Abraham Cohen (1812–74) was the fifth son of Emanuel Hyam Cohen and Hannah (née Benjamin) of Brighton, England. He was the younger brother of Levy Emanuel Cohen and Nathan Cohen who published the Brighton Guardian. Two of Emanuel’s sons migrated to Australia: Abraham in 1834 and Raphael (Ralph) in 1838. Abraham travelled from England to Australia aboard the brig Warrior, arriving in Sydney on 27 February 1835. He was 23 years old.
Abraham married[1] Henry Cohen’s second daughter Sophia in Sydney on 27 July 1836.
Abraham must have spent some time with his brothers learning the business at the Brighton Guardian as, soon after his arrival in the Colony, he purchased an interest in the Australian newspaper[2] and he was for the period July 1837 to September 1839 a part owner and the printer thereof:
The Australian the second oldest newspaper, was to survive its contemporary [the Sydney Gazette] by six years. [A. E.] Hayes had continued it until February 1833 when it was suspended on the ground that newsprint was unobtainable. Faithful to the liberal and emancipist point of view, Francis Stephen and G. R. Nichols, the son of a wealthy emancipist and himself, from July 1833, a Sydney solicitor revived it in May 1833. From May 1835 to June 1837 it was owned by its editor, J. R. Hardy, and from that date by ‘Bob’ Nichols and the printer Abraham Cohen. Cohen sold out to Nichols who became editor and proprietor in September 1839.[3]
In 1839 Abraham moved his family to Port Macquarie. At this time the Colony was undergoing a recession due to falling prices for wool and coal. Added to this the fact that his father-in-law was well established at Port Macquarie would have influenced the decision. Upon arrival Abraham was made Secretary and Manager of the Port Macquarie Steam Navigation Company. When Henry Cohen removed to Sydney in 1845 Abraham took over the “Speed the Plough” Inn until, in 1847, he took his family back to Sydney. He bought a house at 22 Kellett Street, Darlinghurst which he named “Brighton”.
In 1853 ?Abraham went to Goulburn . . .?????? [Abraham was referred to as “late of Goulburn” in Samuel Cohen’s letter introducing Henry Emanuel Cohen to L. W. Levy. in 1856.]
He then established a hotel at Wynyard Square (on the corner of Carrington and Margaret Streets) which he called “Cohen’s Family Hotel”. After he sold the hotel it was renamed “Pfahletts Family Hotel”. Years later “Pfahletts” was moved to new premises on the northern side of Margaret Street.
In 1860, the following advertisement appeared in the Government Gazette:
Persons who may be willing to dispose of not less than 100 acres of land which may be suitable for a General Cemetery on or near the Great Southern Railway, between Sydney and Parramatta are requested to communicate with this Department, describing the position of the land, and stating the area and price. It is necessary that the soil should be considerable in depth, and generally free from stones, and that the drainage should either be to salt water or to some stream or hollow whence water supply is not obtained for domestic purposes.[4]
Many replies were received including a letter from A[braham] Cohen Esq to the Colonial Secretary, dated 1 July 1861:
Sir,
Understanding that the Government are desirous of selecting a plot of
ground for a General Cemetery, within easy communication of Sydney, I beg to
submit for their approval a block containing between 1600 and 1700 acres,
situated at Liberty Plains and about 11 miles from Sydney and through which the
railway runs. The land is also of easy access from the Parramatta and Liverpool
Roads. There is also in the centre of the land a reserve for a railway
terminus. The land was formerly the property of Sir Charles Nicholson (by whom
the reserve was given) and is now the property of my brother[-in-law], Mr
Edward Cohen, of Melbourne and Mr D[avid] Benjamin, who have placed it in my hands for sale. The price of the
whole block is seventeen thousand pounds.
I enclose a rough sketch of the situation of the land. The soil, I
believe, is deep and the land is free from floods.[5]
On 9 April 1862, a letter addressed to A. Cohen Esq. from the Secretary for Lands agreed on behalf of the government to purchase 200 acres near ‘Homebush on the Railway Line, being a portion of the estate called Liberty Plains at the price of Ten pounds per acre the terms being cash on the completion of a perfect title.’[6] On 15 April 1862, a Conveyance to the Crown and a Schedule of Deeds were signed, and three days later were lodged in Sydney.[7]
Abraham and Sophia had at least 12 children, two of which pre-deceased Sophia:[8]
Rosa born at Sydney, 27 July 1836 [sic].[9]
Rosa (1837–40) born at Sydney, 12 July 1837;[10] died at Port Macquarie 29 October 1840.[11]
[Frederick Sydney (1838–1918)] Male child born[12] Sydney, circumcised 12th August 1838; in 1866 married[13] Rosetta Emanuel (1840–1903), daughter of Samuel Emanuel of Goulburn. They had children: Mabel L., born[14] 1867 at Muswellbrook; ?Edith, born[15] 1869 at Goulburn; ?Edith Beatrice, born[16] 1870 at Goulburn; Samuel H., born 1872 at Goulburn;[17] Estelle, born at Goulburn in 1874;[18] Abraham Leslie, born 1875 at Goulburn;[19] Vera Z., born 1884 at Sydney;[20] Sydney H., born 1886 at Sydney.[21] Frederick died[22] at Sydney in 1918.
Frances (Fanny) (1839–1912) born at Sydney, 22 July 1839;[23] on 5 August 1857 married[24] (later Sir) Benjamin Benjamin of Melbourne; died 1912. (Benjamin was then Fanny’s uncle Edward Cohen’s business partner, and, Edward Cohen had in 1847 married Benjamin’s older sister Rebecca.)
George (1840–1912) born at Port Macquarie, 1 September 1840.[25] See below for biographical sketch.
Henry Emanuel (1840–1912) born at Port Macquarie, 1 September 1840.[26] See below for biographical sketch.
Nathan (1842–1910) born at Port Macquarie, 10 July 1842.[27] See below for biographical sketch.
Caroline born[28] at Port Macquarie, 2 March 1844; in 1867 at Sydney married[29] Solomon Joseph of Tamworth.
Hannah born[30] at Port Macquarie, 1 July 1845; at Sydney in 1863 married[31] Elias Samuels.
Sarah born at Port Macquarie, 1 July 1847;[32] died unmarried aged 57 years on 9 September 1904, and is buried at Rookwood (Jewish Section D, #136).
1848: Abraham and Sophia removed from Port Macquarie to Sydney.[///ref?]
?Infant son died[33] 18 November 1848, at Kent Street, two days old.
[Jane Matilda (Jenny)] Birth[34] of a daughter on 7 December 1849 at Cleveland Lodge, Castlereagh Street, Sydney; named 5th January 1850. Jane married her cousin Benjamin Francis Marks, son of Solomon and Hannah Marks; she died 1930.[35]
[unknown] (1850–____) born[36] at Queanbeyan, ______ 1850.
Miriam (Minnie) (1852–____) born at Cleveland Cottage, Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 26 February 1852;[37] married journalist Philip Benjamin of Sydney. They had three children: two boys and one daughter. The daughter Sophia (Zoë)[38] was prominent in the kindergarten movement.
Aaron (1866–____) born[39] at Sydney, ______ 1866.
On Henry’s death, Sophia’s share of his estate was £100 cash plus a life interest in the income from “three houses in Crown Street Woolloomooloo known as numbers 74, 76 and 78 and the houses in Woods Lane at the back of the said premises.” On the death of Sophia and her husband, the legacy passed to their daughters Jane and Miriam.
Abraham died in 1874 aged 62 years, and Sophia died[40] 26 December 1882 aged 66 years at her home 16 Kellett Street, Darlinghurst. They lay beside each other in the Jewish Old Section at Rookwood Cemetery.
