Eliot de Pass

Sir Eliot Arthur de Pass (16 March 1851 – 11 July 1937) was an English merchant in the West Indies. He was the founder of EA de Pass & Co., which specialised in trading sugar and coffee from Jamaica.

Early life and family De Pass was born in London into a Sephardic Jewish family, the son of Abraham Daniel de Pass, of Norfolk, and his wife, Judith Lazarus, of Kingston, Jamaica. The family's original surname, Shalom, was translated to the Spanish word for "peace" and became Paz. It was anglicised to Pass upon his ancestors' arrival in England in the 1660s. He was descended from Elias de Paz, who was among the original 12 Jewish brokers admitted to the privileges of the Royal Exchange, London in 1697.

Education and career He was educated privately in Brighton and in Germany before beginning his own career, first as special commissioner and attorney of the Windsor and Annapolis Railway in Nova Scotia, 1873–78. He then joined the family business of trade and became a merchant in the West Indies. He was an active member of the West India Committee and served as its chairman from 1925 to 1936, and then served as president until his death. He also served as governor of the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, and was vice-president of the British Empire Producers' Association.

Personal life

In 1883, de Pass married Beatrice de Mercado, the daughter of Isaac Henry de Mercado of Kingston, and had four sons, Harold, Frank, Eliot, and John, and one daughter, Marjorie.

His second son, Frank (1887–1914), was the first Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross, which was awarded to him posthumously for conspicuous bravery.

Death He died at home in London, aged 86.