Who is Henry Solomon?
Chief Constable Henry Solomon (1794 – 14 March 1844) was a police officer who became the first Chief Constable of Brighton Borough Police in East Sussex, England. Originally a London watchmaker, Solomon was appointed as Chief Constable — the highest rank in the force — on 18 May 1838, which was a notable appointment in that period as he was a Jewish man. He became the superior officer to two superintendents, three inspectors, twenty-four constables and a night constable — a total of thirty-one officers for a population of around 47,000. While interviewing a prisoner — 23-year-old John Lawrence, for theft of a roll of carpet — on 13 March 1844, Solomon was bludgeoned by Lawrence with a poker, causing a head injury from which he later died. An appeal to which Queen Victoria gave £50 (equivalent to £6,000 in 2023) raised a large sum for the welfare of his widow and nine children. Lawrence was found guilty of murder at Lewes Assizes and publicly hanged at Horsham. Solomon is ...
