David Lewis (English merchant)

The founder of Lewis's department store in Liverpool, in 1879 he conceived the idea of what is claimed to be the world's first Christmas grotto, entitled 'Christmas Fairyland'.

[2] Settling in Liverpool in 1840 and changing his surname from Levy to Lewis, he worked for the tailors and outfitters Benjamin Hyam & Co.[3] By 1856 he had accumulated enough capital to start his own business as a boys' clothier in Ranelagh Street.

He headed the local subscription list for the persecuted Jews of Russia with a donation of £1,000 ($5,000), and gave large sums in support of the synagogue.

He died in 1885 and is buried next to his wife Bertha in Deane Road cemetery, Kensington, Liverpool.

At his death he bequeathed very large sums (nearly a half-million sterling) for the erection of hospitals and other philanthropic institutions, which constitute some of the most important in Liverpool.