Samuel Savage Lewis, son of William Jonas Lewis, surgeon, was born at Spital Square, Bishopsgate, London. His studies at St John's College, Cambridge, were interrupted by poor eyesight and he moved to Canada, farming from 1857-60. In 1864, with his sight improved through several operations, he re-entered St John's, moving in 1865 to Corpus Christi College. He was exhibitioner in 1866, then Mawson Scholar, and was made Fellow of Corpus in 1869, ordained deacon at Ely in 1872 and priest in 1873, and obtained FSA in 1872. From 1870 until his death, Lewis was College Librarian and from 1872-79, secretary of the Church Patronage Society.
Lewis travelled widely through Europe and the Middle East and was proficient in many languages. He was an antiquary and a collector, mainly of classical coins, gems and seals. Lewis married Agnes Smith on 12 December 1887, and they lived, along with Agnes's twin sister, first in Harvey Road, then, from March 1890, at ‘Castlebrae', Chesterton Lane. Lewis died suddenly, apparently of heart failure, on a train near Oxford, in 1891.
