The Salomons Museum is a museum north of

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 High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

, in the county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, southeast England. It preserves the country house of 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 ...

, the first Jewish

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

, and of his nephew, Sir David Lionel Salomons, a scientist and engineer. Originally called ''Broomhill'', the house is now called ''Salomons.'' The museum is managed by Markerstudy Group. David Salomons house - geograph

Architecture

The house was built in the 1830s by Decimus Burton. It features an extremely tall water tower, stables, a private science lecture theatre and Sir David Lionel's laboratories. Major additions were made in 1854, 1863, 1908, 1910 and 1913. The house is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

Collections

The museum preserves the bench from which David Salomons rose to speak in 1851, becoming the first

Jew 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""T ...

ever to speak in Parliament. The first Jew elected to Parliament was Baron

Lionel de Rothschild Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (22 November 1808 – 3 June 1879) was a British Jewish banker, politician and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. He became the first practising Jew to sit ...

. Elected in 1847, he refused to swear his oath of office using the phrase "on the true faith of a Christian." Unable, therefore, to serve, he stood down but was again elected M.P. for the City of London in 1850. He took his oath leaving out the crucial phrase. A Parliamentary debate ensued, the conclusion of which was that a non-Christian could not take a seat in Parliament. David Salomons was elected MP for Greenwich in an 1851 by-election. He arrived at Parliament on 18 July 1851, and, like Rothschild, took his oath omitting the words "on the true faith of a Christian". He sat on the bench in the museum's collection, but when requested to leave a second time he stood and departed. He returned three days later and again took his seat. A heated debate ensued. A fellow MP for the Liberal Party turned to Salomons and inquired what he intended to do. Salomons stood and spoke, the first Jew to ever speak in Parliament. He said that he had been elected by a large majority, and that he was carrying out the wishes of the people in being there. He voted three times before he was removed by the Serjeant-at-Arms. Salomons was fined £500 for voting illegally. The law requiring Members of Parliament to swear an oath "on the true faith of a Christian" was changed in 1858. Lionel de Rothschild, who had been elected yet again in 1857, became the first Jewish MP, taking his seat as soon as the law was changed. David Salomons was elected for Greenwich in 1859 and continued to sit in Parliament until his death in 1873. Items in the museum include Sir David Lionel Salomons' collections of hot air ballooning memorabilia, early automobiles, a Welte Philharmonic-OrganAndrew Pilmer & Thomas Jansen: ''Die größte Welte-Philharmonie-Orgel der Welt in Tunbridge Wells, England''. In: ''Aus Freiburg in die Welt - 100 Jahre Welte-Mignon''. Freiburg. 2005, p. 178–182 and writings on electrical and scientific subjects. There is also a collection of Judaica, which includes the tablets of the Ten Commandments from the Salomons family's private Roof-top synagogue in Brighton.

References

Sources

* ''David Salomons House''; catalogue of mementos, Malcolm Denis Brown, printed privately by T. and A. Constable, 1968. * ''The Story of Three David Salomons at Broomhill'', James William Parkes, 1950 * ''Catalogue of the Library at Broomhill, Tunbridge Wells: The Property of Sir David Lionel Salomons, Bt.'', by Sir David Salomons, Edition 3, 1903

External links

Salomons Estate: Museum
{{authority control Grade II listed buildings in Kent Jews and Judaism in England Buildings and structures in Royal Tunbridge Wells Jewish English history Historic house museums in Kent Biographical museums in Kent Jewish museums in the United Kingdom Transport museums in England Science museums in England Canterbury Christ Church University University museums in England Science and technology in Kent