David Lionel Goldsmid-Stern-Salomons
Encyclopedia
Sir David Lionel Goldsmid-Stern-Salomons, 2nd Baronet (born January 28, 1851 – 19 April 1925) was a scientific author and barrister.
The son of Philip Salomons
of Brighton
, and Emma, daughter of Jacob Montefiore of Sydney
, he succeeded to the Baronet
cy originally granted to his uncle David Salomons
in 1873. He married Laura, daughter of Hermann Stern, 1st Baron de Stern and Julia, daughter of Aaron Asher Goldsmid, brother of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid
by which he had one son and four daughters. He assumed the additional surnames and arms
of Goldsmid
and Stern in 1899.
He studied at University College, London and at Caius College, Cambridge, gaining a B.A.
in 1874. In the same year he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple
. He went on to produce several scientific works and pamphlets. He was a J.P.
, D.L.
and High Sheriff
of Kent
, mayor
and alderman
of Tunbridge Wells, County Councilor
for the Tonbridge
division of Kent for 15 years and J.P. for London
, Middlesex
, Sussex
, and Westminster
.
His home north of Tunbridge Wells, Broomhill, is preserved as the Salomons Museum
. It is also a part of Canterbury Christ Church University
, and is a centre for postgraduate training, research and consultancy. Salomons was interested in electricity from an early age and when he inherited Broomhill in 1873, he set up large laboratories and workshops where he investigated electromotive force and electric conductors and carried out countless experiments. He took out patents for electric lamps, current meters and various improvements to electrical equipment. The workshops were said to contain some 60,000 tools, which could manufacture anything from a watch to a steam engine and also included a huge electromagnet. One of the new technologies Salomons installed at Broomhill was electric light. He had his own coal-fired generator and could produce enough electricity for 1,000 sixteen candle-power (about 60 watt) light bulbs. Electricity was installed on a small scale at first, in the workshops in 1874, where it was used for an arc light and to drive motors. Domestic electric lighting did not come in until about 1877-1880 when Joseph Swan
invented a light bulb that could be used in homes, and Broomhill became one of the first to be lit with electricity. Salomons also developed one of the first electric cooking devices, an electric butter churn and the first electric alarms, all made and installed by Salomons and his staff. There is also a Welte Philharmonic organ
from 1914.
In addition to his many other achievements, Salomons developed a lifelong passion for horology
and became the leading authority in his lifetime on the work of the famed French maker Abraham-Louis Breguet, who is generally acknowledged as the greatest watchmaker of all time. In 1921 he self-published the first major work on Breguet's life and career, inlcuding a detailed review of Breguet's inventions, and a timeline of production, with illustrations of major timepieces from his own collection. Over the course of his lifetime Salomons amassed the world's largest private collection of Breguet watches and clocks, comprising 124 pieces, including the two watches considered to be the pinnacle of Breguet's art - the "Marie Antoinette" (No. 160) and the "Duc de Praslin" (No. 92). In 1924 Salomons donated the "Duc de Praslin" to the Musée des Arts et Métiers
in Paris, but it was subsequently stolen. Fortunately, after three months of tinkering with the watch, the thief was apprehended and the watch recovered when he took it to a renowned Parisian watch specialist for repair.
On his death in 1925, Salomons' bequeathed 57 of his best Breguet pieces (including the "Marie Antoinette") to the L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art in Jeruslem. He left the remainder of his collection to his wife and she later took them to Sotheby's to be auctioned, although on her first visit she was reportedly dismissed from the office because the Sotheby's staffer could not believe that anyone could possibly have owned such a collection. The timepieces were subsequently sold at auction for considerable sums.
In 1980, British master horologist George Daniels (widely regarded as the most important watchmaker since Breguet) catalogued the Salomons collection and published a study on it. Three years later, on the night of 15 April 1983, the Mayer Institute was burgled and 106 rare timepieces were stolen, including the entire Salomons collection. The multi-million-dollar theft was Israel's largest-ever robbery - by this time, the "Marie Antoinette" alone was valued at neatly US$20 million. The case remained unsolved until 2006 when a Tel Aviv watchmaker tipped off Israeli police that he had paid US$40,000 to an anonymous person to purchase 40 timepieces, including the missing "Marie Antoinette". Forensic experts examined the timepieces they recovered and detectives questioned the lawyer who negotiated the sale; their investigation led police to an Israeli woman living in Los Angeles, Nili Shamrat, whom they identified as the widow of Naaman Diller, the notorious Israeli criminal who carried out the burglary and then fled to Europe, before settling in the United States. When Israeli police and American officials arrived at Shamrat's home to question her, they found more timepieces and 66 of the stolen Mayer Institute timepieces were eventually recovered.
The son of Philip Salomons
Philip Salomons
Philip Salomons was born in London and was a City of London financier, as were his father and his brother, Sir David Salomons.Solomons travelled extensively in the United States as a young man, and became a naturalized citizen in 1826...
of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, and Emma, daughter of Jacob Montefiore of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, he succeeded to the Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
cy originally granted to his uncle David Salomons
David Salomons
Sir David Salomons, 1st Baronet was a leading figure in the 19th century struggle for Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom...
in 1873. He married Laura, daughter of Hermann Stern, 1st Baron de Stern and Julia, daughter of Aaron Asher Goldsmid, brother of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid
Isaac Lyon Goldsmid
Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Baronet was a financier and one of the leading figures in the Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom....
by which he had one son and four daughters. He assumed the additional surnames and arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of Goldsmid
Goldsmid
Goldsmid is the name of a family of Anglo-Jewish bankers who sprang from Aaron Goldsmid , a Dutch merchant who settled in England about 1763. Two of his sons, Benjamin Goldsmid and Abraham Goldsmid Goldsmid is the name of a family of Anglo-Jewish bankers who sprang from Aaron Goldsmid (died 1782),...
and Stern in 1899.
He studied at University College, London and at Caius College, Cambridge, gaining a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1874. In the same year he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. He went on to produce several scientific works and pamphlets. He was a J.P.
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, D.L.
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
and High Sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
of Tunbridge Wells, County Councilor
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
for the Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
division of Kent for 15 years and J.P. for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
.
His home north of Tunbridge Wells, Broomhill, is preserved as the Salomons Museum
Salomons Museum
The Salomons Museum is a museum north of Tunbridge Wells, in southeast England. It preserves the country house of Sir David Salomons, the first Jewish Lord Mayor of London, and of his nephew, Sir David Lionel Salomons, a scientist and engineer...
. It is also a part of Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury Christ Church University is a university in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teaching training it has grown to full university status and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2012. The focus of its work is in the education of people going into...
, and is a centre for postgraduate training, research and consultancy. Salomons was interested in electricity from an early age and when he inherited Broomhill in 1873, he set up large laboratories and workshops where he investigated electromotive force and electric conductors and carried out countless experiments. He took out patents for electric lamps, current meters and various improvements to electrical equipment. The workshops were said to contain some 60,000 tools, which could manufacture anything from a watch to a steam engine and also included a huge electromagnet. One of the new technologies Salomons installed at Broomhill was electric light. He had his own coal-fired generator and could produce enough electricity for 1,000 sixteen candle-power (about 60 watt) light bulbs. Electricity was installed on a small scale at first, in the workshops in 1874, where it was used for an arc light and to drive motors. Domestic electric lighting did not come in until about 1877-1880 when Joseph Swan
Joseph Swan
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan was a British physicist and chemist, most famous for the invention of the incandescent light bulb for which he received the first patent in 1878...
invented a light bulb that could be used in homes, and Broomhill became one of the first to be lit with electricity. Salomons also developed one of the first electric cooking devices, an electric butter churn and the first electric alarms, all made and installed by Salomons and his staff. There is also a Welte Philharmonic organ
Welte-Mignon
M. Welte & Sons, Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos, established in Vöhrenbach by Michael Welte in 1832.-Overview:...
from 1914.
In addition to his many other achievements, Salomons developed a lifelong passion for horology
Horology
Horology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...
and became the leading authority in his lifetime on the work of the famed French maker Abraham-Louis Breguet, who is generally acknowledged as the greatest watchmaker of all time. In 1921 he self-published the first major work on Breguet's life and career, inlcuding a detailed review of Breguet's inventions, and a timeline of production, with illustrations of major timepieces from his own collection. Over the course of his lifetime Salomons amassed the world's largest private collection of Breguet watches and clocks, comprising 124 pieces, including the two watches considered to be the pinnacle of Breguet's art - the "Marie Antoinette" (No. 160) and the "Duc de Praslin" (No. 92). In 1924 Salomons donated the "Duc de Praslin" to the Musée des Arts et Métiers
Musée des Arts et Métiers
The Musée des Arts et Métiers is a museum in Paris that houses the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers , which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions.-History:Since its foundation, the museum has been housed in the...
in Paris, but it was subsequently stolen. Fortunately, after three months of tinkering with the watch, the thief was apprehended and the watch recovered when he took it to a renowned Parisian watch specialist for repair.
On his death in 1925, Salomons' bequeathed 57 of his best Breguet pieces (including the "Marie Antoinette") to the L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art in Jeruslem. He left the remainder of his collection to his wife and she later took them to Sotheby's to be auctioned, although on her first visit she was reportedly dismissed from the office because the Sotheby's staffer could not believe that anyone could possibly have owned such a collection. The timepieces were subsequently sold at auction for considerable sums.
In 1980, British master horologist George Daniels (widely regarded as the most important watchmaker since Breguet) catalogued the Salomons collection and published a study on it. Three years later, on the night of 15 April 1983, the Mayer Institute was burgled and 106 rare timepieces were stolen, including the entire Salomons collection. The multi-million-dollar theft was Israel's largest-ever robbery - by this time, the "Marie Antoinette" alone was valued at neatly US$20 million. The case remained unsolved until 2006 when a Tel Aviv watchmaker tipped off Israeli police that he had paid US$40,000 to an anonymous person to purchase 40 timepieces, including the missing "Marie Antoinette". Forensic experts examined the timepieces they recovered and detectives questioned the lawyer who negotiated the sale; their investigation led police to an Israeli woman living in Los Angeles, Nili Shamrat, whom they identified as the widow of Naaman Diller, the notorious Israeli criminal who carried out the burglary and then fled to Europe, before settling in the United States. When Israeli police and American officials arrived at Shamrat's home to question her, they found more timepieces and 66 of the stolen Mayer Institute timepieces were eventually recovered.