Mordecai Solomon (1800 -1883) and Elizabeth Haines (1809 - 1852)

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Catherine Solomon was born in 1847 in Sydney, the 7th child of Mordecai and Elizabeth. Her birth was not registered hence my initial research task was to determine her parentage .

Catherine & Isaac Barnett circa 1870

Her marriage announcement to Isaac Barnett in 1869, indicated she was the 4th daughter of Mordecai Solomon of Sydney and that Isaac was the eldest son of Asher Barnett of Castle Street, London, formerly of Melbourne.. Also her marriage certificate shows she was married at Sarah (her sister) and George Myer's residence at 618 Elizabeth Street, Strawberry Hills, Sydney, by Rabbi Davis. I have a photo of Catherine and her husband, Isaac Barnett from about that time, and also 3 Jewish festival prayer books that had been very neatly inscribed and dated by Isaac to mark the occasion of their marriage. My 2nd cousin (Barbara Jolson) has a 4th book in a set of 6.

Isaac's father, Asher Barnett was the oldest of 4 children and was born in Middlesex, London in 1816. He is listed as a baker in the Pigot's Directory of the time. Asher married Catherine Barnett (same surname) in the Great Synagogue of London in 1837 (Asher's parents were also married in the Great Synagogue of London, in 1804). Asher and Catherine had 11 children; Isaac being the oldest.

In 1853 it appears that Asher's bakery business took a turn for the worse, because he was listed in the London Gazette as being sent to the Debtors' prison. On his release he made the bold step of setting sail for Melbourne. Three of his children Isaac, Barnett and Rosa also emigrated to Melbourne but whether the rest of the family stayed in London is unclear. In the 1850's Asher is listed as a confectioner in Melbourne, but in the early 1860's this business had to be wound up and he returned to London. Whilst all this was going on Isaac went to the gold fields of Bendigo to make his fortune. Later he moved to Dunedin, New Zealand to start a grocery business in partnership with William Jones. In 1862 this partnership was dissolved.

Isaac's next venture was to form a partnership with Barnett Levy ("Barnett & Levy") selling groceries from premises in Queen street, the main street of Auckland. Details of this significant operation can be seen in newspapers starting in 1865 and continuing through the next decade.

Precisely how Isaac met Catherine is not known (yet). They were married in 1869 in Sydney and then returned to Auckland to start a family and continue in business. Whilst living in Auckland they started an almost yearly production of children. Asher (1870), Elizabeth (1871), Rosetta (1872), Jane (1873), Henry (1874), Sarah (1876), Esther (1877) were born there.

Whilst Catherine was busy rearing the children, Isaac was planning his next move. Their business premises were located next to the Theatre Royal in Queens Street. In 1876 Barnett & Levy purchased the Theatre Royal and totally rebuilt it into "the first theatre of any note in the Dominion" (Isaac's obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald 1912), also "a magnificent theatre, one of the largest and best in the colony" (Auckland Star 1876).

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The Theatre Royale, Auckland 1880s

About a year later Messrs Barnett & Levy were forced into bankruptcy. The reasons aren't clear as their liabilities of about 20,000 pounds was well-covered by their assets. Their predicament seemed to be precipitated by a credit squeeze brought on by the banks. Commercially this insolvency was significant and was well reported on both sides of the Tasman. It was following this event (and must likely because of it) that Isaac and Catherine moved their family to Sydney. Interestingly Esther (my grandmother), like her mother, Catherine, was the only one of the children not to have her birth registered, but it's not surprising given that they probably had more important things on their minds. (Well, that was what I thought, but although Esther's birth did not appear via online enquiry of the NZ BDM, I have subsequently found a hard copy of her birth certificate amongst family papers.)

Once settled down again in Sydney the family production line began once more. Born in Sydney were Ellen (1878), Montague (1880), George (1882), Frances (1883), Alfred (1886), Isidore (1887), Oscar (1889). During most of this period the family lived at "Surry Lodge", Glenmore Rd., Paddington

Barnett & Levy once more commenced trading, this time in Sydney. In 1878 a notice appeared in the SMH indicating that their partnership (of their business operation in Sydney) had been dissolved and that Isaac would pay all outstanding debts and continue trading as I. Barnett and Co., from 620 George Street. This business became insolvent in 1883. In the 1888 Sands directory Isaac was listed as living in Glenmore Rd, Paddington.

In 1895 (5 years after the birth of her last child), my research indicated that Catherine became Matron of the Montefiore home in Sydney. Further investigation showed that in fact the matron was a totally different Mrs. Isaac Barnett. Sadly, Catherine died in 1896 at the age of 49. Their residence at that time was 67 Sutherland Street, Paddington. She is buried in the Jewish section of Rookwood Cemetery, section OGN, row 12, plot 394. The inscription on her headstone reads, " In loving memory of Catherine Barnett died April 10th 1896 aged 49 years. Not forgotten by her children"

Isaac died in 1912 at the age of 77. His death certificate notes the names of 10 of the 14 children who were still living at the time of his death. He is buried in the Jewish section of Rookwood Cemetery, section OGN, row 10, plot 225. The inscription on his headstone reads, "In loving memory of Isaac Barnett died 19th March 1912 aged 73 years. Not forgotten by his children". Maybe they forgot his age, because Isaac's death certificate says he was 77 (as did his obituary). The UK census of 1841 shows that he was born in 1837 and the UK census of 1851 estimates his birth date as 1838. So this means he was probably 74 or 75 when he died.

Isaac Barnett's Obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald

Descendants of Catherine & Isaac Barnett

The families of Sarah, Esther, Montague and George have always been known to me, however other than grandma (Esther) saying she was one of 14, until recently, I have never known anything about the other 10 children. Through research, I have managed to deduce who each of the 10 children were, mainly using vital records and a few newspaper reports. Most of my conclusions are based on hard evidence (and some recently discovered cousins). Other conclusions are based on a well-informed guess, and I have indicated where this occurs.

Details relating to Sarah, Montague and George are somewhat brief and I hope to fill this out more at a later date. My main aim here is to document what I know about the lesser-known siblings.

1. Asher Lewis Barnett was born in Auckland in 1870. Presumably, he was named after his paternal grandfather (Asher Barnett), and his Uncle (Lewis Solomon), who died at 19 on the gold fields in N.S.W. Nothing more is known of Asher until his death notice in the Hebrew Standard of Australia on 3rd July 1908 stating that he had died and was buried at the newly consecrated Jewish portion of the Sandgate Cemetery (Newcastle NSW). Later information revealed it was the first Jewish burial in this newly consecrated ground and was performed on the day of the dedication by Rabbi Jack Morris.

His death certificate reveals that at the time of his death he was 38 years old, and was resident at a "Hospital for Insane", Newcastle. It also confirms his parents names, date and place of birth, and that he was single and had no children. It is tragic to note that Asher's younger brother died a few weeks later (see below).

2. Elizabeth Barnett was born in Auckland in 1871. Again nothing is known of her life until her death on 21 April 1921. Her death certificate and the coroner's report indicate that she committed suicide by drowning in the Lane Cove River. She apparently suffered from acute asthma and had become very concerned about her condition The newspaper article below indicates that she had been living in Auckland, New Zealand and worked as a governess. At the time of her death she was 53 and had been recently living in Quirindi near Walgett. She was single.

There were several reports in the newspapers of this tragedy in Australia and New Zealand, two of which are below.

She was buried at Rookwood cemetery in the C of E section.

3. Rosetta Barnett (aka Rosie and Rachel) was born in Auckland in 1872. She married Thomas Pearson in 1905 in NSW. They lived at "Tahuna", Orlando Avenue, Mosman NSW. This location varied in use from a place where auctions of household goods were carried out, to a residence and later a reception place. Unfortunately Rosie died in August 1912. a few months after her father Isaac had died. There were no children from the marriage, however I note that Thomas remarried a year later and stayed on at "Tahuna".

4. Jane Barnett was born in Auckland in 1873. The only information I have found relating to comes from her death certificate. She died at the Mental Hospital, Morisset on 18th March 1950. She was 79 years old and had a been ill for about 7 years. Given that at that time the destitute, ill, aged and single mothers were often placed in mental institutions it is not surprising that she ended up there. She never married and had no children.

5. Henry Barnett Barnett (aka Harry Barnett) was born in Auckland in 1874. He was a young child when his parents moved to Sydney and later at about the age of 22, he moved to Perth and in 1896 he married Helen Johnston. HIs 3 oldest children were born in Perth ie., Juliana May (1898), Thelma Rose (1900), Iris Millicent (1903).

From 1902 he traded from 159 Barrack Street as a household ironmonger and an importer of crockery and glassware. Several advertisements in Trove give some idea of his activities. I found some 1,000 advertisements and articles relating to his operation from Barrack Street between 1902 and 1906. Not only was he running his ironmongery and importing business but he was also into incubators and other assorted items.

He was later appointed secretary of the WA poultry and dog association.

Coincidentally, just down the road at 147 Barrack Street, my great grandfather Mark Shrimski and his son, Alfred ran a men's outfitting business. It is mere speculation on my part that Alfred and Harry would have met, but it is fact that Harry's younger sister, Esther must have come to Perth (from Sydney), met Alfred and married him in 1904. In 1906 Harry Barnett and his family left Perth, citing Ill health as his reason for closing his business. At the same time Alfred and Esther Shrimski also left Perth.

It appears from my investigations that Barnett and Shrimski travelled to Bermagui where some 21 advertisements appeared in the Bega and Cobargo newspapers over the months of June to September 1906 promoting their new joint business venture. An example is ....

"Boshter" is old Aussie slang for "excellent" and is closely related to "bonzer". It appears Barnett & Shrimski may have been buying the stock of failed businesses and flogging it off at a profit.

Alfred and Esther sailed for Auckland (from Bermagui) in November 1906. Harry and his family returned to Sydney where they had 3 more children Twins Henry and Alan were born in 1908 and Beryl was born in 1912. Harry gave his occupation as a commercial traveller in 1921 in the newspaper report of his sister, Elizabeth's suicide. There are several Sands directory listings showing a Harry Barnett living at Prospect Road, Ashfield, and I can verify it is our Harry from Elizabeth's death certificate.. He is also mentioned in the personal notices for his sister Rosie's death in 1912, and also his father, Isaac's death in 1912. Harry died at the age of 55 in 1929. His wife and 5 children were still living at that time. His wife, Helen, died in 1951.

The twins. Henry (standing), Alan (seated)

All 6 children of Harry and Helen married and 4 of the 6 had children of their own.

Juliana married Michael Atkins. No children

Thelma married Harold Bains. They had 2 boys, Harold and Norman. Harold had a daughter.

Iris married John Smith. They had a daughter, Barbara, who married Robert Berriman and had 2 daughters who have children.

Henry married Ilma Meryle Van Treight. They had 2 daughters, Lynette and Dellwyn, who both married and have children and grandchildren. Henry served in the AIF from 1939 ro 1945. Henry's wife, Ilma, was related to the Van Treight Furniture manufacturers, descended from the Huguenots (Dutch/Belgian). The Van Treight family moved to Ireland in the fifteenth century to escape religious persecution. Lynette has visited their graves (dated 1753) in Kilkenny.

Alan married Anne Maclean Jolly. They had no children

Beryl married Joseph Shepherd. They had a son (Graham) who has 3 children, and a daughter (Lorena) who has 2 children.

Details of can be seen on the family tree.

6. Sarah Barnett (aka Sadie) was born in Auckland in 1876. She must have travelled to Auckland in the early 1900s to join her siblings Elizabeth, Monty and Esther. She married Isaac George Danglowitz (later changed to Danglow) in 1908. Isaac was the brother of the renowned Melbourne based Rabbi Jacob Danglow. It is apparent that some of the Danglow family did not approve of this match, as they never acknowledged Sadie (or her daughter or granddaughter) as relatives. Isaac and Sadie had a daughter, Nancy in 1909, but Isaac had deserted Sadie before Nancy was born, so the family was left in a rather bad position. Fortunately Sadie and Nancy were able to move in with Esther, Alfred and son Ronald (my father). Nancy and Ron were brought up like brother and sister, rather than cousins. Isaac had fled back to England and in 1917 Sadie and Isaac were divorced.

In Rabbi Danglow's biography by Rabbi John Levi, it was said that Rabbi Danglow's brother became engaged to a Miss Barnett in Auckland and that it was an "unsuitable marriage". It is unclear what the reasons were for this lack of suitability, but one could speculate that it was because Sadie lacked an appropriate dowry or perhaps the marriage became "unsuitable" with the social embarrassment of a divorce in the family.

Sadie and daughter, Nancy

Nancy married George Berman (his brother Jack, was married to my mother's sister). They had a daughter, Barbara who married Bernard Jolson. They have 2 boys and have a grandchild.

7. Esther Barnett (aka Essie) was born in Auckland in 1877.

Below is a certificate of merit that Esther received from Fort Street High, Sydney in 1892. This one was for Latin and she had a similar one for arithmetic

As already discussed Essie met Alfred Shrimski in Perth and they were married there in 1904. They migrated to Auckland in 1906 where Alfred set up a men's outfitters business with the motto "the working man's friend". It was situated in a prime position in Queen Street. There is no doubt that he was very successful in this business. He built a large house in Westbourne Rd., Remuera, Auckland. Their only child, Ronald Martin was born in 1909. Below is a photo taken in about 1916 on their tennis court. Many of the Barnett family are in this photo.

back row (L-R):Len Mitchell, Joe Yock, E. Snell, Monty Barnett, Alfred Shrimski (in hat)

middle row: Vera Barnett holding daughter Mollie, George Barnett, Essie Shrimski, Flo Luber

Front row: Ron Shrimski, Nancy Danglow, Keith Barnett, Jack Barnett

Monty, Essie and George are siblings

Keith, Jack and Mollie are Vera and Monty's children

Alfred Shrimski's Store in Queen Street, Auckland (1925) taken some 6 years after he died.

In 1919, Alfred Shrimski died in the flu epidemic that swept the world. At the age of 14 Ron was sent to boarding school in the South Island, Waitaki Boys High School, which had been founded by the Hon Samuel Edward Shrimski in 1883. Samuel was the brother of my great great grandfather, so this was obviously the right thing to do to a fatherless young man. Ron qualified as a dentist, married Rebecca Shenkin and they had 4 sons. All have married, some more than once. They have children and some have grandchildren.

8. Ellen Barnett (aka Nellie) was born in Sydney in 1878. Her birth would have been just after Catherine and Isaac had made the decision to leave Auckland and start a new life in Sydney.

It was a real task to find anything at all about Ellen, but after exhaustive searching of many resources I came across an entry that looked promising. It was a recorded death in the BDM NSW of a Nellie Barnett whose father was named Isaac. There were very few Isaac Barnetts in existence in Australia and only one that could fit the birth date in question. Further I found that Nellie was a known diminutive for Ellen. Heartened, I requested a copy of the her death certificate.

The relevant findings from the death certificate were

· father was called Isaac, mother unknown

· died at the age of 64 at Mental Hospital, Morisset on 13th December 1944 (this means she was born around 1880, close enough to the registered birth date of 1878)

· died of arterial sclerosis and chronic mental disease

· of the Jewish faith. buried in the Jewish cemetery Morisset

· born in NSW

Based on the above information I am reasonably confident that we have the right person. I decided to contact the Hunter New England Health Network and request Nellie's admission details to the mental health system. The relevant points are

· she was admitted in February 1939 from the Stockton mental hospital

· she had previously been admitted in 1914 and 1926

· she had a brother who was admitted into mental health care in 1909

· her previous residence 143a Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, where she carried out domestic duties

· she was listed as single with a child

· when she died they tried to contact her father at her last known address, but without success (Isaac had died in 1912)

My investigations indicate that a single mother in those days often ended up in a mental care facility. If you weren't insane to start with , you would no doubt end up mentally unstable.

I could do further investigations of her mental records but at this stage have decided not to.

9. Montague Barnett (aka Monty) was born in Sydney in 1880. His grandson, Graham Barnett has written an excellent article on Montague and his family. It can be viewed here .

Some of the following information has been taken directly from Graham's article.

Montague married Vera Mensa in 1911 and soon after they moved to Auckland. It was there that their 3 children Keith, Jack and Mollie were born. Montague ran a hardware store in Auckland but eventually they returned to Sydney (1922) where Montague ran a hardware store in Hall Street, Bondi. Montague served in the Boer war and WWI. He died at the age of 79, however Vera lived to 105. My children well remember Vera's 100th birthday party held at Graham and Wendy Barnett's home in East Lindfield, Sydney.

Keith tragically died in a wartime accident in 1943 when a bus collided with a light engine at the racecourse level crossing near Wodonga. 23 soldiers died that day. Jack married Thelma Dorothyt Grace in 1940. Their marriage lasted 64 years. Thelma helped Jack in his pharmacy in Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach. Thelma died in 2004 and Jack died in 2012. They had 1 son, Graham, who is a retired lawyer. He is married with 2 sons.

Mollie still living and is over 90.

10. George Jacob Barnett was born in Sydney in 1881. He married Margaret Parker in Auckland in 1917,

George Jacob Barnett

George worked for Hallenstein Brothers and then (following in his father's footsteps) ran his own grocery business at Paekakriki (north of Wellington). The original shop still operates as a general store. Later he retired to Island Bay, Wellington.. He died in Wellington in 1966.

George and Margaret had 2 sons, Jack Bruce and Arthur George.

Jack married Rose Patricia Clegg (Pat) in 1955 and they had 2 sons Gerald and Brian. Jack and Pat lived in Gisbourne, NZ where Jack worked as an insurance executive. Jack died in 2000. Pat recently turned 90 and still lives in Gisbourne.

Arthur married Nancy ??? and they had a son, Paul and a daughter, Carolyn who died in 1998. Arthur died in 2010. Paul is a practicing lawyer, is married and has 3 daughters.

11. Frances Rebecca Barnett (Fanny) was born in Glenmore Rd, Paddington in 1883. In 1908 she married Cornelius Vincent Moloney. They had 2 sons, Lawrence Bernard (1910) and Edmond Jack (1911).

Significant information can be obtained from the Sands directories concerning the Moloney family.

From 1933 to 1941 the family lived in Carrington Rd., Randwick, Sydney. Cornelius and Edmond were piano tuners and Edmond was a public servant. Fanny died in 1941

(Lawrence is listed under the name Molony, but did in fact live separately at times during that period)

The family continued living in Carrington Rd. until Cornelius died in 1949.

Edmund married Alma Edith Chaloner in 1941, and she must have been living with the family during the 1941 to 1949 period. After Cornelius died, Edmund and Alma moved to Guilford, Sydney, where he worked as a tramway employee. Lawrence moved nearby and was employed as a clerk. Lawrence did not marry, and I have found no record of his death.

Edmund and Alma had 3 daughters. Edmund died in 1989.

I have made contact via ancestry.com with descendants of Edmund and when they respond I hope to add further details.

12. Alfred S. Barnett was born in Sydney in 1886. Nothing is known of his life other than from the details of his death. He died of pneumonia in 1908 near Scone, NSW within weeks of his oldest brother Asher. They are both buried at Sandgate Cemetery (Newcastle NSW).

Report of Alfred's death

One would assume that Isaac Barnett was shattered by the death of his sons Asher and Alfred, only a few weeks apart. Alfred's death was announced in the Hebrew Standard in July 1908.

13. Isidore A Barnett was born in Sydney in 1887. He died in 1888 aged 4 months. HIs death was registered.

He is buried in the Old Jewish Section of Rookwood Cemetery. It is a grass plot with no headstone. The date of internment is 14-2-1888. (Grave No. 524/537)

14. Oscar B Barnett was born in Sydney in 1889. My investigations for any reference to him had been a total failure until finally, I found a likely candidate on a list of deaths in Melbourne from 1917. I requested a death certificate and received a copy of a 1 page handwritten list of deaths that occurred at The Alfred Hospital, Prahan, Melbourne from 18-20 June 1917. Information on this list relating to Oscar showed

· he came from Sydney, NSW

· age 23 (which means born 1894, which is 5 years later than the registered birth of 1889 ... but not unusual to have that sort of difference)

· died of General Paralysis of the insane and myocarditis (possibly caused by late-stage syphilis)

· occupation and parents names are unknown

Due to a dearth of "Oscar Barnett's" at the time, I am reasonably confident that we have the right person.

[John Shrimski]

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