Samuel Gurney (1786-1856), Philanthropist; known as 'The Banker's Banker'
Sitter in 8 portraits
Samuel Gurney began working at fourteen in the counting-house of his brother-in-law and fellow Quaker, Joseph Fry, a tea merchant and banker. Gurney inherited enough money from his father and father-in-law to negotiate a partnership with the bill-broking firm of Richardson and Overend in 1807. The firm's business grew rapidly, to the point where, by the early 1820s, it was the largest broker in London. In the panic of 1825 the firm lent money to many banking houses to tide over their difficulties, earning Gurney the nickname 'the bankers' banker'. During the later years of his life he devoted himself to philanthropic undertakings.
The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840
by Benjamin Robert Haydon
oil on canvas, 1841
On display in Room 20 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 599
Samuel Gurney ('They'll be done, we are obliged to thee')
by and published by Richard Dighton
hand-coloured etching, published 1820
NPG D32607
Samuel Gurney ('They'll be done, we are obliged to thee')
by and published by Richard Dighton, reissued by Thomas McLean
hand-coloured etching, published 1820
NPG D13329
Samuel Gurney ('They'll be done, we are obliged to thee')
by Richard Dighton, published by Thomas McLean
hand-coloured etching, published 1824
NPG D32608
after John Robert Dicksee
lithograph, mid 19th century
NPG D35077
'The Abolition of the Slave Trade' (The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840)
by John Alfred Vinter, after Benjamin Robert Haydon
lithograph, circa 1846-1864 (1841)
NPG D23546
'The Abolition of the Slave Trade' (The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840)
by John Alfred Vinter, after Benjamin Robert Haydon
lithograph, circa 1846-1864 (1841)
NPG D20516
'The Abolition of the Slave Trade' (The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840)
by John Alfred Vinter, after Benjamin Robert Haydon
lithograph, circa 1846-1864 (1841)
NPG D32033
Social Welfare and Reform
Groups
Anti-Slavery Society
Bankers and Financiers
Quakers
Thematic collections
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