English inventor whose contributions included a wool-combing machine that helped to lower the price of clothing and a silk-combing machine that utilized silk waste.

In 1838 Samuel and his brother John opened a worsted mill in Manningham. He had worked on a machine to comb wool so that the long hairs would be separated from the short, thus allowing their use for different kinds of textiles, and eventually he evolved a successful machine from an earlier, inefficient device built by another inventor. Its success contributed greatly to the development of Australian sheep farming. In time he had nine combing mills operating at once—five in England, one in Germany, and three in France. In 1855 he began to direct his efforts toward the utilization of waste silk. After 10 years and great expense, he developed a machine for making silk waste into goods that could compete with those manufactured from the perfect cocoon; moreover, the products could be sold at many times the cost of production. His velvet loom for making piled fabrics was another important textile machine.

He was created Baron Masham in 1891.