Solomon Kells was my 3x great-uncle, and he went by the name Sol, or Old Sol. Such nicknames might not sound unique, but seem to have suited him. He was described as “a tall, bearded man with soft old brown hat, brown bag and stick”.

Born in the Shoalhaven in 1860, Sol worked as a miner on the Yalwal goldfields for about twenty years, during which time he made a significant find, a 1501 ounce nugget. Then, at the age of 42, Sol fulfilled a long-term desire and joined the New South Wales Lighthouse Service.

Across a career of many years, Sol helped build lighthouses at Jervis Bay, Byron Bay, and Norah Head, and worked every lighthouse in New South Wales.

At Norah Head, when the 27-metre-tall lighthouse began operating in 1903, Sol was one of the first two assistant lighthouse keepers. Most important of all duties was to keep the light burning as brightly and cleanly as possible. It wasn’t easy.

When they enter to adjust the burner or pump up the vaporisers, the keepers revolve with the light at great speed, which is a severe strain even upon those accustomed to it.

Lighthouses Australia, ‘The Norah Head Lighthouse Story’, https://www.lighthouses.net.au/norah_head.htm, accessed 24 March 2024.

Despite the challenges, Sol loved being a lighthouse keeper.

Ask him if the life is a lonely one, and he will smile as though the idea were ridiculous, as he answers, “It’s far more lonely in George Street among thousands of strange faces than it is on Solitary Island, N.S.W.’s most isolated light.”

‘Loved the Life’, Tweed Daily, 16 September 1926, p.4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192112527, accessed 9 August 2015.

In 1920, when Sol was stationed at the Solitary Island Lighthouse, near Coffs Harbour, The School Magazine wrote about the lighthouse and the dangerous and lonely existence of a lighthouse keeper. An influx of letters written by children were received, and Sol “constituted himself secretary-in-chief … and dealt with their correspondence”.

Sol lived to the fullest his dream of being a lighthouse keeper. By the time he retired in 1926, he was in his mid-sixties and highly praised by those who knew him.

“Sol” Kells is not more sorry to leave the lighthouse service than the service is to lose him. “We can say nothing high enough in his praise,” is the report from headquarters, and in the knowledge of this “Old Sol” must rest on his laurels.

‘Loved the Life’, Tweed Daily, 16 September 1926, p.4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192112527, accessed 9 August 2015.

Selected references

‘Loved the Life’, Tweed Daily, 16 September 1926, p.4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192112527, accessed 9 August 2015.

‘An Old Identity’, The Shoalhaven Telegraph, 27 March 1935, p.6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121630636, accessed 9 August 2015.

‘Local and General’, The Southern Record, 14 August 1920, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125922236, accessed 24 March 2024.

‘Solitary Island Lighthouse’, The School Magazine, 3 May 1920, vol. 5, no. 4, part 3, class 6, http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-813449603, accessed 24 March 2024.

Lighthouses of Australia Inc., ‘New South Wales’ Lighthouses, https://lighthouses.org.au/nsw/, accessed 20 January 2024.

Dr Johanna Kijas, Life Under the Light: Lighthouse Families of New South Wales, State of NSW and the Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Sydney, 2010.

Norah Head Lighthouse, ‘History of the Lighthouse’, https://norahheadlighthouse.com.au/history/, accessed 26 September 2022.

Lighthouses Australia, ‘The Norah Head Lighthouse Story’, https://www.lighthouses.net.au/norah_head.htm, accessed 24 March 2024.

Australian Lighthouses, ‘Once a Danger – Now Safe: The Norah Head Lighthouse Story’, https://www.lighthouses.net.au/norah_head.htm, accessed 26 September 2022.