From Australia’s Jewish Past: Maurice Salom – South Australian businessman and politician
Maurice was born in London on 1 July 1831 into an old family of Sephardic Jews.
His father, a merchant, was at one time a planter in the West Indies.
Morris Salon
Maurice was educated at a high-class grammar school and, in 1846, was articled to a London stockbroker, which whom he remained for three years. Following this, he spent the next three years travelling around the coast of Africa as a merchant dealing in commodities such as ivory, ostrich feathers and animal skins and superintending the fishing and sealing stations. He made several voyages to Mauritius, Mozambique, Bourbon, Madagascar, and Natal, as well as to the interior of Cape Colony, trading principally in the purchase of ivory, skins, ostrich feathers, and other native produce. Moreover, he has travelled through Egypt, France, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and America.
He arrived in South Australia in 1852 and joined the auctioneering firm of Solomon and Co, whose principals were Isaac and Judah Solomon. He later acquired the business and, in 1882, sold it to a consortium of merchants. In that same year, he was elected to the Legislative Council, which, at the time, was under the old government system whereby the whole colony voted as one constituency. Six members were required to be elected and out of fourteen candidates, Maurice was returned in second place with 8,115 votes. He was asked by Sir John Downer, Premier of South Australia, to accept the Chief Secretaryship, but he declined. In 1883, for twelve months, he served on the Commission appointed to enquire into the operation of the Destitute Persons Act. In September 1887, he introduced a Bill known as the First Offenders Act, which had the aim of keeping a first offender out of prison and giving that person a chance to retrieve their name and being able to live honestly. Following this, Maurice did not seek re-election.
Maurice preferred to carry on his business dealings as a free trader and was keen to encourage native industries for the settlement of a large population on the land. In order to do this, he first had to adjust the deficiency in the revenue and suggested the issue of Exchequer Bills, which would be gradually redeemed by the proceeds of land sales. He wanted to open up the country by way of the construction of railway and irrigation works wherever there was the probability of obtaining a fair return and thus enhance the value of adjacent lands. He became a Justice of the Peace and, together with his extensive knowledge of mercantile and insurance law, it assisted him in the many organisations and business activities that he was involved with. He served as a local board member of the Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP), a committee member of the Chamber of Commerce and for a time its chairman, a director of the Commercial Bank of South Australia, a member of the Council of Education from its inception until it was abolished in 1994, as well as Chairman of the North Adelaide Grammar School Committee. Whilst Chairman of the House Committee of the Adelaide Hospital, he was directly responsible for the management of the Public Charities Act of 1876 whereby he found that some donations had been diverted to the Government ‘’coffers’’. From this finding, three commissioners of the Charitable Funds were appointed to oversee the funds with Maurice as its Chair, a position he continued until his death. The fund was enlarged by some significant donations, amounting to about £26,000, with the expectancy of another £100,000. This enabled the commissioners to pay for the new building on the eastern side of the hospital, as well as the bacteriological laboratory and isolation wards. The three commissioners also acted for the Destitute and Lunatic Asylums and the Port Augusta Hospital. Maurice was also an active Freemason, and held several high offices.
Community was also important to Maurice and he held the position of president of the Hebrew Philanthropic Society for 40 years. He was also president of the Synagogue in its early stages but in later life he took no part in its management.
Maurice married Kate Solomon in 1856. She was the daughter of Moss Solomon and sister of Judah and Elias. They had twelve children and the family lived in Brougham Place, North Adelaide. Maurice died on 10 October 1923 after a short illness and was buried in the Jewish section of the West Terrace Cemetery.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:-NC
Wikipedia; Australian Dictionary of Biography Obituary; ANU – People Australia; State Library of South Australia.
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