Obituaries Australia

On May 30th a cable was received by Mr. L. H. Hyman, of Tamworth, announcing that Mr. Abraham Cohen had died at his private residence in London on Wednesday night, at the good ripe age of 75 years. The late Mr. Cohen was one of the pioneers of the town of Tamworth, having entered into partnership with the late Hon. L. W. Levy in the year 1851, in the business which has ever since borne the title of 'Cohen and Levy.' He continued as the head of the business until about twenty five years ago, and, having amassed a fortune, has since that time lived privately, making several trips backward and forward to the Continent and England. After the return of Mr. Hyman from England, some five years ago, Mr. Cohen left to take up his permanent residence in London, but before leaving he expressed the hope that he would be permitted to spend his last days in Australia. Mr. Hyman received a letter in April from Mr. Nat. Cohen, stating that his father was at times not at all well, and that the bad weather had proved very trying to him. Deceased leaves behind two sons, Nathan and Samuel, who were both trained for the law, and are living in England; three daughters — Mrs. Nathan, wife of the senior partner of Messrs. Hoffnung and Co.; Mrs. David Nathan, wife of a former partner of Mr. Nathan Cohen; and Lady Samuel, wife of Sir Edward Samuel, son of the late Agent-General for New South Wales. Two of the deceased's brothers are living — Mr. David Cohen, of the well-known Newcastle firm, and Mr. Solomon Cohen, who lives privately in Melbourne. The late Mr. George Cohen, whose family are well known in Tamworth, was also a brother. He had one sister, who was the mother of Mr. L. H. Hyman, the present proprietor of the business of Cohen and Levy, Tamworth. The late Mr. Cohen was not one of those fortunate men who are born with silver spoons in their mouths; he had a hard row to hoe at the start, but he hoed it well with the result that he was financially fortunate all through his career, and it is estimated by some of his friends that his estate must be worth a few hundred thousand pounds. In the midst of his multitudinous duties as a business man, however, he did not forget his duties as a citizen in the cause of charity. Beside many private acts of benevolence, he was one of the first to start the hospital, and always took a deep interest in it, being a life member thereof. He built at his own expense what is known as the 'Leah Ward,' which was so named by him after his wife; and at the time of the late Queen's jubilee, when the efforts were made to establish an endowment fund in connection with the institution he donated £50. Deceased was possessed of a good deal of property in Tamworth, Sydney and London, including the premises occupied by Cohen and Levy at the present time.  'Nothing succeeds like success' was apparently the late Mr. Cohen's motto, and he proved what can be done by an ordinary man with good business foresight and a fair amount of luck.

The Tamworth News publishes the foregoing, and we need only mention that Mr. Cohen's assistance to the various Jewish charities has been important, valuable and frequent.