& S. Budgett, based in Kingswood Bristol, covering a large area of Southern and Western England and South Wales, which outlasted him by over a century.

He led efforts to build chapels and schools where ordinary people could gain knowledge and learn the art of citizenship.

Shortly after his death a biography – The Successful Merchant, by William Arthur – was published which went into over forty editions in the UK alone and made him well known.

Robert Louis Stevenson, in his book Virginibus Puerisque, mentions Samuel Budgett in passing, apparently confident that he requires no introduction.

[2] NOTE: Both Samuel Budgett and his biographer William Arthur were devout Methodists at a time when Methodism was very strong in the UK.

His father's first wife had died and he had married again, Samuel being the eldest son of this second marriage, at Whatley near Frome, in 1788, to Elizabeth (Betsy) Budgett (1767–1831).

He saw that if the man had first offered one or two genuine bargains, this would have got his mother's attention and "hooked" her for other sales, This became one of his principles of business.

Then six months later, Henry went back on his earlier decision and re-instated Samuel as apprentice, not as an offer but insisting that the indentures gave him the right to demand his return.

Although he was happy in his new position and his employer offered to increase his pay, Samuel felt bound to his brother and obediently returned.

[11] At this point it turned out that Henry had lost money in speculation, although his main business was prospering.

Briefly, against his brother's misgivings, he started to sell common items to outlying shops where the price difference made it worthwhile.

Having mastered that, the trade was grown carefully and slowly, adding new commodities for old customers, visiting larger shops in larger towns, travelling further away, carefully recruiting travellers and revisiting, in a relaxed manner, the fancy shops which had previously refused him.

[14] From the start Samuel had very clear principles about how to run a business and carefully designed rules for employees.

If a man was in fault and confessed then he was quick to forgive but if he dissembled then Samuel would get the truth and then his rebuke could be tremendous, depending on the gravity of the offence.

[32] When Henry Budgett began to trade in Kingswood, it was a lawless place with a labyrinth of lanes impossible to navigate without a guide and unsafe to pass alone even in daylight.

Henry began a campaign to make the place a bit more civilised, gradually gaining support from other people in and around Bristol.

[34] One Sunday evening after preaching, Samuel passed a group of youths, wild, rough and ignorant and he persuaded them to come to tea next day at Kingswood chapel.

Samuel made close enquiries and learned that the main cause was bills in connection with his wife's illness.

He then spent most of the day personally visiting the creditors and persuading them to accept half, reminding them that God had forgiven them their own debts to Him.

"[37] He believed that happiness and virtue were more important than anything else and that both could be found at the same time through a constant, open dialogue with God but not otherwise.

[40] In the diary which he maintained he wrote, "April 13th....I feel that every thing which has been well done and prospered is that in which I was prompted and guided and assisted by my heavenly Father, and that which failed was when I leaned upon my own efforts and endeavours and then they proved weak and powerless.

Arthur (who was an Irishman) tells us that he had never seen such a large collective expression of grief, even in Ireland, except for Paris in 1848, at the mass funeral of those killed in the battles of June.

They had children as follows: James Smith Budgett (1823–1906) who married Mary Bolton Farmer on 18 October 1849.

William Arthur, presumably quoting a member of the family, wrote, "Frank, vivacious, open, with a clear head, a quick glance, a commanding look, prompt, firm action, a hearty laugh, a mellow voice, and a musical taste which .... would sometimes make the place joyful....".

[50] After Samuel lost his appeal in the case Billing vs Brogden, he left the family firm, they moved to a modest house in Beckenham and he started his own business in London.

Sarah Ann Budgett (1832–1906) who married Edward Ebenezer Meakin (1838–1897) on 29 November 1864, Calcutta.

Edward Ebenezer founded the Times of Morocco, the first English language newspaper, because he was horrified at the corruption and maltreatment of the poor by the rulers and expatriates.

Sarah and Edward's oldest daughter, Annette Mary was a gifted writer and traveller, known best for her book "The Ribbon of Iron" describing her journey on the Trans-Siberian railway with her mother in 1900.

Edward and Sarah's youngest son, Sidney, emigrated to Canada but joined the forces in World War I, was seriously wounded and suffered from shell shock.

In the United States there were editions by many publishers, including: In the Preface, Arthur says, "The design of this volume is to furnish a work wherein an actual and a remarkable life is traced in relation to Commerce.... to be a friendly, familiar ‘’book for the busy'’, to which men from the counting-house or the shop might turn, feeling that it concerned them, and for which they might possibly be the better here and hereafter."