Lol Solman

Canadian businessman (May 14, 1863–March 24, 1931)

Lawrence Solman

Born	May 14, 1863 Toronto, Canada West
Died	March 24, 1931 (aged 67) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	businessman

Lawrence "Lol" Solman (May 14, 1863 – March 24, 1931^[1]) was a prominent businessman in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Biography

Born in Toronto, Solman was educated in public schools.^[2] After attending the Mechanic's Institute, he began business in a mail-order operation in Detroit; operated a restaurant at Hanlan's Point; married Emily Hanlan in 1893, sister of noted rower Ned Hanlan and helped him advance in his business career; established Toronto Ferry Company, which held a monopoly on traffic to the Toronto Islands; owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club; co-founder of the Tecumseh Lacrosse Club; managing director of the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Sunnyside Amusement Park, Hanlan's Hotel, the Hanlan's Point Amusement Park and Arena Gardens in Toronto; vice-president of Loews Canadian theatres.

Solman is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, while his wife, Emily Durnan Hanlan Solman, is buried at the Hanlan plot at Toronto Necropolis cemetery.

Gallery

Solman was Managing Director of Toronto's Sunnyside Amusement Park.
Solman was Managing Director of brother-in-law Ned Hanlon's "Hanlon Hotel" on Toronto Island.
Solman was a partner – along with Stephen S. Haas, Robert Alexander Smith, & Cawthra Mulock – in Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre, now a National Historic Site. Lol was the theatre's manager/impresario.
Solman was partner in & managing Director of Toronto's Mutual St. Arena, home of the N.H.L.'s Toronto St. Patricks, who became the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927.

Sources

Bossin, Hy. "Stars of David: Toronto, 1856-1965". Canadian Jewish Congress, 1957
"Lawrence Solman is dead following long illness," Toronto Star, March 24, 1931, p. 1.