Michael Cashmore and the Solomon Family

Samuel Moss Solomon (“Shlomo the Pencil Maker”); Trevor Cohen (centre); and Michael Cashmore

Trevor Cohen’s family, incuding Jewish and Christian believers, is very complicated because over generations there have been continual duplications of given names as well as marriages between family members with the same surname and marriages where the surnames are the same, but where there is no family relationship.

The first of the family to arrive in Australia were brothers Vaiben (born 1798) and Emanuel Solomon (born 1800). They were sons of Samuel Moss Solomon (born 1769 in London, England) and his first wife Elizabeth Moses. Samuel manufactured lead pencils in Spitalfields, London and probably struggled to support his 8 children.

In 1816 Vaiben and Emanuel were arrested in Northallerton, England for breaking, entering, and theft. At the time of his arrest Emanuel was actually wearing an article of stolen clothing. They pleaded that they had traded some of their father’s jewelry for clothing which was held by a man they met on the road. Nonetheless it was decided they should stand trial. Documents at the time show that Emanuel could sign his name, but Vaiben used a cross.

They were taken to Durham gaol where the prisoners lived in shocking conditions in underground dungeons. In August 1817, ten months after their imprisonment their case went to trial. They were found guilty of being in possession of stolen goods but to escape the death penalty, the brothers used the legal plea known as ‘benefit of clergy’ and repeated the 51st Psalm which begins “Have mercy upon me, O God.” They were then given 7 years transportation.

They spent time on the hulk “Justitia” and then boarded the “Lady Castlereagh” for their trip to Van Diemen’s Land arriving on 11 June 1818 at George Town. This was a dangerous place to be under Major James Stewart and then Gilbert Cimitiere who was said to torture convicts. Emanuel received punishment by lashing on several occasions and also served time in a chain gang.

In 1821 the brothers were charged with stealing clothes and were sent to Newcastle, New South Wales where they gradually settled down and received their tickets leave.

They moved to Sydney where they both married in 1826: Vaiben married Mary (Sarah) Smith and Emanuel married Mary (Rachel) Wilson. Emanuel and Rachel married in a church.

The initial movements of the brothers in Sydney are unknown but in the late 1820s they advertised goods for sale by auction and it appears they were doing well enough to employ others. They didn’t always see eye to eye and Emanuel was sometimes in trouble with the law.

His wife having died, Emanuel moved to Adelaide, South Australia in 1838 with a lady named Celia Smith but referred to as Mrs. Solomon. It wasn’t until 1844, after having several children that they married. Newspaper articles suggest marital problems and in 1851 Celia was living in Sydney where she died in 1852. In 1852 also, Emanuel married a third time, to Catherine Abrahams.

Returning to 1838 when Emanuel arrived in Adelaide, there were no proper jetties and goods unloaded from ships often had water washed over them before they could be transported into Adelaide by mules. Emanuel, and Vaiben who remained in Sydney, worked as agents for each other, moving goods backwards and forwards between the two cities. They had their own ship, the “Dorset” and their business flourished.

Emanuel weathered the 1840s depression and was able to build the first purpose-built theatre in Adelaide, at the huge cost of 10,000 pounds. He speculated in buying land, sub-dividing it and selling at a profit. He was a major shareholder in a company connected to copper mines in Burra, South Australia.

In Port Pirie, Emanuel reserved land, called Church Circle, for religious purposes, and today there is still a section of the town called Solomontown.

Emanuel was a member of the Legislative Council in Adelaide when Mary Mackillop arrived in 1868. She asked Solomon whether he could help the Dominican Sisters from Ireland who had come to Adelaide to work for the Sisters of St. Joseph. He allowed them to use some of his cottages, both in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Emanuel died in 1873, having never told anyone about his convict past. His obituary stated he loved his ‘adopted country.’ It was not until 1974 that the family became aware of a convict ancestry.

Vaiben also never mentioned his past. He and Sarah had 8 children, and lived a comfortable life. In 1860, aged 62, Vaiben died at his residence ‘Horningsea Park,’ (now heritage listed), and Sarah died in 1879 aged 71.

Vaiben and Emanuel’s father, Samuel Moss Solomon, was left a widower with 8 children after his first wife died. In 1815 he married his first cousin, Esther Davis. Esther was 41, but after 6 years of marriage she produced a son, Isaac, and then a daughter, Elizabeth (Betsy). These children were ‘step siblings’ to Vaiben and Emanuel, but also cousins of some sort. Esther was about the same age as Vaiben and Emanuel.

Samuel, Esther, Isaac and Betsy Solomon migrated to Australia in 1833. Betsy married draper Michael Cashmore in 1840. His drapery store was at No. 1, Collins Street East (north-east corner of Collins and Elizabeth Streets), Melbourne. The original building is long gone but the present building, restored and renovated by Trevor is called ‘Cashmore Apartments.’

Trevor Cohen is rightly proud of his family’s achievements.

For further information on the Solomon family and their contributions to Australian society see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_family

The above is a report on the address by Trevor Cohen at the General Meeting on 13 July 2019 Contributed by Jan Hanslow. PPPG Member No. 1057