Emanuel was born in London, a son of Samuel Moss Solomon and his first wife Elizabeth née Moses. He and his brother Vaiben Solomon were transported to Sydney and served time for larceny, arriving on 1 May 1818 aboard the Lady Castlereagh. He arrived in South Australia in 1837 and was one of the founders of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation. He founded the Queen's Theatre, Adelaide with brother Vaiben and occasional involvement of nephew Judah Moss Solomon, father of Vaiben Louis Solomon. In 1848 he and Matthew Smith purchased of land on Spencer Gulf and subdivided it as a township to be known as Port Pirie. Little development occurred on site and by the late 1860s there were only three woolsheds on the riverfront. It was later re-surveyed and became Port Pirie's suburb Solomontown, commonly referred to as "Solly". Solomon had reserved a parcel of land for a synagogue, but was never taken up by the few Jews in Port Pirie. A clause in his will left it to whatever denomination should erect a building there, which offer was taken up by the Bible Christians, who transported a surplus building to the site. Solomon is commemorated for the generosity he provided to Mary MacKillop. In November 1871 he gave the Sisters of St. Joseph, who had been evicted from their convent, a house rent free. 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. Photographer Henry Jones took photographs of most if not all of those who were invited to attend. 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 married fellow convict Mary Ann Wilson on 6 November 1826. On 12 April 1844 he married Cecilia Adelaide Smith who died in Sydney; that same year he married a third time, to Catherine Abrahams. Their children included:
Elizabeth Dorseta Solomon married her cousin Samuel Israel Myers on 24 November 1858.
Joseph Samuel Solomon married Miriam Solomon, eldest daughter of Abraham Jacob Solomon, on 25 November 1868. They lived at Walkerville Terrace, Walkerville.
Julia Solomon married Victor Voules Brown on 24 January 1864. She died in Darwin.
Catherine Leah Solomon married Louis Victorsen of Clare on 27 May 1874 at the residence of J. S Solomon, Buxton St, North Adelaide.
Vaiben Joel Solomon married Dora Muhr on 25 July 1877
His oldest brother Moss Solomon was father of Judah Moss Solomon and grandfather of Vaiben Louis Solomon.
