Background
Samuel Carnell was born in 1832 in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom.
Samuel Carnell was born in 1832 in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom.
Samuel Carnell was educated at Old Lenton, trained as a mechanic in the lace industry, and began photography after the invention of the collodion process.
In 1860 Samuel Carnell moved to New Zealand, where he was employed for several years by Crombie and Webster. He opened a studio at Nelson and, in 1869, in the town of Napier, he managed the business of Swan and Wrigglesworth, which he soon purchased and then sold in 1905. After having occupied a parliamentary seat in Napier as a Liberal (1894-96), Samuel Carnell was elected mayor of the city from 1904 to 1907.
Samuel Carnell was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. He won the Napier electorate with the swing to the Liberals in 1893, but lost in 1896 to the conservative candidate.