Cudgegong Valley History Project

Death of Mrs G. H. Cohen.

AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS. Very general and very deep regret has been occasioned by the death of Mrs. Mary Cohen, wife of Mr. G. H. Cohen, of the "Mudgee Guardian," which occurred, after a short illness, at the family residence, "The Moorings," Douro-street, Mudgee, early on Saturday morning. Mrs. Cohen's health had been less good than could have been wished for some time, but it was not thought that there was anything seriously wrong with her. She refused to yield to the solicitations of her family to see a doctor, and declared resolutely that there was nothing wrong with her. She was always anxious for others, for her children especially, but she refused to be anxious about herself or to countenance or yield to the anxiety of her husband and children for her. If she suffered to any extent she kept her sufferings to herself, and so it was that it came as a painful surprise when she was obliged to give in and take to her bed on Monday week last. Her illness once it set seriously in, developed with awful rapidity to the critical stage. By Tuesday week Mrs. Cohen was so seriously ill and her condition so grave that the very worst was feared, and all the members of her family were sent for. On Tuesday night there was a distinct improvement. The crisis appeared to have passed and the worst to be over, and Mrs. Cohen's medical attendants, Dr. Nickoll and Dr. Challands, felt justified in holding out hopes of ultimate recovery. The improvement was maintained, with intermittent relapses, for rather more than a week. However, about the middle of last week it became evident to doctors, nurses, and friends that things were not going at all well, and fears of the worst were again entertained. These were confirmed and intensified when it was found that diabetes had developed to an alarming extent. By Friday the doctors were forced to admit that there was little or no hope. All day Friday and through Friday night the family, all of whom were present at "The Moorings," and remained there throughout the day and night, waited in hourly expectation of the end, and yet in hope that even at that the eleventh hour something might intervene, that there might be some fortunate happening that would preserve the dear one to them. The expectation was realised and such faint hope as there had been was finally disappointed, at about 2.45 on Saturday morning, when Mrs. Cohen passed away. The cause of death was diabetes, with pneumonia, pleurisy, and other complications. Dr. Nickoll and Dr. Challands were unremitting in their attention, Dr. Nickoll in particular showing great devotion. The services of a trained nurse from Sydney and of Nurse Wright, of Mudgee, were secured at an early stage of the illness, and all that medical skill and assiduous attention, efficient nursing, and the devotion of a devoted family could do, was done, but, unhappily, without avail. The deceased bore the sufferings of her illness with characteristic fortitude and cheerfulness, her greatest fear being lest her sufferings should give pain to those dear to her, and her chief anxiety to share them. The late Mrs. Cohen, who was 58 years of age on March 18 last, was a native of Golden Point, Araluen, the centre of the first gold discoveries in the southern district, and was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Knight. When she was quite a small child her parents removed from Araluen to the Hill End gold fields. They remained there for some years, and it was at Hill End and (later) Home Rule that Mrs. Cohen grew up and was educated. Later on the Knight family came to Mudgee, and here at a very early age Miss Mary Knight (as she then was) was married to Mr. G. H. Cohen. Immediately following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cohen went to Walgett - indeed the trip to the wild and almost undiscovered west was really their honeymoon - where Mr. Cohen established the first newspaper, "The Walgett Mail," now known as "The Spectator," which still lives, having had a continuous life since Mr . Cohen brought it into being. After spending a while at Walgett Mr. and Mrs. Cohen returned to Mudgee. With intervals in Sydney and at Lithgow, at both of which places Mr. Cohen was engaged in newspaper enterprise, Mrs. Cohen lived in Mudgee from the time of her return from Walgett up to the day of her death. Mrs. Cohen is survived by her husband and the following family:- Messrs. Robert John Cohen, Horace Bertram Cohen, Cyril Cohen, and Clarence Knight Cohen (sons), all connected with the "Guardian" proprietary and members of its staff ; Mesdames E. Imrie, Newcastle (nee Miss Vera Cohen), W. I. Martin, Sydney (nee Miss Neva Cohen), and Misses Ina and Mabel Cohen, Mudgee. A fifth daughter, Mrs. R. Grinsted (nee Miss Muriel Cohen) predeceased her mother by about 6½ years. She has also left several grandchildren, to whom she was devotedly attached, and who were as devotedly attached to her. Mrs. Cohen's surviving brothers are Mr. Charles Knight (Mayor of Mudgee) and Mr. John Knight, both of the "Guardian," and sisters Mesdames Thomas Bagust (Wagga) and H. Batchelor (Sydney). Mrs. Cohen was an ideal wife and mother, and her influence upon the lives and characters of her husband and children has been marvellously great and marvellously good. She was the true companion and helpmate of the husband, who grew to lean upon her in a remarkable degree, and to whom she had become in very truth his other self. It is not surprising that he should be stunned almost and overcome entirely by the great blow that has been struck him, by the terrible, the irreparable loss he has sustained. The loss to the sons and daughters of one who was a perfect mother, unselfish, affectionate in superlative degree, self-sacrificing, and in a word all that the very best of mothers could have been, is one the magnitude of which it is impossible to exaggerate. The Cohen family - which by the way is one of the oldest and one of the now very few surviving of the Mudgee pioneering families - has been always singularly united and affectionate, which makes the blow that it has now sustained all the more keenly felt. Far beyond her own family and circle of immediate friends the late Mrs. Cohen was known, and wherever she was known she was loved. At one time she was the very frequent companion of her husband in his business trips throughout the country, and thus became known more or less intimately to a large countryside. And to know her was to love her, whilst her outstanding high character won the respect and esteem of all to whom it became known. She was bright and captivating in manner and personality and was of a singularly amiable and captivating disposition. And the friendships and affections that she secured, without the asking, so to speak, and by her irresistible attraction, she securely retained. The deceased lady was more than kindly hearted. She was charitable alike in deed, in word and thought, and was generous to a fault. Her charities (that did not present themselves in that light to her), and her givings were quite unostentatious (quite literally her left hand did not know what her right hand did) and were moved by a tact and a kindliness of speech, of look and of tone which made them doubly acceptable and of double value to the objects of her kindness. She did good by stealth and blushed to find it known; and praises of her quietly done goodnesses, are being sounded by scores today, and come from most unexpected sources. Many are the benedictions of the poor that have followed her hence. The high regard in which Mrs. Cohen was held by the people of a wide district, and the great sympathy that is felt far and wide with the bereaved family, were evidenced by the great gathering at the graveside in the Mudgee cemetery on Sunday afternoon, which indeed included all sorts and conditions of men and women, and many sorrowing little ones as well. In the long funeral procession of cars and carriages and buggies and what not, and in which Mudgee and its immediate neighborhood of course predominated, there were representative men and representatives of families from Dunedoo, Gulgong, Cassilis, Home Rule and other district centres. Other testimonies to the affection in which Mrs. Cohen is held and the high place in public regard that the mourning family occupy are to be found in the shoals of telegrams and letters of regret and condolence and sympathy that have literally poured in since the announcement of the death was made, and in the multitude of beautiful wreaths, crosses and other floral offerings sent before the funeral. So numerous were these that a special car had to be provided for their carriage to the grave, and the car was overcrowded. A very beautiful wreath was that from the "Mudgee Guardian" staff, the members of which preceded the coffin in procession. Very handsome permanent grave ornaments were sent by the Mudgee Race Course Trust, of which Mr. Geo. Cohen is a member, and the Mudgee Turf Club, of which he is the honorary secretary. The interment was made in the Church of England section of the Mudgee General Cemetery. The funeral was easily the largest and most representative that there has been in Mudgee for many years past. The Rev. J. Parr, rector of St. John's, Mudgee, officiated at the graveside. Messrs. B. E. Hayes, H. C. Knight, J. Green, and Gerald Fitzgerald, jun. (all employees of the "Guardian" Proprietary), were the pallbearers. The funeral arrangements were most efficiently carried out by Mr. H. Barton. Amongst the mourners was Mrs. G. A. Doswell (78), who was living at Araluen, and who had known the late Mrs. Cohen since she was a baby, and had been a lifelong friend. Others who came from Araluen to Mudgee, via Hill End, were the late Mr. and Mrs. F. Lovett, of Avisford, and the Knight family. Mrs. James, widow of Mr. G. T. James, of Forndale (who died with tragic suddenness a few days since), was a Miss Emily Law. She too was a native of Araluen, and she and the late Mrs. Cohen were children together at Araluen, and girls together at Hill End and Mudgee, and were friends always. Amongst the many who have personally and by letter or telegram conveyed their sympathy to the Cohen family in their bereavement are the officer in charge of the Salvation Army at Mudgee, Adjutant Manly, and the officers and members of the Army, whose kindness is greatly appreciated. The Army Band at their Douro Street open-air meeting on Sunday morning played "Nearer My God to Thee," which was one of the late Mrs. Cohen's favorite hymns. "Her children shall rise and call her Blessed." Mudgee Guardian, Monday 24 October 1921, p. 4. Mary Cohen Obituary

DEATH Mrs. H. M. Malloy THE death of Mrs. Gwenneth Muriel Malloy, of Church street, Mudgee, occurred at the untimely age of 19 at the district hospital early yesterday morning. The late Mrs. Malloy, who was the wife of Mr. Herbert M. Malloy, and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Knight, of Church street, had been in ill health for a rather long time. Besides her sorrowing husband, she is survived by a young child. She was born in Mudgee and had spent the whole of her life here. Her sad death will be deeply mourned by a wide circle of friends. The funeral was held this morning, the interment being carried out by Messrs. J. C. Swords and Son in the Church of England portion of the general cemetery. Canon L. C. S. Walker conducted the services at the church and graveside (Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, Thursday 21 October 1937, page 2).