Vaiben Solomon

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This article is about the pastoralist of New South Wales. For the businessman and politician of South Australian and the Northern Territory, see Vaiben Louis Solomon.

Vaiben Solomon (1798 – 21 June 1860) was a London Jew who, with his brother Emanuel Solomon, was transported for larceny to New South Wales in 1818. He had further brushes with the law but seized business opportunities and became quite prosperous. He and his brother were then joined by a contingent of brothers and sisters who made their mark in New South Wales and South Australian business and politics.

Early life, crime and punishment

Vaiben and his brother

in irons to Newcastle, New South Wales
for three years, shortly before its dismemberment as a penal settlement. The boys received their Certificates of Release in Sydney in August 1824.

Prosperity

The means by which Emanuel and Vaiben made their way from poor emancipists to relative affluence is by no means clear but must have been by a series of small-time trading and gradual accretion. But by July 1826 he was in a position to begin employing labour, having written to the authorities to have the convict David Myers assigned to him at his business in King Street, Sydney. By 1828 he had premises to let at 74 George Street, which may have fallen through, as the following year the two brothers were in partnership at that same address. They continued in partnership for over ten years, buying and selling whenever they could see a financial advantage. In 1831 Vaiben bought into the Jamieson subdivision.

In 1836 he opened a tailoring establishment in George Street, and in September that year purchased 13 acres (5.3 ha) of land in

Brighton
. He maintained the partnership with his brother Emanuel, for a time acting as agents for the ship Nereus, and when Emanuel moved to Adelaide, acting as agents for each other. They owned the brig Dorset, which ferried goods and passengers between the two cities, often making the return trip in 30 days. They built the
Kapunda, the economy of South Australia rebounded and Emanuel, who had by virtue of the strictest economy, retained most of his assets, profited hugely in partnership with his young nephew Judah Moss Solomon; his shares in the South Australian Mining Association
repaid him handsomely.

Horningsea Park, restored and
now heritage-listed

Vaiben did not reach quite the same peak of wealth and prestige, but he was still hugely wealthy, as evidenced by the wills of his spinster daughters. He and his sons David, Abraham and Saul, in partnership as V. Solomon and Sons, purchased in 1855 the 500 acres (200 ha) estate "Horningsea", near Liverpool, New South Wales, with its grand, but somewhat dilapidated,[3] mansion, and renamed it Horningsea Park. Vaiben and his family lived there and ran the farm. Vaiben withdrew from the partnership in April 1857. His sons continued as D., A. & S. Solomon;[4] they left the district in 1872. During his life Vaiben accumulated a considerable portfolio of properties.[5]

Family

Vaiben married Mary "Sarah" Smith (c. 1809 – 18 May 1879) in 1826. He and some of his family were practising Jews; contributing to the building of the first synagogue in Sydney. Among their children were:

  • David Vaiben Solomon (1828 – 14 June 1909)
  • Abraham Vaiben Solomon (1832 – 26 May 1894)
  • Elizabeth Solomon (1833 – 4 October 1922) was buried at the Jewish Cemetery, Rookwood. She left her entire estate valued at £31,798 to her sister Hannah.
  • Saul Vaiben Solomon (1834 – 3 April 1911) married Anne May "Annie" Marlow ( – 29 May 1926) on 8 November 1871
  • Elizabeth May "Lily" Solomon (1875 – 28 July 1956) married L. A. Gideon ( – ), lived at Bondi
  • Moss (or Moses) Vaiben Solomon (9 January 1837 – 2 October 1915) married Gertrude Eliza (perhaps Elizabeth) White ( – ) on 6 December 1871.
  • Ernest George Vaiben Solomon (19 October 1872 – 8 August 1928) married Elizabeth Amelia "Lizzie" Wood (c. 1874 – 4 March 1898) on 16 June 1896. He married again, around 25 April 1900, to Clara E. J. Hayes ( – ), who was involved in the Mrs Alexander will case. He was a publican of Gladestone Hotel, Hunter's Hill; Moore Park View Hotel; Park View Hotel, Sydney; Bridge Hotel, Sydney; Hotel Clovelly.
  • Ruth Eliza Ellen Solomon ( – ) married Joshua Allott Burgess (1867 – 29 July 1926) on 8 March 1904
  • Edwin Arthur Vaiben Solomon (20 September 1877 – ), cabinetmaker, married Jessie Elizabeth Black (c. 1874 – 13 May 1951) on 4 March 1907, lived Liverpool NSW, contested his aunt Hannah's will.
  • Lance Vaiben Solomon
    (27 January 1913–1989), a noted painter
  • Hannah Alexandra Solomon (c. 1840 – 7 October 1929) married Louis Alexander, a man some 30 years her junior in 1895, then divorced in 1907 after his flagrant infidelity, yet he sued her for continuation of his £200 p.a. allowance.[6] Wealthy and eccentric, her £80,000 ($10–20 million in today's money) will was contested by nephew Edwin Solomon and widely (and sensationally) reported.[7]

Sources

  • Solomon, David The crime and punishment of Emanuel and Vaiben Solomon November 2007 accessed on-line 15 January 2016
  • Richards, E. S. (1975) The fall and rise of the brothers Solomon Journal of Proceedings of the Australian Jewish History Society, Vol VIII, Part 2, pp. 1–28.

References not yet accessed

  • Levi, J. S. and Bergman, G. F. J. (1974) Australian genesis – Jewish convicts and settlers 1778–1850 London: Robert Hale and Company, 360 pp.
  • Levi, J. S. (1976) The forefathers – a dictionary of biography of the Jews of Australia (1788–1830)

References

  1. ^ *Richards, E. S. (1975) The fall and rise of the brothers Solomon Journal of Proceedings of the Australian Jewish History Society, Vol VIII, Part 2, pp. 1-28.
  2. ^ "Advertising". The Australian. Sydney. 4 April 1844. p. 1. Retrieved 18 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Advertising". The Empire. Sydney. 30 November 1853. p. 7. Retrieved 18 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 April 1857. p. 1. Retrieved 15 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Mercantile and Money Article". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 1872. p. 5. Retrieved 15 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ ""A Matter of Money" May and December". The Singleton Argus. NSW. 10 December 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. The Truth
    . Sydney. 22 March 1931. p. 13. Retrieved 18 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
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