Samuel Bewley

Samuel Bewley (21 April 1764 – 8 November 1837) was an Irish businessman, silk merchant and philanthropist. Along with his son Charles, he founded the company Bewley's.

Life Samuel Bewley was born in Mountmellick, County Laois on 21 April 1764. His parents were Thomas (1719–95) and Susanna Bewley (née Pim). The family were Quakers. Bewley married Elizabeth Fayle, with whom he had 3 daughters, and 10 sons. He lived at Meath Street, William Street and Rockville, County Dublin. He died on 8 November 1837.

Career Bewley was most likely an apprentice to a Dublin silk merchant, before establishing his own silk merchant business. He worked with his brother, John (1754–1830), in cotton manufacture from 1796 to around 1804. From 1826, Bewley was a ship owner, trading with Barbados, the Levant, and North America from where he imported dye stuffs and drugs including liquorice paste, opium, silkworm gut, and valonia. From 1820, Bewley was involved in the revival of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, serving as a council member and treasurer from 1820 to 1837. He drafted numerous reports from the chamber, and was seen as a unifying member of the council. Bewley represented the chamber at a number of parliamentary committees, such as the fourth commission of inquiry into the revenue arising in Ireland in 1822. In 1822, he was a founding shareholder of the National Insurance Company, serving as one of the 3 treasurers between 1822 and 1824. He was a director and major shareholder of the Mining Company of Ireland.