Samuel Cohen (New South Wales politician)

Samuel Cohen (14 July 1812 – 4 November 1861) was an English-born Australian politician and businessman.

Samuel Cohen
Samuel Cohen, politician and merchant
Born	Samuel Cohen 14 July 1812 Lambeth, England
Died	4 November 1861 (aged 49) Sydney
Occupation	Merchant
Known for	Member of New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Merchant

Cohen was born at Lambeth to merchant Barnett Cohen and his wife Sierlah (sarah). He came to Australia, arriving in Sydney on 19 April 1834, aboard the Resource. He had been sent by his father to take his brothers, David and Lewis, back to England, but was unsuccessful in doing so.[1]

Business Interests

From 1835 he lived at Maitland, and partnered with Lewis Levy, later also a politician.[2]

In 1836 he co-founded a general merchants company with his brother David, operating out of Sydney and Newcastle.[2]

Politics

In 1860 Cohen was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Morpeth in a by-election, but he was defeated at the general election later that year.[2]

Personal life

On 23 August 1837 he married Rachel Nathan, with whom he had seven children.[1]

Samuel Cohen died suddenly, in Sydney, on 4 November 1861. The Empire reported that "the mournful cortege consisted of a hearse, fourteen mourning coaches, and seventy-two carriages...As the funeral passed through the different streets, large numbers of spectators assembled to witness it; thus showing the general esteem in which the deceased gentleman was held by all sections of the community."[3]

Cohen's wife, Rachel, died in London on 26 October 1893.[1]

See also

• Cintra House, Maitland#The David Cohen Company in Australia

References

1. These are the Names: Jewish Lives in Australia1788-1850, John S. Levi, The Miegunyah Press, 2006.
2. "Mr Samuel Cohen (1812–1861)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
3. Empire (Sydney) 7 November 1861, Funeral of the late Mr. Samuel Cohen. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

External links

• Obituaries Australia, Samuel Cohen. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
• Australian Jewish Historical Society; Journal and Proceedings, volume 6, September 1969, pp 334–343. Samuel Cohen, an early Settler and a Parliamentarian with a Conscience.
• Australian Jewish Historical Society; Journal and Proceedings, volume 9, No. 8, 1985. David Cohen & Co; The Family and the Firm, an Anglo-Jewish Story.