Joseph Simmons (1810–93) married Henry’s eldest daughter Nancy in London in 1832. Joseph and Nancy returned to the Colony with the rest of the Cohen family (as they followed Henry into exile) in The Brothers in December 1833. They settled initially in Sydney.
1830 (May): Arrived from England; auctioneer at 61 George Street.
1832: Returned to England; married Nancy Cohen.
1834: Opened “Paddington House,” a fancy bazaar in George Street.
1834–44: Theatricals . . .
1844: Travistock Hotel, cnr King and York streets.
1847: “The Country Storekeeper” (Heads of the People, 6 November 1847).
1848: “Joseph Simmons owned the general store and liquor licence [at Bathurst?].”[1]
1849: ?Joseph Simmons, licensed spirit merchant at Carcoar.[2]
?Joseph Simmons was elected a councillor to the Sydney City Council on 4 November 1850.[3]
1856: “Joseph Simmons had been in Goulburn for a number of years as a successful storekeeper. With the discovery of gold in the district (Braidwood) the population grew, to the benefit of traders.”[4]
1860: Nancy died 1 April at her home at Collingwood, Melbourne.
“. . . free settler Joseph Simmons (1810–93) was another early theatrical personality, whose talents were ninety per cent imagination. He first came to Australia in 1830, joining his brother, emancipist James Simmons, in general merchandising. Having failed to establish himself as an auctioneer, he returned to England in 1832, married, and arrived back in New South Wales in time to see his father-in-law transported to Port Macquarie. Although Simmon’s life thereafter had its practical, mundane side—he was variously storekeeper, ironmonger and tavern owner and wholesaler—he could not subdue his thespian inclinations. For a time he managed Barnett Levey’s Theatre Royal, in a volatile partnership which ended in a libel suit against his employer, and he played several, mainly Shakespearian, parts to mixed reviews. He also branched out as a playwright, with the frankly painful melodrama The Duellist, proudly billed as ‘the first truly original drama ever produced in the colony.’ It was performed only twice. Much later he opened a dramatic academy and taught elocution, his early stage performances long forgotten, and was President of the Sydney Synagogue in 1859, the fateful year of secession.”[5]
Nancy Simmons died aged 48 years on 1 April 1860 at Collingwood, Melbourne. Joseph Simmons died aged 84 years on 1 August 1893 and is buried at Rookwood (Section D, a little east of Philip Cohen) in the Jewish Old Section. A daughter, Sophie,[6] died 11 May 1909 and is buried along side him.
Joseph and Nancy had ___ children:
Sophia (____–1909) was born (at Melbourne?)
Sarah (1847–1904) was born[7] at Bathurst on ______ 1847.
Jane (1851–____) was born[8] at Sydney on ______ 1851.
Children mentioned in Henry’s Will: Sophia,[9] Sarah and Jane.
On Henry’s death, Sophia, Sarah and Jane each received, in trust until their marriage or majority, £100 cash.
Other references:
Biography in ADB, vol. 2, 1788–1850, pp.445–46.
Levi & Bergman, Australian Genesis, pp.167–170. [///Drawing of Joseph Simmons from Australian Genesis]
Levi, J. S. A Dictionary of Biography of the Jews of Australia, p.108 (1976, AJHS)
lIrwin, Eric. “Barnett Levey’s Theatre Royal—A Reassessment”. AJHS, Vol. 7, Pt 3, pp.198–200.
