Jump to content

Ellis Abraham Franklin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ellis Abraham Franklin
Personal life
Born(1822-10-05)October 5, 1822
Liverpool, England
DiedMay 11, 1909(1909-05-11) (aged 86)
London, England
SpouseAdelaide Montagu
Children2 sons (Arthur Ellis Franklin & Leonard Benjamin Franklin), 1 daughter (Beatrice Franklin), and 4 others
Alma materhigher ed. (post-secondary) schools only
OccupationMerchant banker
Religious life
ReligionJudaism

Ellis Abraham Franklin (October 5, 1822 – May 11, 1909) was a British Jew who worked as a merchant banker and was involved in philanthropy.

Biography

[edit]

Franklin was born on October 5, 1822 in Liverpool during Sukkot. His family would move out to Manchester. He would learn at Manchester Grammar School, where he and his brothers would get in trouble due to not giving up their Jewish beliefs.[1] His father was Abraham Franklin (1784–1854), a silversmith and licensed navy agent. He came from a prominent Anglo-Jewish family, originally Fraenkel, that arrived in England from Breslau, Prussia, in the 18th century.[2]

At one point his family considered encouraging Franklin's talents as an artist, but instead he learned from his father's banking business, at one point learning Spanish from a professor at Owen's College in preparation of potentially assisting his brother who was working in the Jamaica branch.[1]

Franklin joined the merchant bank that had been established by Samuel Montagu, married Montagu's sister (Adelaide), and became a partner in 1862.[3][4] He was married on July 9, 1856 and would ultimately have 7 children.[1]

Franklin's oldest son, Arthur Ellis Franklin (1857–1938), was a British merchant banker and senior partner of A. Keyser & Co.[2] His other son, Sir Leonard Benjamin Franklin (1862–1944), was a barrister, banker and Liberal Party politician. His daughter, Beatrice Franklin, married Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, the Liberal politician who was party leader from 1931-35.[citation needed]

In 1885, Franklin founded a shelter in Whitechapel called "the poor Jew's temporary shelter". He operated it with his business partner Montagu. The shelter provided 2 meals a day and allowed individuals to stay up to two weeks under its roof.[5]

Early into the 20th century, Franklin retired from their banking enterprise.[6]

Franklin died on May 11, 1909 in London.[1] Upon his death, he left an estate valued at GB£511,000.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Kaufmann, David (1915). Records of the Franklin Family and Collaterals. G. Routledge & Sons.
  2. ^ a b c William D. Rubinstein (22 February 2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 294–295. ISBN 978-0-230-30466-6. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. ^ The Dictionary of National Biography: Supplement. Macmillan. 1920.
  4. ^ Post Office London Directory, 1895. [Part 6: Postal, City, etc.]. Kelly & Co. Limited.
  5. ^ Alderman, Geoffrey (1998). Modern British Jewry. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820759-7.
  6. ^ The Bankers', Insurance Managers', and Agents' Magazine. Waterlow & Sons Limited. 1903.