10. Samuel Morley was one of 19th century England’s richest businessmen but also a fair employer, abolitionist and a generous funder of educational projects for the poor
Writing in the 1870s, an observer of society life in Britain called Samuel Morley “one of the leading merchant princes and philanthropists of the century”. And the writer was correct on both counts. The Englishman was indeed one of the finest business minds of his time. He made a fortune in the wool business, while also earning himself a reputation as a fair employer and generous giver.
Morley was born in 1809, the youngest son of a Nottingham wool merchant. He went into the family business at an early age. Times were good and in 1860, his father and his brothers retired. Morley preferred to carry on, however, and took sole charge of the company. Under his guidance, the business grew rapidly, and he became very rich. Perhaps unusually for that time, his wealth was not built on the back of others’ misery. Morley was known as a fair employer with a keen interest in the wellbeing of the working man.
It was this interest in social justice that led Morley to philanthropy. He used his private fortune to establish schools and colleges in London, Bristol and Nottingham. Notably, he focused on adult education, hoping to give working men the chance to improve themselves. Alongside his generous giving, Morley was also a prominent voice in the campaign to abolish the slave trade. When he died in September of 1886, memorials were erected in several British cities, testament to the high regard in which he was held.