MS 203 Papers of Hon. P.E.H.Samuel

Philip Ellis Herbert Samuel

Philip Ellis Herbert Samuel (1900-c.1992) was the second son of Herbert Louis Samuel, first Viscount Samuel, and his wife, Beatrice, daughter of Ellis A.Franlin. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. From 1923 to 1929 he worked for Raphael Tuck and Sons Ltd., publishers; and from 1930 until 1939 he acted as a purchasing agent and consultant on office equipment, supplies and methods, as well as running the P.S. Secretarial Centre, a secretarial bureau in High Holborn. In 1939 he went to Hong Kong and Shanghai as a confidential office mananger for Sir Elly Kadoorie and Sons, where he remained until interned by the Japanese at the fall of Hong Kong in 1941. He was a prisoner of war until 1945, being transferred to Japan for factory work. After the war he continued his interest in social work and welfare activities, acting as secretary/organiser of the London Association for the Welfare of the Physically Handicapped, 1951-6 and the London Branch organiser for the Save the Children Fund.

Philip Samuel was editor of the Bulletin of the Inter-University Jewish Federation of Great Britain and Ireland and affiliated student societies, 1922, the publication of which was associated with the Jewish Guardian newspaper; treasurer of the Union of Jewish Literary Societies, c.1924-9; a manager of Bayswater Jewish Schools; a member of the executive of the Joint British Committee for the Reconstruction of East European Jewry (ORT-OZE), c.1931-6; on the committee of the 'Ohel Leah' Synagogue in Hong Kong, 1941; and involved in running the Brady Clubs and camps.

About the collection

Parts of the collection have been drawn from the papers of his parents, Lord and Lady Samuel.

Personalia and literary works, including the typescript of a novel, "Time is come around : a tale of Hong Kong centenary", late 1940s, and Philip Samuel's recollections (4 files)

Business correspondence and papers relating to the Association of Jewish Youth, Bayswater Jewish Schools, the Inter-University Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, the Joint British Committee for the Reconstruction of East European Jewry (ORT-OZE), and the Union of Jewish Literary Societies, 1922-38 (13 files)

Letters from Samuel to his mother, Beatrice, Viscountess Samuel, 1909-41 (32 files); letters to his father, Herbert Louis Samuel, first Viscount Samuel, 1917-45 (16 files); letters from his parents, 1916-41, including correspondence from Jerusalem when Lord Samuel was High Commissioner for Palestine, 1922-6 (2 files)

Letters to Philip Samuel, 1925-48, including Hong Kong and Shanghai correspondence, with photographs, and the rules and regulations of 'Ohel Leah' Synagogue, Hong Kong, 1940-1 (2 files)

Papers of Lord and Lady Samuel, and Lord Samuel's private secretary, Miss D.Seimons, relating to Philip Samuel's capture and internment by the Japanese, 1941-2, and his release in 1945 (3 files)

Date range:

c.1909-92

Former references:

A959, A1016, A1029

Size:

6 boxes