Philip Salomons

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Philip Salomons, birth 1796 LONDON, ENGLAND, died 1867
As a young man, Philip travelled widely in the USA and was naturalized there as a citizen in 1826. However, later that year, he returned to England and resumed his British citizenship.

Like his father and brother he was a City of London financier. He succeeded his father as Warden of the New Synagogue in 1843 and his brother as a representative on the Board of Deputies of British Jews. A devout man, he had his own private synago gue at his house in Brunswick Terrace, Brighton .

Philip was a magistrate and a Deputy Lieutenant for Sussex . He was appointed High Sheriff of the county in 1852 and, according to a local custom, was presented with the twenty-four fire buckets which can be seen at Salomons.

He married late, at 54, when his wife was only 17. She died aged 26 and he died eight years later, leaving his children to the care of their uncle, David Salomons .
Married 1850 to:
Emma Abigail Montefiore, birth 1833, died 1859, buried West Ham Cemetery

1) David Lionel Salomons, birth 28 Jun 1851 Brighton, Sussex, England, died 19 Apr 1925
Educated privately, and then at University College , London , and Gonville and Caius College , Cambridge .

David Lionel and his sisters were orphaned in their teens and moved to Broomhill to be cared for by their uncle, David Salomons . Sir David died just before David Lionel completed his studies at Cambridge , and he inherited the title and the estat e.

From an early age David Lionel Salomons was interested in science and mechanics and would pass his spare time in the workshops and factories of London . At the age of fourteen he befriended a watchmaker and learned how to repair and make his ow n clocks and watches. After he had finished his Natural Sciences degree at Cambridge he started a series of popular scientific lectures for the general public in Tunbridge Wells. These included demonstrations of electrical experiments, his chie f enthusiasm.

His second great love was transport û in all its forms. He invented a railway signalling system, built a magnificent stable block for his horses, acquired the second car in Britain and went on to be a pioneer of æhorseless vehicles', and in late r years wrote a small book about aeroplane flight.

David Lionel greatly extended the Broomhill estate, adding garages and a æScience Theatre' at the back of the house. The house was one of the first to be lit with electricity, and it contained considerable collections of art and books.

Sir David spent much of his time in London , either commuting daily from Tunbridge Wells or staying at 49 Grosvenor Street , his London home. He was a magistrate in Kent (though he did not often sit) and was called to the Bar in 1874. Also that ye ar he was a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent and stood (unsuccessfully) as the Liberal candidate for Mid-Kent in the general election. In 1880 he was High Sheriff of Kent and in 1899 he was elected as a County Councillor . He became a magistrate for Lon don , Middlesex and Westminster , a Life-Governor of University College , London , Master of the Coopers Company for the year 1893, and Honorary Colonel for the Kent Fortress Engineers. By popular demand, he was asked to be Mayor of Tunbridge Well s in 1894 û despite not being a borough councillor û and during his term of office arranged what was probably the world's first motor show.

A list of the societies he belonged to shows the range of subjects he was interested in: astronomy, chemistry, civil engineering, geology, geography, meteorology, commerce, physics, military, inventions, archaeology, law, statistics, zoology, bota ny, agriculture, electrical engineering, photography, microscopy, and æself-propelled traffic'. He also belonged to a number of sporting and coaching clubs.

He patented several inventions (mostly electrical apparatus, but also one for buoyant soap!) and wrote several books. One on the Management of Accumulators became a standard text and ran to several editions. He was also in the habit of publishin g a little book of reflections and sayings each year, which he sent to his family and friends as a New Year greeting.

Although he was not as involved in Jewish affairs as his uncle, he retained his Jewish faith and, unlike many scientists of the day who were atheists or agnostics, viewed science as a way of marvelling at God's creation.

Sir David Lionel's only son, David Reginald Salomons, died in the First World War, so the baronetcy was not passed on. Sir David Lionel died in 1925. He is buried in the family burial ground at Lower Green, Tunbridge Wells.
Married 20 Jul 1882 to:
Laura Julia De Stern, birth 1855, died 1935, daughter of Hermann De Stern and Julia Goldsmid
Daughter of one of the wealthiest men of Victorian Britain, Laura married David Lionel in 1882, becoming Lady Laura Salomons. They lived at the Broomhill estate in Kent and at 49 Grosvenor Street in London .

Laura was involved with the running of the Salomons households, hosting many gatherings of scientists, photographers and transport enthusiasts at Broomhill and Grosvenor Street . She was a devoted mother to her five children.

Although nothing has been found in the records, it is known that David Lionel was in favour of allowing women some freedoms û including driving motor cars. So perhaps Laura was one of the first women drivers?

She outlived her husband and two of her children, dying in the same year as her daughter, Maud. She is buried in the family burial ground at Lower Green, Tunbridge Wells.

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