Goldsmid, John Louis (1789 -1835)

John Louis Goldsmid was the eldest son of Benjamin Goldsmid, Jewish bill broker of London and Roehampton in Surrey, and Jesse Solomons. Benjamin and his brother Abraham set up as bill brokers about 1777. They made a considerable fortune and became principal agents for the British Government and the East India Company. John Louis, was more interested in literature, settled in Edinburgh, and produced finely printed editions of rare tracts, with a particular interest in romances and early historical works. He married Louisa Boscawen de Visme, and the children of the marriage, a son and two daughters, took their mother's name of de Visme. John Louis Goldsmith's library "a most rare assemblage of romances of chivalry &c." was sold at auction in London by R.H. Evans 11 December 1815. This was probably the indirect effect of the bankruptcy of his father's firm, and the suicide of his uncle Abraham in 1810. The firm fought back and eventually repaid all their creditors.