (1925–1927)

Footnotes

↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 32346. p. 4529. 4 June 1921.
↑ "Person Page 11826". Darryl Lundy. thePeerage.com. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-19.

References

Biography, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Bearsted
Shell International history
Jewish Encyclopedia

Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Viscount Bearsted 1925 – 1927	Succeeded by Walter Horace Samuel
New creation	Baron Bearsted 1921 – 1927	Succeeded by Walter Horace Samuel
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of The Mote and Portland Place) 1903 – 1927	Succeeded by Walter Horace Samuel
Business positions
Preceded by new creation	Chairman of Shell Transport and Trading 1897-1921	Succeeded by Walter Horace Samuel

Chief Executives of Royal Dutch Shell

Pre-1946

Managing Director/ General MD of Royal Dutch Petroleum (1890-1946)	1890-1901 titled MD 1890–1892: Johannes Arnoldus de Gelder 1893–1900: Jean Baptiste August Kessler 1901–1902: Henri Wilhelm August Deterding 1902-1940 titled General MD 1902–1936: Henri Wilhelm August Deterding 1937–1940: Frits de Kok

Chairmen of Shell Transport & Trading (1897–1946)	1897–1921: Marcus Samuel 1921–1946: Walter Samuel

1946 to 2005

Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors

1946–1948 Guus Kessler
1949–1951 Barthold Theodoor Willem van Hasselt
1952–1965 John Hugo Loudon
1965–1970 Jan Brouwer
1970–1972 David Haven Barran
1972–1977 Gerrit Wagner
1977–1979 Carmichael Charles Peter Pocock
1979–1982 Dirk de Bruyne
1982–1985 Peter Brian Baxendell
1985–1992 Lodewijk Christiaan van Wachem
1992–1993 Peter Fenwick Holmes
1993–1998 Cor Herkströter
1998–2001 Mark Moody-Stuart
2001–2004 Philip Watts
2004–2005 Jeroen van der Veer

2005 – present

Chief Executives of Royal Dutch Shell	2005–2009 Jeroen van der Veer 2009–2013 Peter Voser 2014–present Ben van Beurden

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 33869309 LCCN: n2005062604 ISNI: 0000 0000 7102 2152 GND: 139307044 SUDOC: 127359060 BNF: cb16229311d (data)

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