Morris_Marks
Morris Lyon Marks
Australian politician
Morris Lyon Marks (7 September 1824 – 4 March 1893) was a Jewish businessman remembered as a politician in the colony of South Australia. He was frequently referred to by his full name or as "Morris L. Marks" to distinguish him from several contemporaries named Morris Marks.
A son of Lyon Marks ( – ) and Mrs. Marks (c. 1783 – 5 February 1857), he and his brother Solomon Lyon Marks migrated from London to South Australia on the Abberton, arriving in December 1846, and was a successful importer and merchant in Adelaide and Burra. He and his brother were, as M & S Marks, owners of the "Liverpool Mart" in Hindley Street, Adelaide's largest emporium.
He was, in 1848, a member of the consortium (with Burnet Nathan, Louis Hart, Joseph Hart, and Samuel Hart) which purchased from George Morphett land on Rundle Street for the first Synagogue (consecrated 3 September 1850).[1] He married in 1850 and later had a large family.
He was a passenger on the steamer Osmanli, which hit a reef and sank in D'Estrees Bay, Kangaroo Island on 25 November 1853. No-one was seriously injured but Marks lost a quantity of gold.[2]
He was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly, representing The Burra and Clare from March 1857 to August 1858,[3] when he resigned in order to make a trip to Europe. On his return he continued his business, but did not stand for re-election. He spent some time alternating between New Zealand and Melbourne.[4]
In 1883 Marks and his family left for New Zealand, and were resident in Wellington. They returned to Australia,[when?] living in Albert Park, Victoria, where he died on Saturday, 4 March 1893.[5]
Marks married Leah Solomon (ca.1832 – 9 August 1908), sister of Judah Moss Solomon, on 30 January 1850. Their children were
- Henry Morris "Harry" Marks (9 October 1856 – 14 February 1909) married Amelia Francis Cohen on 19 December 1883, died at Heidelberg, Victoria
- second son Sidney Algernon Marks (ca.5 May 1858 – ) married Blanche Rosetta Woolf on 19 October 1898
- Frederick M. "Fred" Marks (16 September 1859 – )
- Albert M. Marks ( – ) married Elizabeth Cohen on 22 September 1886, lived Wellington, New Zealand
- Marcus "Mark" Marks ( – ) of Wellington, New Zealand
- Louis Marks ( – ) of Brisbane
- Lionel Marks ( – )
- Mrs. A. Phillips ( – ) of Albert Park
- Mrs. B. Lyons ( – ) of South Yarra
- Fanny or Fannie Marks ( – ) of Wellington, New Zealand
His brother and business partner Solomon Lyon Marks (1827–1875) married Esther in 1846, the first marriage in the Adelaide Synagogue. They moved to Queensland.
- "Adelaide Hebrew Congregation". The Register. 19 September 1908. p. 11. Retrieved 9 April 2015 – via Trove.
- "Wreck of the Osmanli Steamer in D'Estrees Bay, Kangaroo Island". South Australian Register. 30 November 1853. p. 2. Retrieved 20 April 2020 – via Trove.
- "Morris Lyon Marks". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- "The Wreck of the Oscar". The Argus. 3 January 1862. p. 6. Retrieved 9 April 2015 – via Trove. In this letter to The Argus he gave his address as 23 Bourke Street in January 1862.
- "The Late Mr. M. L. Marks". South Australian Register. 10 March 1893. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2015 – via Trove.