Herbert Louis Samuel 1st Viscount Samuel

Herbert Louis Samuel Samuel, 1st Viscount 1870-1963, British statesman. Entering Parliament as a Liberal in 1902, he was postmaster general (1910-14, 1915-16) and home secretary (1916). He lost his seat in Parliament in 1918 but served as first British high commissioner in Palestine (1920-25) and chairman of the royal commission of inquiry into the coal industry (1925-26). He played an important role in negotiating an end to the general strike of 1926. In the Commons again (1929-35), Samuel was home secretary (1931-32) and leader of the Liberal party (1931-35). He was created a peer in 1937. Samuel's writings include Practical Ethics (1935), Belief and Action: An Everyday Philosophy (1937), and In Search of Reality (1957).

Bibliography: See his memoirs (1945).

Samuel, Sir Herbert Louis, 1st Viscount Samuel of Mount Carmel and Toxteth (b. 6 Nov. 1870, d. 5 Feb. 1963). British Liberal leader 1931–5 Born in Liverpool, and educated at Oxford. He was elected to Parliament for the Liberal Party to represent Cleveland in 1902, and entered the Cabinet in 1909 as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was Foreign Secretary under Asquith in 1916, but refused to serve under Lloyd George. He lost his seat in 1918, and was high commissioner of Palestine in 1920–5. In 1925–6, he headed the Royal Commission on the coal industry. He returned to Parliament in 1929 and, as Liberal leader, was Foreign Secretary in the National Government in 1931–2. He resigned in protest against the protectionist Ottawa Agreements, and lost his seat in 1935.