Sir Edward Phillip Solomon (1845 – 20 November 1914) was a successful lawyer and politician of the

Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...

and the Union of South Africa.

Early life

Edward Solomon was born in 1845, studied to be an attorney, and based himself in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. He was involved in politics from early on, strongly identifying with the cause of the "Uitlanders" (English resident in the Boer republics). He even became a prominent member of the Reform Committee which sponsored the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched Raid (military), raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the emplo ...

in 1895, which led to his brief imprisonment in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. Solomon was a member of a large and influential Cape family, of

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. Members of the Solomon family were heavily involved in Southern African politics:

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

politician

Saul Solomon Saul Solomon (25 May 1817 – 16 October 1892) was an influential liberal politician of the Cape Colony, a British colony in what is now South Africa. Solomon was an important member of the movement for responsible government and an opponent o ...

was his uncle, and his brothers were the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Sir Richard Solomon and future Chief Justice Sir William Henry Solomon.

Political career

He became the first Chairman of the

Responsible Government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

Association, and in 1906 was elected as the President of the Transvaal National Association, a political party based on South African Union, equity of the races, and opposing Chinese mine labourers. With Transvaal having been granted responsible self-government by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

on 6 December 1906, in early 1907 Solomon was elected to the Transvaal Legislative Assembly at its first election on 20 February 1907 for the seat of

Fordsburg Fordsburg is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 8. Fordsburg is a residential suburb, although housing numerous shops and factories. Today, Fordsburg is a major centre of Indian and Pakistani culture, with a larg ...

. With his brother Richard successfully negotiating with the Het Volk Party led by

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

and

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...

, to have a coalition cabinet despite the Het Volk majority in the Legislative Assembly, Solomon was subsequently appointed to the first Transvaal Cabinet by Prime Minister Louis Botha as Minister of Public Works. Following the creation of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

, on 15 November 1910 Solomon was elected to the

Senate of South Africa The Senate was the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa between 1910 and its abolition from 1 January 1981, and between 1994 and 1997. 1910–1981 Under white minority rule in the Union of South Africa, most of the Senators were chosen ...

. Having been granted the use of the title ''"

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

"'' for life, in the 1911 New Year Honours, Solomon was made a Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(KCMG). Solomon died age 69 at his residence in

Parktown Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Parkt ...

on 20 November 1914.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Edward Philip 1845 births 1914 deaths 19th-century South African lawyers South African politicians White South African people Transvaal Colony people People from Johannesburg South African Jews South African people of Saint Helenian descent Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George South African knights Members of the Senate of South Africa