Philip Salomons (1796–1867) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

financier, Jewish leader and High Sheriff of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Early life

Philip Salomons was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1796. He travelled extensively in the United States as a young man, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1826. Later that year, however, he returned to England and resumed his British citizenship.
/ref> His father was a financier in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, as was his brother, Sir

David Salomons Sir David Salomons, 1st Baronet (22 November 1797 – 18 July 1873), was a leading figure in the 19th century struggle for Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom. He was the first Jewish Sheriff of the City of London and Lord Mayor of Lond ...

(1797–1873).

Career

Salomons became a financier in the City of London.

Judaism

Salomons followed his father as Warden of London's New Synagogue in 1843. He succeeded his brother as a representative on the Board of Deputies of British Jews. A devout man, he had his own private

Roof-top synagogue The Roof-top synagogue was a private synagogue built on the roof of the home of Philip Salomons on the Regency-era Brunswick estate in Hove, now a constituent part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is a small octagonal edifice on t ...

on top of his

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

home. He was a noted collector of antique Judaica. The Tablets of the Ten Commandments from the synagogue are preserved in the collection of the

Salomons Museum The Salomons Museum is a museum north of Tunbridge Wells, in the county of Kent, southeast England. It preserves the country house of Sir David Salomons, the first Jewish Lord Mayor of London, and of his nephew, Sir David Lionel Salomons, a scien ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

Public office

Salomons served as Justice of the Peace,

High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

(1852) and Deputy Lieutenant of the County.

Personal life

Salomons married Emma Abigail Montefiore (1833–1859) in 1850 when he was 54 and she was 17. She died aged 26 and he died eight years later; their children were reared by Sir David Salomons. The couple are buried in the

West Ham Jewish Cemetery West Ham Jewish Cemetery is a cemetery for Jews in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, England. It was established in 1856 by the New Synagogue on Great St. Helen's, soon joined by the Great Synagogue in Duke's Place, both of them Lon ...

. They had a son, Sir

David Lionel Salomons Sir David Lionel Goldsmid-Stern-Salomons, 2nd Baronet (28 January 1851 – 19 April 1925) was a British scientific author, barrister and pioneer of road transport. Early life The son of Philip Salomons of Brighton, and Emma, daughter of Jacob ...

(1851–1925).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salomons, Philip 1796 births 1867 deaths Bankers from London People from Hove English Jews High Sheriffs of Sussex Members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Deputy Lieutenants of Sussex 19th-century English businesspeople