He and his brother Vaiben Solomon (1802 – 21 June 1860) were transported to Sydney and served time for larceny, arriving on 1 May 1818 aboard the Lady Castlereagh.

In 1848 he and Matthew Smith purchased 85 acres (34 ha) of land on Spencer Gulf and subdivided it as a township to be known as Port Pirie.

[5] In December 1871 he hosted a reception for 500 early settlers of South Australia to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the foundation of the colony.

He presented a large composite photograph to Solomon, and in 1910 another was purchased from Jones by T. R. Bowman and donated to the Public Library for display in the entrance foyer.

He was elected to the seat of West Adelaide in the South Australian Legislative Assembly in November 1862, with James Crabb Verco as his colleague, and resigned in 1865.