Eliot de Pass

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. After his death, Sir Edward Davson eulogised him in The Times: == References ==