Lord Mancroft was the eldest son of Benjamin Samuel, of Norwich (19 April 1840 – 16 April 1890) and Rosetta Haldinstein (died 29 April 1907, daughter of Philip Haldinstein and wife Rachel Soman), and grandson of Michael Samuel (1799–1857), all of them Ashkenazi Jews.
He was educated at Norwich School.
He was Lord Mayor of Norwich from 1912 to 1913 and was made an Honorary Freeman of the City of Norwich in 1928. He was also chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons in 1930 and 1931. Samuel was created a Baronet, of Mancroft, in the City of Norwich in the County of Norfolk, on 15 January 1932, and on 23 December 1937, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Mancroft, of Mancroft (referring to the area around Street Peter Mancroft church) in the City of Norwich.
He was also to become a Conservative government minister.
The papers of the 1st Lord Mancroft are in the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
31st United Kingdom Parliament. 32nd United Kingdom Parliament. 33rd United Kingdom Parliament.
34th United Kingdom Parliament.
35th United Kingdom Parliament. 36th United Kingdom Parliament.
37th United Kingdom Parliament]
In 1918 he was elected as Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Farnham, a seat he would hold until 1937, and served under Stanley Baldwin as secretary for overseas trade from 1924 to 1927 and as financial secretary to the treasury from 1927 to 1929.
