Francis Goldsmid

Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid ( born May 1, 1808 † May 2, 1878 ) was an English politician.

Life

Francis Goldsmid was the eldest son of Isaac Lyon Goldsmid and later inherited the title of baronet. In 1833 he was admitted as the first Jew as a barrister. In 1860, he was at a by-election Member of Parliament for the district of Reading. Goldsmid was responsible for the founding of the Jews Free School in London.

Francis Goldsmid 1839 married his cousin Sophia Louisa Goldsmid. Since the marriage remained childless, the baronet title passed to his nephew Julian Goldsmid after his death. Goldsmid died on May 2, 1878 as a result of an accident. At the Waterloo station he fell when getting out of the slowly approaching train between track and car and suffered serious injuries, where he died shortly after being admitted to St. Thomas's Hospital.

Writings

• Remarks on the civil disabilities of British Jews. Colburn and Bentley, 1830
• The arguments advanced against the enfranchisement of the Jews, Considered in a series of letters. 1831
• A scheme of peerage reform, with Reasons for the scheme. Relfe and Fletcher, 1835
• Reply to the arguments advanced against the removal of the Remaining disabilities of the Jews. J. Murray, 1848