The Early History of the Spielmann Family, 1828—1948

From Poland to Paddington: the earlyhistory of the Spielmann family, 1828-1948* RUTH SEBAG-MONTEFIORE May I say how delighted I am to give theMagnus Lecture, which was founded by my paternal grandfather Sir Philip Magnus inmemory of his wife Katie, an author best known for her book Outlines ofJewish History. I have called my talk 'From Poland to Paddington'. It is the story of my maternal great-grandfather Adam Spielmann1 (1812-69) and his three sons: my grandfather Sir Isidore Spielmann, who was President of the Jewish Historical Society from 1902 to 1904, Sir Meyer Spielmann, and untitied, but perhaps the ablest of the three, the youngest son, Marion. I must warn you that the family's first names are muddlingly repetitive: spread over two generations are two Isidores, twoMeyers and twoMarions, one ofwhom ismale, the other female. I have tried to clarifymatters by calling them the first or the second. There is also a confusing amount of intermarriage within the family. Please bear with me. As a result of the three partitions of Poland between 1772 and 1795, together with the decisions of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the northern portion of Poland passed into the possession of Prussia and the central provinces were made into a kingdom by Alexander of Russia. Poland has always been restive under foreign domination and one instance of this was uprisings which broke out in Warsaw in 1830. The fall ofWarsaw to the Russians led to a mass emigration of thousands of Poles, mainly to England, France and America. Among the emigrants to England were three brothers, Isidor,Meyer and Adam Spielmann, who came from a village called Schocken, near Posen (now Posnan). They were the sons of Lewin andMichele (neeMeyer) Spielmann, who remained behind in Poland with their two daughters. Lewin was described on his youngest son's marriage certifi? cate as a merchant (possibly a corn merchant, given the nature of Posen's chief industry). It is open to question whether the familybore the name of Spielmann originally. Germanization of Jewish names became obligatory towards the end of the 18th centurywhen the thirdpartition of Poland ceded Warsaw to Prussia. A spielmann is a 'musician' or 'minstrel',while a spieler is a 'gambler', 'player' or 'artist'.Drawing * Magnus Lecture delivered to the Society on 9 July 1992. 237 Jewish Historical Society of England is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Jewish Historical Studies ® www.jstor.org Ruth Sebag-Montefiore a discreet veil over gamblers, perhaps my first Spielmann forebear was a lover of music and art, and to this his mind turned instinctivelywhen choosing a new surname. Certainly to this day some of Adam's direct descendants have a love of art amounting almost to a passion. Adam, the founder of the English branch of the family, arrived in this country at the age of sixteen. He was accompanied by his eldest brother, Isidor the first,who shordy afterwards emigrated to America. Adam appears to have gone straight to Liverpool and to have been welcomed by the close-knit Jewish community there. By 1839, when he was twenty-seven, he records that he was 'established in business' and by 1843 he had a firm of his own: the bullion exchange office of Adam Spielmann & Co operated in South Castie Street, close to the docks. The early movements of the middle brother, Meyer the first, are unknown until he appears inLiverpool in 1843 as a partner in the firm.He eventually settled in Paris where he acted as Adam's agent. The year 1845 was an eventful one for Adam. In April, aged thirty-three,he moved to London; on 17 August he married Marian, the twenty-three-year-old on daughter of Louis Samuel, a watchmaker and silversmith of Liverpool, and 27 October he became a British subject. The first step of the journey from Poland to Paddington had been taken. Adam's parents-in-law, Louis and Henrietta Samuel, had eleven children of whom ten survived. The second child,Marian the first, as we have seen, married Adam Spielmann. The fourth, Edwin, was a co-founder, with his brother Mon? tagu, of the banking and bullion firm of Samuel Montagu & Co. (Edwin married Clara Yates and had five children, among whom were Mabel, who married her first cousin, Adam and Marian's son Marion the second; Sir Stuart Samuel, Liberal MP forWhitechapel, 1900-16; and Herbert, ist Viscount Samuel, leader of the Liberal Party, 1944-55, and High Commissioner for Palestine 1920-5.) The seventh of Louis and Henrietta's children was Adelaide, who married Ellis Franklin: their daughter, Beatrice, married her first cousin Herbert Samuel. The as eighth child, Montagu Samuel, reversed the order of his names, and Samuel Montagu became the firstLord Swaythling. Samuel Montagu began his business career at the age of thirteen in the firm of Adam Spielmann & Co. Four years later, failing to obtain the promotion he wanted, he left the firm to become manager of the London branch of the French bank, Monteaux. Here again his youth stood in the way of promotion, so he own resigned. Still under age, he approached his father for funds to start his business, and his father, a cautious man, agreed to advance money to his elder son - - Edwin a money changer in Liverpool on condition that both brothers should open in London in partnership. Edwin was in effect a sleeping partner and Montagu the driving force in the banking and bullion firm that came to be known as Samuel Montagu & Co. Soon after S. M. & Co was established a quarrel broke out between Adam and 238 From Poland to Paddington Plate i Adam Spielmann (1812-69), perhaps by Rosenthal. 239 Ruth Sebag-Montefiore 240 From Poland to Paddington his former head clerk, Samuel Montagu. Family hearsay has it thatMontagu wrote round to Adam's clients urging them to change firms.Hijacking your brother-in law's clients is not a sin, but it is not a virtue either. Family feelings ran high. Letters from Adam's grandchildren, written in the 1950s to Percy Spielmann when he was writing the family's early history, refer to thematter as 'the Feud', and after reading them I am leftwondering why Adam appointed Montagu to be his children's guardian. Audi alterantpartem. In old age Montagu used to say he would have been satisfied to have remained in Adam's firm if he had seen any chance of earning more than ?300 a year. Either way Adam must have regretted his lack of prescience, forhis young brother-in-law proved to be a financial genius. For the first seven years of theirmarried lifeAdam and Marian lived over his new office at 10 Lombard Street. The firm developed steadily. In 1851, the year of theGreat Exhibition, Adam issued a remarkable chart of theMoney of all Nations according toCourse ofExchange, a copy of which is in the Bodleian Library. Itwas something new in salesmanship, and reflects, perhaps, the chutzpah of this pro? gressive newcomer whose innovative stylemust have raised many eyebrows and hackles among the old-established Lombard Street banking houses. In 1856 Adam Spielmann & Co attained the status of a fullydeveloped bank, for after that date its name appears in classified lists of banks for the firsttime. Nine years later, in 1865, Adam retired from business and his firmwas taken over by - one of the new joint-stock companies the London, Hamburg and Continental Bank. The following year, 1866, the London, Hamburg and Continental Bank went into liquidation and ceased to trade. Neither the Bank of England nor the British Bankers Association were able to supply any details beyond this stark fact. Adam's moves from over-the-shop in Lombard Street to Camden Cottages, NWi, and from there toMecklenburgh Square, Bloomsbury, reflect his rising prosperity. On his retirement he made his lastmove toHereford House, inwhat was then known as Old Brompton, nowWest Brompton. The previous tenant had been Dion Boucicault, the actor, fromwhom Adam bought a small collection of Dutch and Flemish pictures when he purchased the lease. Itwas a large, red-brick house, built around 1815, and the two-and-a-half acre grounds were attractively designed with a sunk garden, a pond with an ornamental bridge and a wooded area. Adam's children remembered an acacia tree that was home to a pair of nightingales. To thewest of the property was a three-acre estate called Coleherne House (an earlier house existed on the same site in 1647). During Adam's occupancy of Hereford House his neighbour in Coleherne House was Edmund Tattersall, head of the bloodstock auctioneers. Both these houses were demol? ished in 1900 tomake way forColeherne Court, a large block of flats built around three sides of a square, enclosing a central garden. Adam was liberal in politics and, like his wife, was deeply religious. When his weak heart prevented him walking to synagogue he built a small private one in his garden. A rabbi walked there each sabbath after his own service to officiate for him 241 Ruth Sebag-Montefiore and his growing family.The synagogue stood on high ground above the pond and had room for some thirtypeople. Itwas a wooden structure with a small steeple and much glass along the sides. The subsequent tenant, Leopold Seligman, used it as a studio, and when the new Coleherne Court was sufficiendy completed to be partly occupied comments were heard about the 'odd looking summerhouse' which was demolished with the laying out of the grounds. Marian Spielmann the firstdied in 1858 of atrophy of the heart.

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