Vaiben Louis Solomon a 7-day wonder as South Australian premier representing Territory
Vaiben Louis Solomon avoided bankruptcy by taking on Adelaide-born Walter Griffiths as a partner in 1888.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia
Vaiben Louis Solomon had the briefest term as premier – seven days – in 1899 while representing the Northern Territory (then part of South Australia) in the House of Assembly.
Solomon was born in Adelaide, the son of Judah Moss Solomon, a member of the Legislative Council and Adelaide mayor 1869-70.
Educated at John Lorenzo Young’s Adelaide Educational Institution and Scotch College, Melbourne, he returned to Adelaide and joined the firm of Donaldson, Andrews and Sharland, who sent him to Kapunda where he developed a taste for amateur theatricals. He later worked at the Adelaide Stock Exchange.
Solomon’s wish to marry Mary Ann Wigzell, a gentile, against the published wish of his father, was a possible factor in his move to the Northern Territory in 1873 where he was dubbed “Mr Everything” because of his many business pursuits, from mining to pealing.
He also was nicknamed “Black Solomon” from the time, on a dare, he painted himself black and walked naked through the streets of Palmerston (now Darwin).
Virtually insolvent, Solomon avoided bankruptcy by taking on Adelaide-born Walter Griffiths as a partner in 1888. From 1885-890, Solomon owned and edited the Northern Territory Times and Gazette.
In December 1880, three months after his father’s death, Solomon married Wigzell, by then Mary Ann Bridgland, a widow with a young son. She died four years later, after having a daughter by Solomon. Her two children were taken to Adelaide to be cared for by relatives.
He helped found and chaired Palmerston’s first municipal council and, in 1890, Solomon was elected with J. Langdon Parsons as the territory’s first representatives in the South Australia parliament. Their campaign advocated a White Australia Policy.
A big personality, Solomon served as South Australian government whip before becoming opposition leader in 1899, when he had the Charles Kingston government brought down over Kingston’s proposal to extend Legislative Council suffrage to all householders and their wives.
Solomon then became premier and treasurer for one week, December 1 to 8, 1899, before further machinations led to new opposition leader Frederick Holder to the premiership, and creating the nickname “Sudden Solomon”.
Solomon’s daughter Esther became the first woman elected to Adelaide City Council. A councillor for 22 years and an alderman, she served two terms as deputy mayor.
