Emanuel Solomon

Emanuel Solomon
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for West Adelaide
In office
1862–1865
Member of the South Australian Legislative Council
In office
1867–1871
Personal details
Born 1800
London, England
Died 3 October 1873
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Resting place West Terrace Cemetery
Relations Judah Moss Solomon, nephew
Religion Judaism

Emanuel Solomon (1800 – 3 October 1873) was a businessman and politician in the early days of the Colony of South Australia

History

Emanuel was born in London, a son of Samuel Moss Solomon (ca.1769 – 13 May 1842) and his first wife Elizabeth née Moses (ca.1772–ca.1814). He and his brother Vaiben Solomon (1802 – 21 June 1860) were transported to Sydney and served time for larceny, arriving on 1 May 1818 aboard the Lady Castlereagh[1]

He arrived in South Australia in 1837 and was one of the founders of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation.[1]

He founded the Queen's Theatre, Adelaide with brother Vaiben and occasional involvement of nephew Judah Moss Solomon (1818–1880), father of Vaiben Louis Solomon.

In 1848 he and Matthew Smith purchased 85 acres (34 ha) of land on Spencer Gulf and subdivided it as a township to be known as Port Pirie. Little development occurred on site and by the late 1860s there were only three woolsheds on the riverfront.[2] It was later re-surveyed and became Port Pirie's suburb Solomontown, commonly referred to as "Solly".

Solomon is commemorated for the generosity he provided to Mary MacKillop.[3] In November 1871 he gave the Sisters of St. Joseph, who had been evicted from their convent, a house rent free.[4]

In December 1871 he hosted a reception for 500 early settlers of South Australia to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the foundation of the colony.[5] Photographer Henry Jones took photographs of most if not all of those who were invited to attend. He presented a large composite photograph to Solomon, and in 1910 another was purchased from Jones by T. R. Bowman and donated to the Public Library for display in the entrance foyer.

Politics

He was elected to the seat of West Adelaide in the South Australian Legislative Assembly in November 1862, with James Crabb Verco as his colleague, and resigned in 1865. He was elected to the Legislative Council in 1867 and retired in September 1871.

Family

He married fellow convict Mary Ann Wilson on 6 November 1826.[1] On 12 April 1844 he married Cecilia Adelaide Smith ( – 24 July 1852) who died in Sydney; that same year he married a third time, to Catherine Abrahams (ca.1819 – 2 July 1901). Their children included:

His oldest brother Moss Solomon (ca.1796 – 3 February 1849) was father of Judah Moss Solomon and grandfather of Vaiben Louis Solomon.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eric Richards, 'Solomon, Emanuel (1800–1873)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/solomon-emanuel-4623/text7613, published in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 14 September 2014.
  2. Erik Eklund, Mining Towns: making a living, making a life, New South Publishing, Sydney, 2012, p. 137
  3. "Canonisation News Articles; National Portrait Gallery shows Mary". News articles. SOSJ (marymackillop.org.au). Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  4. "Miscellaneous". Northern Argus (Clare, SA : 1869 - 1954). Clare, SA: National Library of Australia. 3 November 1871. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  5. "The Old Colonists' Banquet". South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1868 - 1881). Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 30 December 1871. p. 9. Retrieved 14 September 2014. An interesting list.
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