The Samuel family arrived in England from Posen on the continent in the late eighteenth century and settled in London. The family at the time consisted of Menachem Samuel, his wife Hannah Israel and son Nathan Meyer Samuel.  Two more sons were born in London, Louis in 1794 and Moses in 1795.  Young Louis took off for Liverpool at an early age to continue the family business of watch making and selling jewellery.  After the death of Menachem, Hannah followed her son Louis to Liverpool bringing Moses with her.  For a genealogical print out of the Samuel and other families and which does not include (as far as possible) living descendants click HERE. 

The two brothers, Louis and Moses, married two sisters, Hannah and Harriet Israel, who were also their maternal cousins.

For the purposes of this web site the genealogical connection to the Samuel family is as follows:  Moses Samuel was the father of Marian Samuel who married Jonas Reis whose youngest son Alphonse Louis Reis married Marian Dugan whose son Gordon Stanley Reis was the father of Allwynne Reis who married Frank Man. 

The two Samuel bothers would have been surprised at what their descendants achieved with the businesses which they started.  In the case of Louis whose son Montagu changed his name to Samuel Montagu, founded the bank that would bear his name.  He also became the second Jew in Britain to be raised to the peerage, to become Baron Swaythling.  Moses' business flourished after his death to become H. Samuel, the largest jewelry chain store in the United Kingdom.  Other branches of the family also changed their names so Edgar Samuel became Samuel Edgar, Lawrence Samuel became Lawrence Lawrence, and one group of Samuels became Hill. Some of the Israel family became Ellis and Helbert. John Helbert, who was Hannah and Harriet's second cousin, married Adeline Cohen daughter of Levi Barent Cohen.  Adeline's  sisters had also married well: Judith Cohen married Sir Moses Montefiore and Hannah married Nathan Mayer Rothschild. 

The main source of genealogical information for the Samuel, Reis, and other families comes from the book 'The Samuel  Family of Liverpool and London...'.  To view a signed title page of this book click HERE (<--- PDF).  Another useful source is 'The Cousinhood' by Chaim Bermant. Collateral families of Samuel and Reis include: de Pass, Emanuel, Goldsmid, Mocatta, Montefiore, Sebag-Montefiore, Rothschild, de Lyons, Helbert, Israel, Solomon, Salamans, Franklin, Davis, Cohen, Aaron, Jacobs, Lazarus, Waley, Lousada, etc.

The Samuel Family Graves at the Willesden Cemetery, London. These are the descendants of Moses Samuel.