ISAAC ‘IKEY’ SOLOMON c.1787-1850
A master fence, Ikey Solomon is the real-life Fagin!
In the considerable canon of Charles Dickens few characters have excited as much debate as Fagin, the gangmaster and fence immortalised in Oliver Twist (1837).
If Fagin seemed too villainous to be true, it might come as a surprise to learn of the tale of Isaac ‘Ikey’ Solomon, who achieved criminal infamy in 19th century London.
Ikey Solomon’s jewellery shop was the front for one of the capital’s most lucrative fencing businesses, a profession that he took to with aplomb. Eventually his business caught up with him and he was committed to a prison hulk. On his release he resumed his criminal career, with the authorities soon catching up with him again.
He escaped his transport to Newgate and fled, heading first for Europe then America, before finally travelling to Australia in pursuit of his wife, who had been transported.
Fresh arrest warrants followed Solomon and he eventually returned to London to face a trial that served as the inspiration for Fagin’s hardhitting fictional trial.
Another inspiration came from unsubstantiated rumours that Solomon employed a gang of children whom he employed as pickpockets, feeding his fencing business with fresh goods.
He was transported back to Australia and it was there that he died but in the character of Fagin, Ikey Solomon casts a long shadow.