Background
Samuel Morley was born on October 15, 1809, in Homerton, not then a part of London, the youngest son of a Nottingham hosier.
Businessman philanthropist politician
Samuel Morley was born on October 15, 1809, in Homerton, not then a part of London, the youngest son of a Nottingham hosier.
At an early age he worked for his father's business in London. On his father's retirement in 1840 he became practical head of the London concern, and when his brothers retired in 1855 sole owner. In 1860 he was sole owner also of the Nottingham business. Under excellent management the business grew rapidly into the largest of the kind in the world, with huge mills at Nottingham and in Leicestershire and Derbyshire employing thousands of hands. In 1865 Morley was elected M. P. for Nottingham, and from 1868-1885 he sat for one of the Bristol divisions. He was a strong Liberal and a whole-hearted supporter of Gladstone, who in 1885 offered him a peerage. He was one of the principal proprietors of the London Daily News, the chief Liberal organ of the period, and it was owing to him that its price was reduced. Like his father before him, he was a Dissenter, and for many years he strongly opposed every scheme of state interference with education. He was keenly interested in the temperance movement, and during the closing years of his life his public energies were chiefly confined to its promotion.
Samuel Morley died on September 5, 1886.
Samuel Morley was a remarkable hosiery manufacturer, politician and philanthropist, whose charitable activities were widespread.
A statue of Morley was erected in Bristol in 1887 and Morley Congregationalist Church was built in the city in 1889. A memorial was also placed in Nottingham Arboretum and a statue in Market Street, Nottingham.
Samuel Morley was married to Rebekah Maria Hope, they had three children.
