Solomon Levey

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Solomon Levey (* 1794 in Great Britain , † October 10, 1833 in London , Great Britain ) was an Anglo-Australian emancipationist and businessman. As a young man in 1813 he was sentenced to seven years' labor labor for stealing a case of tea. He himself denied the act, but was transported on the Marquis of Wellington to New South Wales in Australia in 1814 , where he arrived in January 1815. There he soon developed into a successful trader and finance specialist; he built the largest trading house in the colony at the time and became director of the Bank of New South Wales . He was ruined by a business relationship with Thomas Peel , who wanted to found the British Swan River Colony and failed.

Personal

He was granted an amnesty on February 8, 1819, and three days later he married Ann, the daughter of William Roberts, who gave his daughter land and cattle for marriage. A son was born in November 1819 and a daughter in 1822, who died in childhood. Ann left him in 1824 and Levey remained unmarried for the rest of his life.

He supported institutions devoted to charitable and religious affairs and administered the Sydney Public Grammar School . Solomon Levey was of Jewish faith . His brother Barnett was the first free Jewish settler in the colony and another brother, Isaac, was instrumental in founding the Sydney Jewish Congregation .

When he went to London in 1826 because of his partnership with Thomas Peel , he promoted, among other business activities, the emigration of British Jews to New South Wales.

Business

When he arrived in Australia in 1815, he immediately took up a commercial activity that was extremely successful. Levey worked as a businessman, ship broker, and ship merchant. He had a base in Tahiti , from which he transported goods from that island on his own ships, a watermill in Liverpool , a rope factory, pasture land and real estate in Argyle and Cumberland . Shortly after his amnesty he became director of the Bank of New South Wales , where he advocated low interest rates and business relationships with British companies and promoted the colonial economy.

In June 1825 Levey entered into a business relationship with Daniel Cooper and they took over Lachlan and Waterloo Co. They founded Cooper & Levey on May 6, 1826 , an import and export company that traded in wool, owned and built ships, shipping, Whale and seal fishing and owned the Waterloo Warehouse on George Street in Sydney . They ran one of the most important trading companies in the British colony, which also owned land in Waterloo , Alexandria, Redfern , Randwick and Neutral Bay .

In December 1829 Levey became a business partner of Thomas Peel, went to London and from there supported the settlement of the Swan River Colony , later Western Australia . While Levey was managing director of Thomas Peel & Co. in London, Peel ran the company's business in Western Australia. Peel's settlement project failed and he also ruined Levey, whom he never informed about his economic problems and activities there. Levey did not find out about the economic debacle until 1832 through the British colonial government and died after a brief illness in London at the age of 39 in 1833.

Others

Port Levy is a bay and settlement near Canterbury , New Zealand , named after Levey - notably spelled incorrectly.

literature

  • GFJ Bergman: Solomon Levey in Sydney: From Convict to Merchant Prince. In: Journal and Proceedings (Royal Australian Historical Society), vol 49, part 6, March 1964, pp. 401-422.
  • JS Levi, GFJ Bergman: Australian genesis: Jewish convicts and settlers 1788-1860. Melbourne University Press, Carlton 2002.
  • JS Levi: These are the names: Jewish lives in Australia 1788-1850. Melbourne University Press, Carlton 2006.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b G. FJ Bergman: Levey, Solomon (1794-1833) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 2. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1967 (English).
  2. ↑ a b Suzanne Dorothy Ruth Country: The Jews in Australia. Port Melbourne 2005. ISBN 0-521-61285-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  3. ^ A b c George FJ Bergman: Solomon Levey in Sydney: From Convict to Merchant Prince. In: Journal and Proceedings (Royal Australian Historical Society), vol 49, part 6, March 1964, pp. 401-422.
personal data
SURNAME Levey, Solomon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian settler and one of the first landowners in Western Australia
DATE OF BIRTH 1794
PLACE OF BIRTH Great Britain
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1833
Place of death London , UK