Background
Solomon was born in London, England to Leah and Moss Solomon and migrated to Australia as a child, living at first in Sydney and then Adelaide.
Solomon was born in London, England to Leah and Moss Solomon and migrated to Australia as a child, living at first in Sydney and then Adelaide.
The family returned to Sydney until Moss" death in 1849 when Leah again moved to Adelaide and Solomon was educated at Adelaide Educational Institution.
He was Mayor of Fremantle, Modern Language Association of South Fremantle, and the first Member for Fremantle in the Australian House of Representatives. After finishing school, Solomon joined another of his uncle"s business concerns and in 1857 was sent to Mauritius to purchase goods. On his return, he worked for the firm of Solomon and Salom in Adelaide, and also Falk and Company of Melbourne.
At the age of 29 Solomon headed west to Fremantle in Western Australia, arriving on 20 January 1868 aboard Eliza Blanche and initially living in Henry Street.
He wrote to them in July 1869: "…that you may not be under any misunderstanding with regard to my present dissatisfaction, I will be more explicit. You have taken up time belonging to the firm in Amateur Theatrical matters which, I believe, is acting prejudiciously to the business…"
In 1881 he was elected to the Fremantle City Council.
In 1892, he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the member for South Fremantle, where he remained until 1901. He was defeated by Labor"s William Carpenter in 1903.
Solomon died in 1909.
Solomon was at one time head of the Fremantle Cemetery board, which is where he is buried. Solomon was married twice, firstly to Agnes Elizabeth Bickley (c 1846 – 22 April 1886) and after her death, to Elizabeth Stokes (16 September 1868 – 3 December 1898) on 1 May 1887. They had five children.
Wallace Elias Bickley Solomon (1878–1950) was the first secretary, and honorary solicitor, of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society in 1926.
Maurice Elias Solomon (1888–1977), lawyer and councillor of the City of Fremantle.
In that year, he transferred to federal politics, winning the Australian House of Representatives seat of Fremantle for the Free Trade Party.