Convict Stories: Ikey Solomon
Claim to Fame: Notorious criminal and escape artist. Likely the inspiration behind Fagin in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist.
Isaac (Ikey) Solomon was born about 1785 in Houndsditch, London. His family was Jewish. Ikey’s father, Henry Solomon, was a well-known fence, or receiver of stolen goods. It seems that Ikey followed his father’s example.
In 1807, Ikey Solomon married Hannah (or Ann), daughter of a coachmaster named Moses Julian. Solomon owned a shop where he allegedly sold stolen goods.
An Escape Artist
In 1810, Solomon and an accomplice named Joel Joseph were sentenced to life transportation for stealing a pocket-book and money. During court, a police officer testified that while he was chasing the two men, someone called out that Joseph was eating the money. But his mouth was empty when the officer checked.
After three or four years on the prison hulk Zetland, Solomon escaped, but afterwards turned himself in to the police and received a pardon in 1816.
By the 1820s, Ikey Solomon was running a successful pawnbroking business, stocked with stolen goods. He became notorious in London, but it wasn’t until April 25, 1827, that he was finally arrested. Among the suspected stolen goods were 6 watches and 17 shawls. Solomon was taken to Newgate Prison to await trial.
However, taking advantage of a legal provision known as habeas corpus, Solomon demanded a trial in court. But the application was unsuccessful, and Solomon was sent back to prison by coach. But what Solomon’s captors didn’t know was that the driver was Solomon’s father-in-law! Moses Julian drove the coach to a pre-arranged place, where some of Solomon’s supporters were ready to overpower the guards and free their friend.
Solomon now fled to Denmark, and afterwards to the United States. Meanwhile, the police found stolen goods in his family’s home back in England, and so his wife was sentenced to 14 years’ transportation in 1827. Her four youngest children, all under the age of 10, were transported with her on the ship Mermaid. Her adult sons, John and Moses, also went to Tasmania to stay with the family.
Reunited in Tasmania
While in Brazil, Solomon read newspaper reports of his wife’s arrest and decided to join her in Tasmania. He travelled under the pseudonym “Slowman”. Upon arriving in Hobart, Solomon bought property and opened a shop. But he was quickly recognised by the convicts. Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Arthur tried to obtain an arrest warrant, but the papers took a long time to arrive from England.
Meanwhile, Solomon applied to have his wife released from the Female House of Correction and assigned to him. After repeated requests, Solomon entered into a bond of £1,000 promising that his wife would not escape from the colony. A number of other settlers also made bonds. Eventually Sir George Arthur granted Solomon’s request.
Finally, Solomon’s arrest warrants arrived on the ship Lady of the Lake in November 1829. But Solomon once again demanded to be examined in court under habeas corpus, where it was found that there was a technical error in the arrest warrants. So the court upheld his application for release, setting the bail at £2,000. Solomon’s friends struggled to raise this sum.
Sir George Arthur resorted to issuing an arrest warrant in his own name, and sent Solomon back to England for trial. The captain of the ship refused to make any promises about Solomon’s safe arrival, so Chief Constable Thomas Capon was put in charge of the defendant.
Final Settlement in Australia
Solomon was tried at the Old Bailey on eight counts of receiving stolen goods, but was only convicted of two. Under a sentence of 14 years’ transportation, he returned to Australia on the ship William Glen Anderson, arriving in Hobart in November 1831. By 1832, he had been appointed as a police constable. Convicts were sometimes given this responsibility due to their alleged first-hand experience as criminals, often knowing secret tactics.
In 1835, Solomon qualified for a ticket of leave on the condition that he reside at least 20 miles away from Hobart. So he began living in New Norfolk, and was reunited with his family. However, they were now estranged from him, and due to conflicts Solomon eventually sent his family away. His wife again ended up in the Female House of Correction, until her release in September 1835 after many petitions from her daughter.
Two months later, Solomon’s wife obtained a ticket of leave, and afterwards a conditional pardon in 1840. Solomon received his conditional pardon that same year.
Later Life and Legacy
Solomon acquired his certificate of freedom in 1844. At some point he set up a tobacconist’s shop in Hobart. Solomon also held a seat at the Hobart Synagogue, being Jewish.
Solomon died in September 1850 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery at Hobart. At the time, his estate amounted to £70 or less.
It is believed that Ikey Solomon was the inspiration behind the character Fagin, a villain in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist.
Bibliography:
Sharman, R.C. (n.d.). Solomon, Isaac (Ikey) (1787–1850). [online] Australian Dictionary of Biography. Available at: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/solomon-isaac-ikey-2678
Oldbaileyonline.org. (2023). Browse – Central Criminal Court. [online] Available at: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18100606-89-defend732&div=t18100606-89
East London History. (2014). Ikey Solomon, Famous East End London People. [online] Available at: https://www.eastlondonhistory.co.uk/famous-london-characters-ikey-solomon/
State Library of New South Wales (2016). Ikey Solomon and his adventures | Australian Jewish community and culture. [online] State Library of NSW. Available at: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/australian-jewish-community-and-culture/ikey-solomon-and-his-adventures
