Michael Cashmore

Michael Cashmore (7 March 1815 – 17 October 1886) was a merchant, the first Jewish settler of Melbourne, Victoria, and remembered for his haberdashery business in Melbourne's first brick building, "Cashmore's Corner" at 1 Elizabeth Street. History Cashmore was born in England, and emigrated to New South Wales in 1836, working initially for a Mr. Emanuel in George Street, Sydney near The Rocks, then went into business on his own account in the same street. In June 1840 he left Sydney on the Bright Planet for Port Phillip to investigate commercial possibilities in the newly founded town of Melbourne. He returned to Sydney in October on the Water Lily. Cashmore married Elizabeth "Betsy" Solomon (1821–1898) in Sydney on 9 December 1840, and later that month boarded the PS Clonmel, bound for Port Phillip. The ship was famously wrecked on 2 January 1841; all survived but their considerable cargo was lost. He, in partnership with Samuel Emmanuel, opened a shop in the first brick building in Melbourne, owned by Alexander Brunton on Elizabeth Street, on the north-east corner of the Collins intersection. Cashmore called it "Victoria House", but it was better known as "Cashmore's Corner", and there they also lived before establishing a home at Albert Park, Victoria. From 1844 Cashmore ran the business alone.