Constituency : Barnstaple 1874-9, Sheffield 1879-80, Edinburgh 1882-85, Brigg 1886-94
Samuel took the second seat at Barnstaple from the Tories.
Samuel was the son of a Methodist minister at Gateshead. The family moved to Sheffield where his father founded Wesley College; Samuel was the first pupil registered in 1838. He became a barrister.
Samuel resigned his Barnstaple seat to contest the by-election at Sheffield following the death of John Roebuck. He won but was defeated by 40 votes in the general election just four months later. He was briefly in the running to succeed Robert Lowe at London University but withdrew his candidature. He got back in at a by-election at Edinburgh in 1882 but returned to Sheffield to contest Hallam in 1885. He was defeated but won at Brigg in 1886.
In 1891 the London Echo described him as "a naturally old fashioned raucous Radical, a prematurely old man of sixty, wearing the white cloth of the Nonconformist preacher, venerable in his beard , and using Parliament professionally. His oratory at its best is platitudinous, with windy suspirations and forced breathing, and with sound and fury signifying nothing".
In 1893 Samuel spoke at a political meeting in Bedford along with Lord Kimberley who commented, "His buffoonery was amusing".
Samuel resigned his seat in 1894 in order to become Recorder of Sheffield. He later became a judge of the Sheffield County Court.
He died in 1902 aged 72.
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