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

Sarah Solomon, the eldest child of Mordecai and Elizabeth, was born on the family farm at Dapto on 3 February 1836.

On 21 February 1855, at the age of 17 she married George Myers at the York Street Synagogue, Sydney. George, a member of the highly respected ‘Maldon Myers’ family from Harwich, Essex, England had arrived in New South Wales two years earlier and was, at the time of their marriage, 25 years old.

Their first child, Mitchell arrived in February 1856 and their second, Mark in May 1857. At that stage George and Sarah were living in Swan Street, Brickfield Hill, Sydney, a street which no longer exists but was probably in the vicinity of the Town Hall and St Andrews Cathedral.

By 1858 George had entered into a partnership with his brother, Henry and with Sarah’s brother, Henry. They bought land in George Street opposite the Sydney Town Hall and opened a general wholesale and retail business called ‘Myers and Solomon’.

By that time the family had moved to Alma Terrace 72 Yurong Street Wolloomooloo, one of the group of terraces on which Sarah’s father Mordecai had taken out a mortgage in 1857. It was here that their children Isaac (Nov 1858), Henry George (May 1860), Elizabeth (Dec 1861) and Fanny (1863) were born.

Somewhere between 1865 and 1870 the family moved house firstly to 472 Elizabeth Street where their seventh child Helen was born (July 1865) and then to 618 Elizabeth Street, Strawberry Hills where Eva (March 1867) and Rachel (October 1868) were born, while Sarah also had a stillborn male child in November 1869. In April the following year (1870) Jane was born at the same address.

In between running a successful business and being home helping produce babies, George was also heavily involved with the Jewish community. He joined the management of the York Street Synagogue in 1867, sat on the Council of the Sydney Hebrew Certified Denominational School and was a driving force behind the construction of the Great Synagogue, carrying the unique distinction of becoming its first President.

By August 1871 the family had once again moved to a residence named ‘ Moorcliff’ at 1 Victoria Terrace in the prestigious Millers Point, North Sydney and it was here that their final four children, Kate (August 1871), Lewis (March 1873), Ethel (September 1875) and Maurice (August 1877) were born.

In 1879 the firm of Myers and Solomon suffered a severe downturn in business to the point where it closed for some time to pay its creditors but re-opened again the following year. This coincided with a deterioration in George Myers’ health and he resigned from his positions within the Jewish community.

At some stage between 1877 and 1882 the family moved to the large, fashionable ‘Eglinton House’ at 198 Glebe Point, quite close to Blackwattle Bay. It was here that George passed away, at the age of 52 on 27 March 1882, while Sarah continued to live in the house with her children and father, Mordecai who died the following year. Sarah herself passed away on 26 January 1890 at the age of 53.

She was buried in the Rookwood Old Jewish Cemetery in a grave next to husband (Section A rOW 14). The Inscription on her headstone states:

“In affectionate memory. The beloved wife of George Myers who departed this life January 26th 1890. Aged 53 years

Here lies Sara daughter of Mordechai. Died on Sunday 5 Shevat 5650.

May her soul be bound in the bond of eternal life."

Postscript

When Sarah died my Grandfather (Maurice), the youngest of George and Sarah’s fourteen children, was only twelve years old. For the next fourteen years, until his marriage in 1904, he was raised and lived with his elder sisters but I am not sure which ones.

[Adrian Paul]

[top of page]