Query on parents of Judah and Joseph SOLOMON

There is a biography on find-a-grave, which lists the names of his parents as Isaac and Rebecca. A photo of the gravestone is also present:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175773074/judah-yehuda_leib-sol...

According to the find-a-grave site, Judah Solomon was born in 1771 and died on Feb. 18, 1856, however, the Australia Death index indicates that he was born about 1778.

There is also a record in the Online Jewish Burial Registry (JOWBR) indicating Judah Solomon died on Feb. 18, 1856 (Hebrew Date 12 Adar 5616), that his father's name was Yitzchak (i.e Isaac), and that his Hebrew name was Yehudah Ben Yitzhak (Yehudah, son of Isaac):

Name- Judah Solomon
Hebrew Name- Yehudah Ben Yitzhak
Hebrew Date- 12 Adar I 5616
Age- 78
Plot- Section 01, Row A, Plot 33, 1
Father Name- Yitzhak
Burial Place- Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Cemetery- Harrington St. Cemetery
Cemetery Address- Harrington St.

Leanne,

Here is a relevant passage I found in "The Unbroken Chain", by Neil Rosenstein, Volume 4, Chapter 12, page 529, which provides some information counter to what was stated in the biographical link that you provided above :

G12.4 Elizabeth, born in Launceston, Tasmania in 1827 and died in Hobart on January 16, 1892, married in Hobart on November 14, 1849 to her first cousin's son, Joseph Solomon, born in Hobart in 1826 and died there on June 16, 1894 and buried in the Hobart Jewish Cemetery, only child of Judah Solomon, 1778-1856, and his second wife, Elizabeth Howell, 1794-1864, son of Isaac Solomon, 1750-1812. Judah Solomon's first wife was Esther Russell, born in London in 1775 and died in Hobart, Tasmania on September 24, 1861.

Judah Solomon, his brother Joseph and an Abraham Abrahams (apparently the son of Esther Russell and her first husband, Mr. Abrahams, son of Abraham Abrahams) were convicted and sentenced to death at Maidstone, Kent on August 2, 1819 for arranging the break and enter of the home of Wolf Myers at Sheerness. A number of gold watches and other items belonging to Abraham Abrahams (not the same person mentioned above) were stolen. The Abraham Abrahams whose goods were stolen was the former father-in-law of Judah's wife Esther (formerly Abrahams, nee Russell). Judah and Joseph's sentences were commuted to life. Abrahams, and the three men who carried out the burglary were hung. Judah and Joseph were transported to New South Wales, arriving in the colony on January 27, 1820 on the Prince Regent and were then transferred to Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land on the Castle Forbes. Judah left his wife and seven children in England.

The Solomon brothers' status as convicts did not prevent them from going into business which received a boost when Henry Davis brought them a gift of cash from the Sheerness Jewish community in 1822. Early in his career, Judah operated on the fringes of the law and appeared frequently in Court on charges such as selling liquor without a licence. By 1828, the Solomons' business had grown to the extent that a branch was opened in Launceston. Judah operated auction rooms, was the licensee of a number of hotels and also owned a flour mill.

By 1832, his wife Esther had tired of waiting in England for Judah to send for her so arranged her own passage to Hobart. She found him living in a def facto relationship with Elizabeth Howell, whose mother was a convict who had been transported for burning down a barn in Wiltshire. She was also the sister of Henry Davis' wife Hannah. Judah had a son by Elizabeth named Joseph. Judah refused to take Esther back. Esther made successful representations against Judah's attempts to obtain a pardon which prevented Judah from making any attempt to return to England. Judah donated land in Argyle Street for the construction of the Hobart Synagogue in 1844. The synagogue was built next to his home, "Temple House".......

Leanne,

FWIW, you may wish to note that there are several hundred family trees on Ancestry.com which all list Isaac Solomon and Rebecca Nathan as the parents of Judah and Joseph Solomon, and none that show Abraham Solomon as their father. The tree that is listed at the top (because of having the largest set of supporting documents) is a tree belonging to a 4th great grand-daughter of Judah Solomon.

Claudia

Leanne, in the biographical link that you provided, a claim was made that Judah never actually had any son named Joseph. I have found some evidence that suggests he did indeed have such a son. As noted previously, Judah Solomon donated land in Argyle Street for the construction of the Hobart Synagogue, and the synagogue was built next to his home, which was called "Temple House". Below, is an obituary, and a death announcement for Joseph Solomon, both indicating that he died at his residence, which was Temple House, Argyle Street. It is from a publication called "The Mercury".

Citation information
Transcript
Death of Mr Joseph Solomon. - Much regret was felt in the city on Saturday evening when the news spread that Mr Joseph Solomon had died suddenly at 6 o'clock at his residence, Temple House, Argyle street. The deceased gentleman had only been ailing for a fortnight, and those in attendance upon him at the time of his death were under the impression that he was improving. He spoke audibly and dis tinctly in asking for a handkerchief, but before Mrs Hurtnell could comply with his request he was dead. Dr Gibson, who was his medical attendant, and who twice called Dr Wolfhagen in consultation, was present, and is understood to be of opinion that the cause of death was peritonitis. The age of the deceased was 63. He was born at Hobart, and lived in the colony the whole of his life, having the reputation of being a man of consider able wealth. He mixed but little in public affairs, the only appointment he held at the time of death being those of President of the Jewish Synagogue, Territorial justice of the peace, and member of the Hospital Board of Management. He lived a particularly quiet and unostentatious life, but is known to have been of a very liberal disposition, entertaining decided opposition to any publicity being given to his benevolence. Beyond a love for horses, animals for which he always had a liking, and took care to secure handsome tenants for his stables, his tastes were simple and few, running chiefly in the direction of birds and flowers. His wife, a sister to Mr Henry Davis, solicitor, Evandale, died some three years ago, and about the only relatives now in the colony are Mrs Hartnoll, Miss Fall, and two daughters of the late Mr Philip Davis. The funeral takes place this afternoon at 3 at Cornelian Bay Cemetery. Mr Ansell will conduct the burial service in Hebrew and English.
Detail
18 June 1894
Source information
Title
Mercury, The
Publisher location
Hobart
Repository information
Name
Trove
REFN
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper?q=

Citation information
Transcript
SOLOMON.-On 16th June, at Temple House, Argyle-street, Hobart, Joseph Solomon, aged 63 years.
Detail
18 June 1894
Other information
Trove
Source information
Title
Mercury, The
Publisher location
Hobart
Repository information
Name
Trove
REFN
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper?q=
Close

While it is unfortunate that the name of Joseph's parents were not specifically stated in his obituary, I have also found a record for this same Joseph Solomon who died on June 16, 1894 (Hebrew date 12 Sivan 5654) , in the Jewish Online World Burial Registry (JOWBR), and it does say that this Joseph was the son of Judah.

Name- Joseph Solomon
Name in Hebrew- Yosef Ben Yehuda
Hebrew Name- Yosef Ben Yehuda
Death Date- 12 Sivan 5654
Age at Death68
Burial Plot- Section JEW, Row C, Plot 15, 1
Burial Place- Cornelian Bay, Tasmania, Australia
Cemetery IDASTL-03348
Father Name-Yehuda
Cemetery- Cornelian Bay Cemetery
Cemetery Address- Queens Walk

Kevin Lawrence Hanit,

I wanted to make sure you were aware of this thread since it is relevant to the Unbroken Chain project.

Here is a story published in the Colonial Times, regarding the Probate of the Will of Judah Solomon, where his son Joseph Solomon is the executor, and Joseph's mother, Elizabeth Howell, is referred to as the "house-keeper".

Citation information
Transcript
THE Probate of the Will of the late Mr. Judah Solomon has been granted to his son, Mr. Joseph Solomon, the sole executor. Mrs. Sarah Solomon, daughter of Mr. Solomon deceased, and wife of Mr. Joseph Solomon, of Church street, has devised to her upon trust the Castle Inn, Pontvillee, and the flour mill in the occupation of Mr. M'Robie The house, 39, Macquarie-street, is likewise de- vised to testator's daughter, Lydia now the wife of Mr. Lewis Cohen, of Hobart Town, dancing master. Temple House, Liverpool and Argyle, streets, has become the property of testator's son, Isaac Solomon. An annuity of £300 is granted to testator's housekeeper, Mrs Elizabeth Howell, for her life. The residue of the late Mr. Solo mon's real and personal estate is given and de- vised to his son, Mr. Joseph Solomon. The per- enal estate is sworn under £30,000
Detail
27 Febuary 1856
Other information
Trove
Source information
Title
Colonial Times
Publisher location
Hobart
Repository information
Name
Trove
REFN
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper?q=

Claudia - It appears that there is a misunderstanding regarding the entry for Joseph Solomon in the Australian National University online biography entry?

The passage to which you refer (at the end of the article) states that JOSPEH Solomon did not have a son also named Joseph Solomon. The biography entry to which Leanne has linked supports that the younger Joseph Solomon was the son of Judah Solomon - as you go on to demonstrate.

Leanne - I was very relieved to find your comment. My reply relates to the parents of Joseph and Judah Solomon, and how this impacts a recent claim regarding their ancestry dating back over a number of centuries.

I have been researching a branch of the London based Solomon family on and off for over a decade.

In the past couple of years, I began to see profiles popping up across the various genealogy sites that apparently managed to get beyond the brick wall that I had hit. With the sudden appearance of their grandparents, 'Dr Isaac Solomon' and one 'Sarah Barlow' - both apparently born in the Netherlands - there is now purportedly a direct line for this branch of the Solomons dating back to a renowned 15th century rabbi in Central Europe.

I have just spent the better part of three days examining the evidence in support of this purported ancestry. This included trying to clarify the parents of Joseph and Judah Solomon. If I'm being charitable, the claims can be described as... highly speculative. In reality, this looks like a poor attempt by someone to fabricate a more illustrious family line for themselves.

There is no solid evidence to clarify the parentage of Joseph and Judah Solomon. The image in the 'Find-a-grave' photograph for Judah Solomon does not list his parents (in contrast to the traditional Jewish inscription on the headstone in the adjacent plot that also appears in the photograph) the inscription on this monument offers very little information.

Data in an entry on JOWBR is not infallible. There is no indication of where the data confirming 'Yehudah Ben Yitzhak' was sourced. It's not on the gravestone, so where is it from? Even if this IS correct, how do we then jump to Judah's father being 'Samuel Isaac/Yitzak Solomon' as is now cited across various family trees on multiple sites?

On the other hand, it should also be noted that there is no obvious evidence to support the claim made in the ANU biography entry that Judah and Joseph's father was in fact one Abraham Solomon.

More broadly, after diving down this rabbit hole, there is zero reliable evidence to support the purported claims re: Judah and Joseph's grandparents being 'Dr Isaac Solomon' and 'Sarah Barlow'. The oft cited marriage record and marriage bann for this couple is from a Church of England record. If Judah and Joseph were raised in the Jewish religion, why were their grandparents - who were purportedly born in NL - married in the Church of England?

The various claims that Barlow was somehow a transliteration of Bar Loew(e) upon moving to the UK? I can find nothing to support this supposition other than random, unsourced, and unverifiable comments on family history sites.

None of it adds up. I wish I could identify the individual who first put this supposed family tree online, in order to follow up with them.

If there is other evidence of Judah and Joseph Solomon's parentage - i.e. in a different passage than the one cited above, in Dr Neil Rosenstein's 'Unbroken Chain' publication - I would welcome these details.

Finally, I should note here that I ceased maintaining/updating the trees associated with my Geni profile many years ago and the information in my Solomon profiles/contirbutions here are very much out of date.

Isaac Solomon

An example of one such tree linking Judah and Joseph Solomon back to celebrated rabbis from the 1500s can be seen on Ancestry here: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/79362340?cfpid=30402221...

Okay - Final post on this topic for now! It would seem that a reliable source from which to seek clarification on Judah and Joseph Solomon's parentage, would be the excellent archivists who maintain the digital records collection of the Hobart Synagogue? https://collection.hobartsynagogue.org/index.php

Otherwise, presumably the records of the Sheerness Synagogue in Kent...

https://collection.hobartsynagogue.org/index.php/Detail/objects/4370

Hobart Synagogue burial record for Judah Solomon states: יהודה בן יצחק (Yehuda ben Yitzchak).

So, the JOWBR record is correct.

However a source/record still needed to link this to either a Samuel Solomon or an Abraham Solomon.

Leanne M (Volunteer Curator - Australia) 🇦🇺,

It has been made quite clear that the father of Judah and Joseph Solomon was indeed Isaac/Yitzchak Solomon, and NOT Abraham.

Private User has checked the Hobart synagogue records to confirm this, and consequently has verified that the JOWBR record is also correct. This also matches up with what was stated in "The Unbroken Chain" as well, which indicates that the father was Isaac.
Consequently, I would like to request that the Geni profiles for the two brothers be corrected to indicate that Isaac/Yitzchak (not Abraham) was their father.

As for their mother, I would like to know what proof there is for thinking that her name was Rebecca, as I am not sure what the source is for this information. If she was Abraham's wife, as is currently indicated, then she must not have been the mother of the Solomon brothers.

Private User: As for "The Unbroken Chain", I can tell you that any information on the deeper ancestry of the Solomon brothers, beyond the identification of their father (as Isaac), is not covered. The reason for the mention of the Solomon brothers in the book was due to the marriage of Judah's son Joseph to Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Davis (originally Samuel Russell). Elizabeth is featured in the book because she descends from the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical dynasty. Incidentally, the book does mention that the Solomon brother's business received a boost in 1822 when Henry Davis (i.e. Elizabeth's father) brought the brothers a gift of cash from the Sheerness Jewish community. (I'm just mentioning this in case such interactions between Elizabeth's family and the Solomon brothers might be of interest).

Private User, I also want to let you know that I was unable to access the link you posted to the Ancestry.com family tree, and I believe it doesn't work for me because I don't have a UK Ancestry.com account, as I am in the U.S. However, if you can tell me who the owner of the tree is, I could probably do a member search, and locate the tree that way. In any case, I am well aware that many trees on Ancestry.com have erroneous information that gets copied, and that the same thing happens on other sites as well.

Lastly, I want to point out to you that just because a find-a-grave headstone photo does not display a Hebrew inscription, this does not mean that it isn't present, as in many cases you will find that the Hebrew inscription is on the other side of the headstone and that the photographer did not bother to take a picture of the side that has the inscription. This could either be because the photographer could not read Hebrew and did not understand the genealogical significance of the Hebrew inscription, or perhaps because the inscription had become so worn it was no longer legible.

In my own family, I had a great uncle who was buried in 1920, in Washington, DC, and the cemetery caretaker took a picture of his gravestone, which appeared to have no Hebrew inscription. I then requested that he check the back of the headstone, and sure enough, that was where the inscription was.

Claudia

so who is now going to cut the link to Abraham?

Private User,

Actually, I've gone back through the revision history, and can see that the name on this profile was originally Isaac Solomon, and that it was only recently erroneously changed to Abraham. I will go ahead and change it back to Isaac.

Claudia

Private User,

I've gone ahead and changed the name on Isaac's profile back to Isaac Samuel Solomon, as it was originally entered into Geni by Simon (v.ltd.availability) Goodman. The profile name had recently been changed to 'Abraham' and should not have been since Abraham is a different person. There is a completely separate profile for an Abraham Solomon who was the son of a (different) Isaac Solomon and a Sarah Barlow, and that profile can be found here: Abraham Solomon As we have discussed, he was NOT the father of Judah and Joseph Solomon.

Leanne M (Volunteer Curator - Australia) 🇦🇺, my suggestion would be to please lock the name on the profile of Isaac Samuel Solomon so that it can't be changed again from Isaac to Abraham, and to perhaps add a curator note. I believe that the issue of the correct parentage of Judah and Joseph had been previously settled by you, and I think the fact that someone was able to recently change the name on Isaac's profile to Abraham has caused a great deal of confusion.

Claudi

good

BTW the other Isaac married to Sarah Barlow is also a problem

Simon (v.ltd.availability) Goodman,

Thanks!

Claudia

She was a special person. Not only did she have a child when she was 57 yrs old, she also lived to be a 105 !

Well, some of the children are quite suspicious, because Jewish people do not name their children after themselves. A Jewish man named Isaac would not have a son also named Isaac, and likewise, I do not think that Rebecca would have a daughter named Elizabeth Rebecca either. Elizabeth Rebecca is the one that she purportedly gave birth to at age 57. Of course, there is also the possibility that the year of birth could be off as well. I see that we don't have an exact date of birth.

Leanne M (Volunteer Curator - Australia) 🇦🇺

Thanks for figuring that out :).

Claudia

The Hobart Synagogue digital collection has searchable birth, death and marriage records with images of the original records.

https://collection.hobartsynagogue.org

Also it is worth checking John Levi’s book These Are the Names: Jewish Lives in Australia, 1788-1850

Also if there are outstanding questions I’m glad to try to clarify. Keep in mind with a name like Joseph Solomon, there are many different people sharing the name, even in the same family.