Kenneth Solomon (politician)

Sir Kenneth Solomon C.B.E., Q.C. (1884-1954) (frequently cited as A. K. Solomon) was a prominent Bahamian lawyer and politician. He built up a large legal practice before running for parliament in 1908. He was a Member of Parliament from 1908-1918 and again from 1925-1954. He was a magistrate from 1918-1921.[1] He served briefly as acting Attorney-General and acting Chief Justice of the Bahamas. In addition, he was the Speaker of the House of Assembly from 1942-1946, a member of the Executive Council from 1926-1941, and president of the Legislative Council from 1946 until his death in 1954.[1] In 1925, Solomon was appointed King's Counsel and in 1953, Solomon was knighted by the Queen.[1]

Early life and education

Aubrey Kenneth Solomon was born in 1884 in Harbour Island, Bahamas.[2] The family moved to Nassau when Solomon was 10[2] and he attended Nassau Grammar School from 1894 to 1899.[2] Solomon trained as a lawyer[2] and was called to the Bahamas Bar in July 1905.[2]

Career

Solomon became a prominent lawyer with a large private practice.[2] He collaborated frequently with top black lawyer, Alfred F. Adderley.[2]

In 1908, he became a Member of Parliament when he won a bye-election to become the representative for Abaco.[2] He held the seat until 1918.[2][3] Solomon was appointed to be a stipendiary and circuit magistrate of the Bahamas in 1918.[2] He served as a magistrate until 1921.[2][1]

He served briefly as acting Attorney-General in 1916 and 1918 and from 1919 to 1920.[2] He also served as acting Chief Justice from November 1920 to February 1921 but Solomon resigned after he failed to secure the substantive role of Attorney-General.[2]

In 1925, Solomon won another bye-election, becoming the Member of Parliament for the southern district of New Providence.[2] He was re-elected in 1928 and 1935.[2] He served as legal adviser to the House of Assembly from 1923 to 1933.[2] In 1937, he became the government leader in the House of Assembly. In 1939, he was serving as acting Colonial Secretary.[4] In 1940, he was appointed chair of the Bahamas War Committee by the Governor responsible for raising funds for the war effort.[5] In 1942, he was elected to the seat for the City District.[2] Solomon served as MP until 1946.[2]

Solomon was a member of the Executive Council from 1926 to 1941[2] and Speaker of the House of Assembly from 1942 to 1946.[2] Solomon was appointed president of the Legislative Council in 1946; a position in which he served until his death.[1] In 1948, he was appointed a commissioner for the revision and compilation of the colony's laws.[6] In 1951, Solomon was appointed the chair of the committee to raise funds for a new hospital, which would become the Princess Margaret Hospital.[7] In 1953, he represented the Bahamas branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[8]

Honours and awards

In 1925, Solomon was appointed King's Counsel.[9] In 1941, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the King's New Year Honours of 1941.[10] Solomon was knighted[2] 12 years later by the Queen in 1953.[3]

Personal life and death

He married Mercedes Lofthouse,[1] the daughter of merchant and member of parliament, Thomas H. C. Lofthouse,[11] in 1914.[12] His nephew was Stafford Sands.[11]

Solomon died on 2 November 1954.[2][13] He was 70.[14]

The Colonial Office Report remarked "Solomon had a long record of public service to his credit and his passing left a gap which it will be difficult to fill."[13] The government donated a tablet in Christ Church Cathedral in his honour and his wife donated a new pulpit to the church "in memory of Sir Aubrey Kenneth Solomon, chairman of the hospital fundraising committee".[7]

Works

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Sir Kenneth Solomon". The Daily Telegraph. 3 Nov 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 26 Sep 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Hill, Robert A., ed. (2011). The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume XI: The Caribbean Diaspora, 1910–1920. Duke University Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-8223-4690-6.
  3. ^ a b "Knighthoods". The London Gazette (39904): 3676. 3 July 1953.
  4. ^ "The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1939". Annual Colonial Office Lists: 242. 1939-01-01. Retrieved 2024-05-23 – via Trove Australia.
  5. ^ Colonial Office (1947). "Review of the Years 1940-1946". HathiTrust. Colonial Office Annual Reports for the Bahamas. HM Stationery Office, London. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  6. ^ Colonial Office (1949). "Review of the Years 1947 and 1948". HathiTrust. HM Stationery Office, London: 27. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  7. ^ a b Munnings Jr., Harold Alexander (30 December 2009). Princess Margaret Hospital: The Story of a Bahamian Institution (ebook ed.). Xlibris. pp. 57–66. ISBN 978-1441578297.
  8. ^ Colonial Office (1955). "Report on the Bahamas for the Years 1952 and 1953". HathiTrust. HM Stationery Office, London: 4. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  9. ^ "Appointment". The Gazette (33058). London: 4110. 19 June 1925.
  10. ^ "Appointments to the Order of the British Empire". The London Gazette. No. 35029. 31 December 1940. p. 21.
  11. ^ a b Saunders, Gail (2017). Race and Class in the Colonial Bahamas, 1880-1960 (Electronic ed.). Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-5155-0.
  12. ^ "Entry for Aubrey Kenneth Solomon and Ysobel Mercedes Lofthouse". Family Search. 1914. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  13. ^ a b Colonial Office. "Review of the Years 1954 and 1955". Colonial Office Annual Reports for the Bahamas. HM Stationery Office, London: 6. Retrieved 26 Sep 2025 – via HathiTrust.
  14. ^ "Sir Kenneth Solomon". The Guardian. 4 Nov 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 26 Sep 2025.
  15. ^ Colonial Office. "Annual Report for the Bahamas for the Year 1932". Colonial Office Annual Reports. HM Stationery Office, London: 20. Retrieved 26 September 2025 – via HathiTrust.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.