From Australia’s Jewish past: Saul Solomon – Photographer
Saul was born on 15 January 1836 in Knightsbridge, London.
He was the son of Lawrence Solomon.
He left for Australia on the ‘’Gambia’’, a vessel of 1000 tons in June 1852 and travelled, at the height of the Gold Rushes to Bendigo, as part of the opportunists chasing money in the colony of Victoria.
Saul Solomon
In 1854 he set up a professional photography studio and was later joined in 1857 by another professional photographer, William Bardwell. The two worked together until 1862, when they advertised portraits with the new collodion process. A complete photograph in a presentation case cost 5 shillings or more – over a day’s pay for a worker. The company known as Solomon and Bardwell continued to be successful in Ballarat until 1874. There were also branches of it in the towns of Maryborough and Dunolly. Saul and William both exhibited portraits at the 1862 Geelong Industrial Exhibition and the 1863 Ballarat Mechanics Institute Exhibition. He met and married his wife in Ballarat in 1866, and two years later, they moved to Adelaide.
Saul had also set up a photographic business in Bourke Street Melbourne and then once in Adelaide he opened his main studio where he worked for many years.
He founded the Adelaide School of Photography which Townsend Duryea, an American photographer, owned. After a most unfortunate fire in Townsend’s studio, the school building took over much of the functions of the King William Street premises. In 1879, Saul was co-founder with businessman Robert Carr-Castle of the Academy of Music in Adelaide.
Despite its very grand title, it actually was a place of light entertainment on Rundle Street. Unfortunately, this building burnt down three times. Saul was a member and, for a time, chairman of the consortium, which included other Adelaide stalwarts, Emanuel Cohen, Joachim Wendt, Patrick Gay, and Lewis Berens, who provided funding for the building of a shopping arcade linking Rundle and Grenfell streets. At that time, this was the largest shopping and business arcade in the Southern Hemisphere, which still stands today. It is a beautiful and intriguing example of South Australia’s living history opened in 1885 to widespread acclaim with its distinctive domes, ornate details, and architectural grandeur, which had never been seen in Adelaide before. At its opening, attended by the Governor, an orchestra played the ‘’Adelaide Arcade Polka’’, specially composed for the occasion. At one time, Turkish Baths was one of its tenants. Here you could have your choice of a warm bath for a shilling or the Turkish Baths for four shillings.
Saul was elected to the House of Assembly for East Torrens in 1887, having a triumph win over the Hon Thomas Playford who was twice Premier of South Australia. In 1890 he moved to Mount Gambier where ‘he conducted one of the leading hotels for some years’. The family then moved to Northam in Western Australia, where Saul ran a large farm known as Morby”. The homestead still stands as a national heritage building and, believe it or not, a bacon factory. He became a foundation member of the Northam Agricultural Society and served as mayor of Northam for over twenty years. He was also active in the Mechanics Institute and the local School Board.
He served as mayor for over 20 years and was active in the Mechanics’ Institute and School Board He was also one of the founders of the Adelaide branch of the Independent Order of Oddfellows. He passed away on 2 May 1929 and was survived by his six children.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:-
Wikipedia; National Portrait Gallery; Greg Neville’s Photography Blog; State Library of South Australia
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