Julian Salomons

The Honourable Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons (formerly Solomons) (4 November 1835 – 6 April 1909) was a barrister, royal commissioner, solicitor-general, chief justice and member of parliament. He was the only chief justice in New South Wales to be appointed and resign before he was ever sworn into office. Salomons was said to be short of stature and somewhat handicapped by defective eyesight. However, he had great industry, great powers of analysis, a keen intellect and unbounded energy and pertinacity. His wit and readiness were proverbial, and he was afraid of no judge.

Salomons was born at Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, on 4 November 1835 as Julian Emanuel Solomons. He came to Australia aged 16 years on board the Atalanta on 4 September 1853. He was employed in a book shop and as a stockbroker's clerk. In 1855 he was appointed the secretary of the Great Synagogue at Sydney.

After passing the preliminary examination of the Barristers Admission Board (now the Legal Profession Admission Board) in 1857, he returned to England in 1858 where he entered Gray's Inn and was called to the bar on 26 January 1861. He returned to Sydney and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 8 July 1861 and then returned to England to marry his cousin, Louisa Solomons, at Lower Edmonton, Middlesex, England, on 17 December 1862.

Salomons was Jewish and an active member of the Jewish community.

He returned to Sydney after his marriage and managed a successful practice as a barrister. He first made a reputation in criminal cases. He had great industry, great powers of analysis, a keen intellect and unbounded energy and pertinacity. However, his passion for work probably led to a decline in his health and he made frequent trips to Europe to recover from these bouts. One of the significant cases he was involved with was the case of Louis Bertrand who was sentenced to death on a charge of murder. Bertrand came to be known as the "Mad Dentist of Wynyard Square". Bertrand had tried to kill Henry Kinder, the husband of his mistress Ellen Kinder on a number of occasions. Bertrand finally shot him, but his shot failed to kill. However, his actions persuaded his mistress to poison Kinder. This was successful. In 1866 Bertrand was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. His mistress was discharged on account of a lack of evidence. Salomons was instructed after the trial and was able to eventually convince the Full Court of the Supreme Court of New South Wales that Bertrand should have a new trial. The decision was tied with two judges for a new trial and two judges against. One judge subsequently retracted his judgment resulting in a win for Salomons. Rather bullishly, Salomons after winning the appeal went further to argue that the judge could not retract his judgment in law. Luckily for his client, the court held that it could and the order for retrial stood. However, the court's decision for a new trial was subsequently overturned on appeal to the Privy Council on the basis that the Supreme Court could not make such an order. The New South Wales Governor commuted Bertrand's sentence to life.

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