Samuel Hawkins Napier was born in 1837 in Scotland.

He was a prospector and political figure in New Brunswick. He immigrated to Bonaventure, Quebec, at an early age, and shortly afterward, to Bathurst, New Brunswick, where he grew up and attended public school. In 1857, he worked his way to the goldfields of Australia aboard the New Brunswick clipper Marco Polo. With his brother Charles, they discovered the largest recorded gold nugget, weighing 54 kilograms. In England, the nugget was named Blanche Barkley in honour of the daughter of Governor Barkley of Victoria, and the two New Brunswick brothers, now rich and famous, were granted an audience with Queen Victoria. The nugget was purchased by the Bank of England for $60,000 and it was broken up. Before it was demolished, a replica was made and is still on display in the Memorial Branch of the British Museum, London, England. Napier returned to Bathurst and was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing the County of Gloucester from 1870 to 1874. In 1896, after losing his fortune in speculations, he moved to Ottawa and worked with a timber company operating on the Gatineau River.

About 1859, he married Margaret Anne Brown (1836–). He died in June 1902, in Ottawa Valley, Ontario.