Percy Joseph Marks (11 December 1867 – 22 June 1941) was an Australian Jewish

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and historian. Marks was born at

West Maitland, New South Wales Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England H ...

, the eldest son of Joseph Marks, a storekeeper and later woolbuyer born in London, and Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Benjamin. His mother died in 1875 or 1879 and the family moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1882 where Marks attended Royston College, Darlinghurst, and later, the University of Sydney. His younger brother was

Ernest Samuel Marks Ernest Samuel Marks CBE (7 July 1872 – 2 December 1947) was an Australian sporting administrator and politician. He was born at West Maitland to Wool broker Joseph Marks and Elizabeth, ''née'' Benjamin and attended Royston College in Sydney ...

, Lord Mayor of Sydney. Marks was active within the Jewish community and worshipped at the Great Synagogue in Sydney. In his lifetime he was usually referred to as Percy J. Marks to avoid confusion with the Sydney jeweller Percy Marks. He held positions in a number of Jewish organisations, including the New South Wales Board of Jewish Education,Obituaries Australia
, Percy Joseph Marks. Retrieved 12 June 2020. the Sydney Zionist Society, Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Australian Jewish Historical Society, and the Union of Junior Zionists. He was sometime joint editor, with Sir Daniel Levy, of the ''New South Wales Hebrew Standard''. Percy J. Marks established a reputation for Jewish scholarship. A significant collection of Judaica gathered by him was left to the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

by his brother Ernest.State Library of New South Wales
, Australian Jewish community and culture. Percy J. Marks. Retrieved 12 June 2020. Marks died at his house in Kirribilli, New South Wales. He never married.

Positions held

* Honorary secretary of the New South Wales Board of Jewish Education * In 1908, a founder and first president of the Sydney Zionist Society * Founder and first president of the local section of the Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem * First president of the Australian Jewish Historical Society 1939-1941 * Council-member of the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1912-18 * Committee-member of the Australian Ex-Libris Society * Committee member The Society of Australian Genealogists * Honorary treasurer of the Numismatic Society of New South Wales * Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute * Vice-president and foundation member of the New South Wales Shakespearean Society * Joint editor of the New South Wales Hebrew Standard * President of the Union of Junior Zionists * Life and foundation member of the New South Wales Amateur Sports Club

Bibliography

*
Australasian Shakespeareana: a bibliography of books, pamphlets, magazine articles etc, that have been printed in Australia and New Zealand, dealing with Shakespeare and his works
', Sydney: Tyrrell's, 1915 * ''Australian Judaica'' (1930, 1936) * ''Early Jewish education in Sydney, New South Wales'', ''Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal'', Vol 1, Part 2, 1939, p. 25-42 * ''The first synagogue in Australia'', Sydney: D.S. Ford, 1925? *''Australian Judaica: being a catalogue of books, pamphlets, etc., of Jewish interest published in Australia, in the collection of Percy J. Marks", Sydney: P.J. Marks, 1936'' * ''The canon, text and early translations of the Bible: a paper read before the Jewish Literary and Debating Society of Sydney'', Sydney: Hebrew Standard Office, 1906 * ''The Jewish press of Australia past and present: a paper read before the Jewish Literary and Debating Society of Sydney'', Sydney: F.W. White, 1913 * ''Shakespeare and the Jews: a paper read before the Shakespeare Society of New South Wales'', Sydney, NSW, 1916, 9 p. (Centred on ''The Merchant of Venice''.)

References

External links

National Library of Australia
Papers of Percy J. Marks. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
National Library of Australia
catalogue of Percy J. Marks items, including a number of items which are available online. Retrieved 12 June 2020.

Percy Marks, a Jewish Renaissiance Man. Retrieved 12 June 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Percy J. Australian Jews Australian solicitors Australian historians University of Sydney alumni 1867 births 1941 deaths Australian numismatists Colony of New South Wales people