The Salomons Museum

Home - Find Us - The Stories - Resources - Contact Us


Salomons Stories

1. The Salomons Family 2. The Salomons Homes 3. Salomons in Public Life 4. Science and Technology 5. The Collecting Bug 6. After the Salomons

1. The Salomons Family

Family

Broomhill from the south today.

Three generations of the Salomons family lived at Broomhill:

  • Sir David Salomons and his wife Jeannette (née Cohen)
  • his nephew, Sir David Lionel Salomons, and his wife Laura (née de Stern)
  • their children: Maud, Sybil, David Reginald, Vera and Ethel

Read about them here, and about members of the household and other families related to the Salomons.


First generation: David and Jeannette

Family

Mr Sheriff Salomons. David in the 1830s. Engraving by C. Turner after painting by Mrs Charles Pearson. DSH.M.00010.

The Salomons Family Background

David Salomons was born in 1797 in Bury St. in the City of London (just off St Mary Axe, near the 'Gherkin'). His father Levy was a financier. The family, Ashkenazi Jewish, had arrived in London from the Netherlands early in the 18th century, attracted by the financial opportunities in the developing British economy. They chose that part of the City because it was both a centre of the finance industry and had an established Jewish community.

David had two brothers and three sisters. His elder brother, Philip, is described below. The younger brother, Joseph, died relatively young though he did marry and had three daughters*. His wife, Rebecca Montefiore, was from another Jewish banking family. This intermarrying within a small group of families is a feature of the Salomons story. Two of David's sisters married brothers from the Goldsmid family. They will also feature later. The third sister, Esther, did not marry.

* Rosalind Franklin, a member of the team who discovered DNA in the 1950s, was a descendant of Joseph and Rebecca.

David and Jeannette

In 1825 David married Jeannette Cohen, granddaughter of the merchant and financier, Levi Barent-Cohen, who was also from Amsterdam. Jeannette's family had moved out of the City, to Canonbury, north of Islington. Her aunt, Judith, was married to Moses Montefiore (brother of Rebecca, mentioned above)*. In 1827 David and Jeannette accompanied the Montefiores on an epic journey to the Holy Land. David and Jeannette got as far as Naples, but Jeannette was finding the journey a little too adventurous so they turned back there.

David was obviously prospering by this time - his business and public life are discussed *here*. The Salomons acquired a house in the West End of London, in Great Cumberland Place, just off Marble Arch (here). In 1829 they also took a lease on a house near Tunbridge Wells - Broomhill Cottage; and then, two years later, they bought an estate in Groombridge where they built a new house: Burrswood. The two houses are described here. The Salomons also spent time in France, and seemed to feel very comfortable there (from the 1850s Jeannette's sister, Hannah, lived in Paris).

* Another aunt - Hannah - married Nathan Meyer Rothschild. Both the Montefiores and the Rothschilds attended David and Jeannette's wedding.

Family

Jeannette - from a painting by her sister. From the book 'Changing Faces' by Hannah Cohen.

David and Jeannette at Broomhill

In 1851/2 the Salomons sold Burrswood and re-developed the Broomhill estate - they built a new house there and re-designed the grounds. Unlike Burrswood it was not a working estate, but a place of leisure, culture and retreat (the new house and grounds are described here, and the art collection they created at Broomhill here).

David and Jeannette did not have any children. It possibly worried Jeannette (her aunt Judith was in a similar situation). She was able, though, to take in an orphaned cousin, Clara Phillips*, who lived with her and David at Broomhill. The painting 'Doubtful Fortune' by Abraham Solomon, shows Jeannette and Clara in the drawing room at Broomhill (with Emma Salomons - see below).

Needlework was one of Jeannette's interests. The 'vesper chair' in the present collection was one of her projects. Queen Adelaide (wife of William IV) was also a needlewoman, and it was perhaps through that shared interest, that they became acquainted. There are gifts from Adelaide to Jeannette in the collection .

* In 1849 Clara married Adelbert von Nordeck, and became Baroness de Rabenau. They built Schloss Friedelhausen, near Marburg, north of Frankfurt, in the Tudor Gothic style (arch. John Dobson).

Family

'Doubtful Fortune' by Abraham Solomon. Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1856. DSH.M.00279. Clara Philips, Emma Salomons, Jeannette Salomons.

Jeannette's illness

By the 1850s David's public career was flourishing. In 1855 he was Lord Mayor of London (see more *here*). But Jeannette was not well. She was unable to attend formal dinners at the Mansion House - her sister Harriet, or sister-in-law, Emma, acted as hostess instead. By the 1860s things were getting worse. Jeannette spent some time at a care home in Blackheath, and then at the asylum in Ticehurst. It was while she was in the care of Ticehurst that she died in 1867, in a house that they used for their patients in St Leonards.

David remarried in 1872 - to Cecilia Salomons, a cousin of Jeannette's (and the widow of one of his own cousins). He died the following year. Both David and Jeannette are buried in the West Ham Jewish Cemetery. After David's death Cecilia lived at their London house, so isn't really part of the Broomhill story.

Family

The Ticehurst Private Asylum for Insane Persons. (Prospectus 1828) (Image cropped). Wellcome Library MS6245. (The Wellcome Library also has medical notes relating to Jeannette's stay.)

Philip and Emma Salomons

Philip Salomons was David's elder brother. As a young man he had emigrated to America but later returned, and eventually made his home in Brighton - 26 Brunswick Terrace (the outline of his private prayer room can be seen on the roof).

In 1850 he married Emma Abigail Montefiore - he was then 54, she was 18. She is the third (central) figure in the picture 'Doubtful Fortune', above. Emma was the daughter of Jacob Montefiore (cousin of Rebecca and Moses) who was the Rothschild representative in Melbourne, Australia, in the 1850s (a key financial centre after the discovery of gold in Victoria).

Note: Items from Philip's prayer room are displayed at the museum (see here), as are twenty-four leather fire buckets with the Salomons crest , presented to him as Sheriff of Sussex. Although Philip is not directly involved in the story of Broomhill it would be good to know more of his life before 1850.

Family

Philip / Emma Salomons by Anton Hahnisch, 1850 - the year of their marriage. DSH.M.00059/60.

David Lionel, Laura and Stella Salomons

Philip and Emma had three children: David Lionel (b.1851), Laura Matilda (b.1853) and Stella Rosalind Jeannette (b.1855). (A second son, Philip Montefiore, died as an infant.)

Emma herself died in 1859 and the children began increasingly to be looked after by David and Jeannette, in London and at Broomhill. Philip died in 1867 and the children moved in with David (Jeannette also died that year). When David died in 1873, David Lionel inherited Broomhill and the baronetcy.

In 1873 Laura married Edward Lucas, a cotton merchant. They lived in Bayswater. In 1877 Stella married George Paget, a stockbroker, and they also lived in Bayswater. Stella later returned to Broomhill and lived in Oak Lodge at the entrance to the Salomons Estate. (There are pictures of Laura and Stella in fancy-dress in the next panel.)

Family

David Lionel, Laura and Stella, with / without their father Philip Salomons. DSH.M.00510f/d

Back to the top <<

Second generation: David Lionel and Laura

David Lionel Salomons

David Lionel Salomons succeeded his uncle at Broomhill in 1873. He graduated that year in Natural Sciences at Cambridge*, and the following year was called to the bar by the Middle Temple. His principal interest, though, was science and technology.

He set about extending Broomhill. He constructed the tower for use as an astronomical observatory and built a photographic studio and darkroom, and extensive workshops. And he was a very early adopter of electricity, generated on-site. For more details of these see *here* and *here*.

In 1874 he was made a magistrate, and the same year he stood (unsuccessfully) as Liberal candidate for Mid-Kent.

He also contributed to the social life of the area. In 1879 he and his sister Laura hosted a grand fancy-dress ball at Broomhill . The 'Courier' called it 'one of the most successful... ever held in the district'. Dancing started at 8:30 and continued until 2:00am with music provided by the band of the Royal Horse Guards. There were over 170 guests.

* The last restrictions on Jewish (and other non-Anglican) access to the older universities were finally removed in 1871. David Lionel had briefly attended University College, London. One of its founders (in 1826) had been his near relative Isaac Lyon Goldsmid.

Family

David Lionel Salomons, c.1880. DSH.M.00605.

Laura de Stern

In 1882 David Lionel married Laura de Stern. Her father was Hermann (Baron) de Stern. He and his brother David ran the London branch of the banking firm of Stern Brothers. Her mother was Julia (née Goldsmid), daughter of Sophia, sister of the first David Salomons.

Laura was born in 1855, the youngest of four children .

  • Emily (b.1846) married Edward Dutton, 4th Baron Sherborne, and became Lady Sherborne. (Her portrait hangs above the main staircase at Salomons - see here.)
  • Alfred (b.1850) appears in a number of the family mementoes but his life is something of a mystery. He may have developed a mental illness - later in life he had a large house near Goudhurst with resident medical support.
  • Herbert (b.1851) inherited his father's Portuguese barony, but in 1905 also became a British peer, as Baron Michelham of Hellingly. He owned Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham .
Family

Laura Salomons (née de Stern) c.1885. DSH.M.00266

David and Laura at Broomhill I

David and Laura had five children: Maud (b.1883), Sybil (1884), David Reginald (Reggie) (1885), Vera (1888) and Ethel (1892) The larger household (there was also a governess and 11 indoor staff, plus coachman, grooms, gardeners, etc.) meant that the house needed to be extended. The East Wing was built in 188x, and a second floor added to the main block in 189x (see *here* for more details). They also had a London house at 49 Grosvenor Street.

David continued his research into electricity and photography, moving into new areas such as X-rays and radio (see *here* for more details). The Broomhill visitors book records visits by prominent scientists, such as Lord Kelvin and Joseph Swan, inventor of the electric light bulb. David also hosted visits by the local photographic society .

In 1899 he added the names Goldsmid and Stern to Salomons . It may have been linked to a bequest from Laura's parents, who died in 1887 and 1899, and reflects the importance of family backgrounds.

Family

Four of the Salomons children, c.1897. Sybil (Maud?), Reggie, Vera, Ethel. DSH.M.00675.5

David and Laura at Broomhill II

David Lionel was very active throughout the 1890s. A keen coachman he designed and built a new stable block - a striking architectural statement in red brick and Portland stone (see *here* for details). Ironically he then developed a great interest in motor cars. As mayor of Tunbridge Wells in 1895 he organised the world's first motor-show (see *here* for details).

On the site of the original stables he built a theatre. It was initially intended for scientific lectures and experiments, but he soon realised that theatre itself offered great scope for technological innovation, in lighting, projection, and the electrical operation of curtains, blinds, etc.

His innovations continued into the new century: perhaps the very first garages in the country; a new library; and extensions to the theatre culminating with the installation of the Welte organ in 1914. These are all described in the pages on Science and Technology.

He wasn't restricted to works at Broomhill. In 1909 he funded the purchase of a building in the public gardens at Venice which became the British Pavilion of the Venice Biennale.

Family

David Lionel Salomons at a meet of the Coaching Club. DSH.M.00526.

David and Laura at Broomhill III

The First World War cast a dark shadow over the family's final years. The uncertain security situation in the years before led to the creation of a Territorial 'Force' in 1908. David Lionel became an honorary colonel and encouraged the creation of a local unit of the Kent (Fortress) Royal Engineers. It was while serving with this unit that David Reginald died at Gallipoli (see below).

Laura was fully involved in the war effort - as commandant of local VAD hospitals. The first was at the Victoria Hall, a local authority theatre to which the Salomons had contributed in 189x, and then at Park House, Southborough .

Outside of the war years David focused on his library and watch collections (see *here* for details). Each year he sent little booklets as New Year cards. Some explained scientific concepts like wireless and x-rays, others were simply collections of 'wise' sayings . Sadly some of the 'reflections' are rather trite and don't always reflect well on the sender.

After the war their London home was 47 Montagu Square. David died in 1925, Laura in 1935. There is little in the collection relating to those last ten years - it would be nice to have more. (Though we do know that Laura subscribed £2,000 to the Palestine Emergency Fund in 1929.)

Family

David Lionel Salomons as a Colonel of the Kent (Fortress) Royal Engineers. DSH.M.00625.

Back to the top <<

Third generation: Maud, Sybil, David Reginald, Vera and Ethel

Maud Julia Salomons 1883-1935

David and Laura chose very 'English' names for their daughters: Maud, Sybil, Vera and Ethel. Maud was also called Julia, after her mother and grandmother.

She and her sisters were educated at home: there were governesses at Broomhill throughout the 1880s and 90s. In 1906 she married John Harvey Blunt , He later became Sir John, 9th baronet. They lived at Huntleys, near Broomhill, an estate acquired earlier by her father, and which he left to her on his death. The Blunts had five children.

Maud died in 1935 and her husband in 1938. The house later formed the core of the Bennett Memorial School.

The V&A has a photograph of Maud in court dress taken by society photographer Lafayette in 1927. It was a record of her presentation at court that year - rather late, at the age of 44. It may have been so that she could then present her daughter, Cecily Maud Helen Blunt, the following season. The museum has recently received another picture of Maud, taken by Lafayette two years later, rather more plainly dressed .

Family

Maud aged 3. DSH.M.00514.

Sybil Gwendolen Salomons 1884-1899

There is relatively little in the collection relating to Sybil: a short diary and some cards she sent to Reggie. The reason is that she died young, aged fifteen, in 1899.

She was buried in what became the family's private burial ground behind the evangelical chapel opposite Broomhill Bank (see *here* for more details).

They obviously cherished her memory , though with some uncertainty about the spelling of her name - the locket apparently has 'Gwendoline' on the reverse.

Family

Sybil. DSH.M.00517f.

David Reginald Herman Phillip (Reggie) Salomons 1885-1915

'Herman' and 'Phillip' after his grandfathers, though with slightly different spellings. The only boy among four girls Reggie was probably favoured. His long curls were kept by his mother and are on display in the museum. Reggie went to Eton and to Cambridge - to his father's old college, Gonville & Caius.

In 1910 he made a long visit to Japan with his cousin, Arthur Paget (son of Stella Paget who was living in Oak Lodge). Reggie was fascinated by China and Japan and wrote a history of the former (unpublished). The museum has diaries and memorabilia of the journey. (Arthur was even more taken with the region - he married a Japanese woman, Ichi Watanabe - and lived there (as an arms dealer) until his death in 1930.)

On his return to England Reggie was involved with the Territorial movement and the setting up and training of cadet companies.

Family

Reggie aged about 12 or 13. DSH.M.00963.

The Hythe Disaster

In 1912 Reggie was appointed a captain in the Royal Engineers, and attached to the 1/3 Kent Field Co. Royal Engineers - the local Territorial unit with which his father was connected.

The role of the Territorials had originally been the defence of Britain. In the First World War they were used for service overseas. On the evening of 28th October 1915 the 1/3 Kent Field Co. was approaching the Dardanelles in HMS Hythe, a converted cross-Channel steamer. With lights extinguished to avoid sighting by Turkish batteries, they were rammed by HMS Sarnia, which was also travelling without lights. The Hythe sank within ten minutes with the loss of some 150 men. Reggie Salomons was one of them. He had refused to leave the ship until all his men were safe.

It was obviously a tragedy for the Salomons family, made all the worse because most of those lost were from local families in Southborough, High Brooms and Tunbridge Wells. In 1916 Sir David erected a memorial to them in the drill hall in Speldhurst Road. It is now in St Matthews Church in High Brooms.

The Hythe story was re-created in 2015 in the musical 'The Dreamers', written by James Beeney and Gina Giorgio, and performed at the St James Theatre in the West End. The story also featured in 'The Vanishing Elephant' a community play staged in Camden Road, Tunbridge Wells, in 2009.

Family

Capt. D. Reginald Salomons, R.E. DSH.M.00639b.

Vera Frances Salomons 1888 - 1969

As a child Vera was close to Reggie. Her postcard collection (see more) shows him encouraging her interest in art and literature. She was, perhaps, the most academic of the girls. She shared her father's interest in 18th century French illustrators and published three specialist studies on them (see more).

She joined the Red Cross in 1913, and served as a nurse (and quartermaster) in the VAD hospitals in Southborough. From late 1916 she was in France, at nos. 8 and 20 General Hospital, and at a Michelham Convalescent Home for Officers*. She was awarded Red Cross medals in 1915, 1916 and 1917 . Having served in a theatre of war she was, like Reggie, entitled to the Victory Medal.

In 1919 Vera married Lt Col Edward Bryce . Before the war he had been a rubber planter in Malaya, where he had apparently made a considerable fortune, but lost it again very quickly**. After the war he tried his luck as a banker in France, so he and Vera lived in Paris. The marriage, though, was not a success: they separated in 1930 and divorced in 1932, though she remained known as Vera Bryce Salomons. Vera's story is continued below after a brief look at her younger sister, Ethel.

* The Michelham Homes were funded by Lord and Lady Michelham, Vera's uncle and aunt.
** According to an obituary in the Straits Times. It also described him as 'a man of splendid physique, but his generous and jovial temperament was combined with a quickly aroused and violent temper'. He divorced his first wife in 1917, and married a third time, shortly before his death, in 1936.

Family

Vera.

Ethel Dorothy Salomons 1892-1937

Ethel was the youngest child - perhaps that is why she appears in so many pictures - perched on the front of her father's car, or laying the foundation stone of the extension to the General Hospital .

She was presented at court by her mother in 1912, and in 1915 married Capt. Alexander Cameron Richardson . After the war they lived at Broomhill Bank, given to her by her father (see more on Broomhill Bank).

The marriage appears to have broken down. Ethel sold Broomhill Bank back to her father and lived in France with her two children, Donald and Yvonne. She died in London in 1937 (having earlier - 1929 - been involved in a dramatic shooting incident on the Riviera*).

Donald and Yvonne both added to the museum collection in later years: Donald contributed to the purchase of Reggie's uniform, and Yvonne gave a print of Sheriff Salomons (and Donald's widow, Winifred, donated a signet ring that had belonged to Philip Salomons.)

* In late January 1929 Ethel was shot, twice, in the neck, by a Swiss hotel-keeper called Lichtenberg, who then killed himself. She later explained that they had been good friends a year or so earlier in Interlaken, but that she had broken off the relationship because he was constantly asking her for money.

Family

Ethel (probably) perched on the front of her father's car. DSH.M.00515r.

Vera - later life

By the end of 1937 Vera was the only one of her generation left. In 1938 she donated Broomhill to Kent County Council as a memorial to her brother, father and great-uncle (see more). The rest of her life had a rather different focus.

In 1925 she visited Palestine and seems to have re-connected with her Jewish heritage*. She visited kibbutzim and moshabim, and 'spouted the little Hebrew that I knew'**. She returned a number of times in the 1930s and came to know Leo Aryeh Mayer, a specialist in Islamic art at the Hebrew University.

During her early visits she had been concerned that prayers at the 'Wailing Wall' were disturbed by locals driving pack-horses to nearby houses. She proposed buying the houses to prevent this. Nothing came of the idea, but the money she raised, some £100,000, went to create the David Salomons Charity in 1947.

She was keen to help disadvantaged groups: orphans, the elderly and the blind. Although a firm supporter of the State of Israel, she was determined to help all its peoples. Her biggest project: the LA Mayer Institute for Islamic Art was intended to showcase the Arab cultural legacy. Its Museum strives to honor her family legacy by being a bridge between Arab and Jewish cultures***. Her father's watch collection is one of its primary attractions (see more).

The Museum opened in 1974 but Vera had died in 1969, near Limerick in Ireland - possibly while staying with (or near) one of Maud's children. She had lived for some time in Switzerland.

In 1967/8 she worked with Malcolm Brown to produce a detailed catalogue of the collection at Broomhill (see more). In many ways the Salomons Museum is a memorial to Vera as much as to the three Davids.

* She had been a member of the Jewish Historical Society since before the war.
** In 1934 she stayed as a guest of Dr I Epstein - a pioneer of modern spoken Hebrew - perhaps an indication that she took the subject seriously.
*** For the Museum's current website, click here.

Family

Vera - in her twenties?. DSH.M.00884.25.


Back to the top <<

The household

Family

Household staff c. 1870, in uniform - compare with picture below. In front of the old stables. DSH.M.00281.

The Salomons household

In the century or so that the Salomons lived at Broomhill they must have employed hundreds of staff. Unfortunately there are no staff records in the museum files, so we are reliant on censuses to identify who worked there. These provide lists of names and ages and job titles, and sometimes we can add a little extra detail. In the sections below, the staff are divided into:

  • indoor staff
  • estate staff including gardeners
  • coachmen and grooms
  • chauffeurs and mechanics

Indoor staff

For the first thirty or so years at Broomhill there was only David and Jeannette to look after so little need for a large household. It typically comprised butler, cook, lady's maid, housemaid, kitchen maid and footman. Based as much at the London house as at Broomhill, it is not surpring that most were not local. James Nicholson, the butler and one of the longer-serving members (on the right of the picture), was from Co. Durham. Mrs Easton, seated right, the cook, was from London, and Lydia Hall, lady's maid, seated left, from Alton. Only Rebecca Rycroft, housemaid, next to Nicholson, was local (see Estate staff below).

Twenty years later David Lionel and Laura had five children and a much bigger house. Staff numbers had doubled: butler and two footmen; cook and two kitchen maids; four housemaids; a parlourmaid and a governess. None of them was local, and none, except the butler, appears on more than one census.

The position of governess was an interesting one. The census treats them as domestic servants, but they had a distinct status. The governess in 1901 was Pauline Wermelinger. She was Swiss - a prime function of the governess was to introduce the girls to European culture - and she may even have had her own - Swiss - maid.

*

Family

Household staff, c.1870. DSH.M.00504b.

Estate staff

The 37 acres of grounds at Broomhill also needed looking after. There were usually two or three gardeners, with a 'bailiff' or 'steward' in charge. They lived with their families in lodges rather than in the main house. The most notable in the early period was John Rycroft (with wife Rebecca) - 'gardener' in 1841*, 'land agent' in 1861, and 'steward' in 1871**. Their daughter Rebecca joined the indoor staff as a housemaid (see above), while their son John George also worked as a gardener. Some of the 'outdoor' staff had more specific titles. George Walters, for example, was 'gamekeeper'. In 1871 he was living in the North Lodge; ten years later he was in 'Gasworks Cottage' - at the bottom of the hill on the opposite side of Broomhill Road.

By 1881 Charles Cole was bailiff, but the role then seems to disappear, though perhaps simply because they lived off-site***. There continued to be a team of three or four gardeners to tend the extensive new gardens created in the 1890s (see more). The head gardener at that time was James Roberts - he was there for thirty years, maybe more. He was interviewed, at some length, in 'Garden Life' in 1905.

* The Illustrated London News had a report of the Tunbridge Wells Horticultural Society fete in 1859. Messrs Ryecroft and Wells of Broomhill, had a Medinella magnifica 'which eminently deserved its name', some 'highly commended' achimenses, and 'many other very well-grown plants'.

** Rycroft appears in the local Poll Book in the 1850s/60s and sought election to the Local Board in the 1870s - could he have property himself beyond Broomhill?

*** Cole claimed in 1881 that he had worked for the estate for 35 years, initially at Burrswood. In 1851 and 1861 he is recorded as an agricultural labourer, but living at addresses in Southborough with no obvious connection to Broomhill. There may have been others in this position.

Family

Haymaking at Broomhill - the grounds were not just ornamental. DSH.M.00519f.

Coachmen and grooms

The head coachman lived with his family in the stable block. There were usually also two or three helpers or grooms, typically single men in their 20's. They differed from the estate staff, a) in that they had to be clean-shaven*, and b) that they went with the family when it moved between the London house and Broomhill - the estate staff remained at Broomhill. (What isn't clear is how the transfers took place - did the family and main household travel by train, to be picked up from the station by the coachman who had gone on ahead?)

John Hardy was coachman in 1841 and 1851, then Robert Lane in 1861. They were from Devon and Warwickshire. There are no details for 1871 and 1881, but in 1891 it was George Cobbold, from Suffolk. By then the big new stable block was being built (see more) - reflecting David Lionel's own interest in carriage-driving .

By 1901 Leo 'Walter' Nunn had arrived as head coachman. There was also a second coachman and two grooms. By 1911 that had grown to two coachmen and five grooms. Nunn remained at Broomhill after the arrival of the motor car. David Lionel left him £800 in 1924 (he left James Roberts, the gardener, £1,000). In fact Nunn remained at Broomhill for some time after the Salomons had left, living in the stables until his death in 1947.

* Not just clean-shaven; their whole appearance, posture and dress, had to be perfect. As with the condition of the horses and carriages, it was a measure of the standing of their employer.

Family

Pony cart in front of Broomhill, 1890. The groom (unidentified) in 'country' livery. DSH.M.00504f.

Chauffeurs and mechanics

In 1895 everything changed. David Lionel Salomons discovered the motor-car (see more *here*). Specialist staff were required: chauffeurs and mechanics. They tended to live off-site so aren't so easy to track.

George William Barclay may well have been the first professional chauffeur in the country. He came to Salomons in 1895*, after 22 years service in the Navy, and remained in post until his death in 1935. He was awarded a medal by the Automobile Club de France as a 'mechanicien' . The job title was a little uncertain in those days - at his wedding in 1897 he described himself as 'motor coachman'. In 1904 he got one of the very first driving licences .

Harry Cooke wasn't an employee of Salomons but owned a small coach-building business in Tunbridge Wells. One day he was asked to meet Salomons at Dover. Salomons had bought a car in Paris. Cooke had to walk back from Dover in front of the car, carrying a red flag. It took two and a half days. Cooke can be seen alongside the cars at the 1895 motor-show .

* Though his service record suggests that he was in the Navy until June 1896.

Family

David Lionel Salomons at the wheel in 1902, with George Barclay, chauffeur, in the dickey (similar to where the footman might have perched on a carriage). DSH.M.00329l.


Back to the top <<

The wider family

Family

Moses Montefiore, aged 100. DSH.M.00126.

Families connected to the Salomons

In preparation:

    Mertons and Cohens

    Montefiores

    Goldsmids, incl Frances

    Sterns

    Benjamin Gompertz - Emma's GF

    Waggs Waleys etc

In the meantime we might note that ...

    Rosalind Franklyn (one of the team who discovered DNA in the 1950s, d.1958) was the great, great, granddaughter of Joseph Salomons, David Salomons' brother.

    Mark Girouard (architectural historian, d.2022) was the great, great, great, great, grandson of Phoebe de Metz, David Salomons' aunt (his mother's sister).


Back to the top <<



Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyright of the Salomons Museum.

Please do not copy without permission. 11.09.23