Julian Salomons

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Sir
Julian Salomons
KC
Sir Julian Salomons in his later years, wearing a black jacket, waistcoat, tie and winged collar.
Sir Julian Salomons
Chief Justice of New South Wales
In office
12 November 1886 – 27 November 1886
Preceded bySir James Martin
Succeeded bySir Frederick Darley
Solicitor General
In office
18 December 1869 – 15 December 1870
Preceded byJoshua Josephson
Succeeded byWilliam Charles Windeyer
Personal details
Born
Julian Emanuel Solomons

4 November 1835
Woollahra, New South Wales
, Australia

Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons (formerly Solomons) (4 November 1835 – 6 April 1909) was a

royal commissioner, Solicitor General, Chief Justice and member of parliament. He was the only Chief Justice of New South Wales to be appointed and resign before he was ever sworn into office. Salomons was said to be short of stature and somewhat handicapped by defective eyesight. However, he had great industry, great powers of analysis, a keen intellect and unbounded energy and pertinacity. His wit and readiness were proverbial, and he was afraid of no judge.[1]

Early years

Salomons was born Julian Emanuel Solomons on 4 November 1835 at Edgbaston, Warwickshire in England, the only son of Emanuel Solomons, a merchant in Birmingham. He arrived in Sydney on 4 September 1853, aged 16 years, on board the Atalanta. He was employed as a stockbroker's clerk and as an assistant in a book shop. In 1855 he was appointed the secretary of the Great Synagogue at Sydney.[2]

After passing the preliminary examination of the Barristers Admission Board (now the

Lower Edmonton, Middlesex, England, on 17 December 1862.[2]

Salomons was Jewish and an active member of the Jewish community.[2]

Legal career

He returned to Sydney after his marriage and managed a successful practice as a barrister. He first made a reputation in criminal cases. He had great industry, great powers of analysis, a keen intellect and unbounded energy and pertinacity. However, his passion for work probably led to a decline in his health and he made frequent trips to Europe to recover from these bouts. One of the significant cases he was involved with was the case of Louis Bertrand who was sentenced to death on a charge of murder. Bertrand came to be known as the "Mad Dentist of Wynyard Square". Bertrand had tried to kill Henry Kinder, the husband of his mistress Ellen Kinder on a number of occasions. Bertrand finally shot him, but his shot failed to kill. However, his actions persuaded his mistress to poison Kinder. This was successful. In 1866 Bertrand was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. His mistress was discharged on account of a lack of evidence.

Queen's Counsel in February 1881.[6][7]

Royal commissioner

In 1870 Salomons was a member of the Law Reform Commission. The purpose of a law reform commission is to make recommendations on updating and changing laws. On 16 August 1881 he was appointed a royal commissioner to inquire into the affairs of the Milburn Creek Copper Mining Co Ltd. Salomons reported on 3 November 1881 that 'there was an appropriation by the trustees themselves, not only without the consent or knowledge of their co-shareholders, but under circumstances of concealment and false statement, evidencing a consciousness on their part, that such appropriation was unauthorised and unjustifiable'.[8] The report was to lead to Ezekiel Baker, a member of parliament and one of the trustees, being expelled from Parliament.[2]

First parliamentary career

Salomons unsuccessfully ran for parliament for the seat of

Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council on the same day. The Cowper government fell in December 1870 and Salomons resigned from the council on 14 February 1871.[12]

Appointment as chief justice

Salomons advocacy had earned him a huge reputation. When Chief Justice Sir

William Windeyer ] as to have led to the utterance by him of such expressions and opinions … as to make any intercourse in the future between him and me quite impossible". Serle states that each of the judges of the court denied making any such statements.[1] He had general support with most newspapers and from the legal profession. Nevertheless, he decided on 19 November 1886 to resign the position before actually taking the oath of office.[13] He was therefore gazetted as chief justice for only six days, having resigned twelve days after being offered the position.[2]

Second parliamentary career

He was appointed a second time as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council on 7 March 1887, holding office for over 11 years until 20 February 1899.

Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council twice, both for nearly a year between 7 March 1887 and 16 January 1889 and then again between 23 October 1891 and 26 January 1893.[12] He was knighted in 1891 during this second vice-presidency.[14] It was during this second term that it is thought that Salomons gave the longest speech in the history of the council. He spoke for approximately eight hours on the Federation Bill. His speech carried over two days on both 28 and 29 July 1897. The Federation Bill was an important issue in the history of the colony of New South Wales as it led to the birth of the nation of Australia.[15]

Famous quotes

Salomons was reported to have an unusual talent for wit. After the federation of the Australian colonies, the newly established High Court of Australia was said to be routinely overturning decisions of the various Supreme Courts around Australia. Salomons suggested, after appearing before the Supreme Court that the judges of the court should append the following to all Supreme Court judgments: "We are unanimously of the opinion that judgment ought to be entered for (let us say) the plaintiff, but to save the trouble and expense to the parties of an appeal to the High Court, we order judgment to be entered for the defendant."[16]

On the question of Sir Samuel Griffith's English translation of Dante Alighieri which had received numerous unflattering reviews, it was reported that when Griffith presented a copy to Salomons, the latter asked Griffith to autograph the fly leaf, explaining that "I should not like anyone to think that I had borrowed the book, even less should I like anyone to think that I had bought it".[17] Salomons was a supporter of religion being a moderator of human behaviour. He endowed a local public school on the basis that religion was taught as a subject and was upset when it was not. In an address on Australian Federation, he said that having an "education without religion is like putting a sword into the hands of a savage".[18]

Later life

Salomons was the

Woollahra, Sydney
. He was buried in the Hebrew portion of Rookwood cemetery in Sydney's west.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Serle, Percival (1949). "Salomons, Sir Julian Emanuel (1835 - 1909)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  2. ^
    ISSN 1833-7538
    . Retrieved 13 September 2007.
  3. ^ "Henry Louis Bertrand". Law and Justice. Mitchell Library. Archived from the original on 7 September 2007.
  4. ^ a b Fitzgerald, John D. "Henry Louis Bertrand". Studies in Australian crime. Gaslight. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007.
  5. ^ Attorney General of New South Wales v Bertrand [1867] UKPC 27, (1865-1867) LR 1 PC 520 (10 July 1867), Privy Council (on appeal from NSW).
  6. ^ "Supreme Court: Banco Court before his Honor the Chief Justice". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 February 1881. p. 8. Retrieved 4 September 2021 – via Trove.
  7. ^ "NSW senior counsel appointments". NSW Bar Association. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  8. ^ "The Milburn Creek Inquiry". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 November 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 5 March 2021 – via Trove.
  9. ^ Green, Antony. "1869-70 East Sydney". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  10. New South Wales Government Gazette
    . No. 271. 21 December 1869. p. 3243. Retrieved 22 January 2021 – via Trove.
  11. New South Wales Government Gazette
    . No. 271. 21 December 1869. p. 3243. Retrieved 22 January 2021 – via Trove.
  12. ^ a b c d "Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons (1836-1909)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  13. ^ Mennell, Philip (1892). "Salomons, Hon. Sir Julian Emanuel" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
  14. ^ "No. 26182". The London Gazette. 14 July 1891. p. 3722.
  15. ^ "Miscellaneous NSW Parliamentary Facts". Parliament of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 17 July 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
  16. ^ Piddington, A B (1929). Worshipful Masters (PDF). Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  17. ^ W.M. Hughes, Policies and Potentates (1950), quoted in: "The Trial of Australia's Last Bushrangers". Lex Scripta. 31 January 2001. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
  18. ^ Salomons, Julian (28 July 1897). "Federation Bill" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Council. p. 2337. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  19. ^ "Salomons resigns as Agent-General of New South Wales". The Times. No. 36047. London. 24 January 1900. p. 9.

 

Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of New South Wales
November 1886 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Solicitor General
1869 – 1870 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council

Aug – Dec 1870 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Vice-President
Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council

1887 – 1889 		Succeeded byas Vice-President
Preceded byas Representative in the Legislative Council Succeeded byas Representative in the Legislative Council
Preceded by
Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council

1891 – 1893 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Agent-General for New South Wales
1899 – 1900 		Succeeded by
Henry Copeland
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