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Sir Robert Waley Cohen, KBE (8 September 1877 – 27 November 1952) was a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
industrialist and prominent leader of Anglo-Jewry.


Early life

Robert Waley Cohen was born on 8 September 1877 to a prominent Jewish family. His father was Nathaniel Louis Cohen, a stock broker, and his mother was Julia Matilda Waley. Charles Waley Cohen, a soldier, barrister and Liberal Party politician was his brother, and Dorothea Waley Singer, a palaeographer and historian, was his sister. The English jurist and economist Jacob Waley was their maternal grandfather, while orientalist
Arthur Waley Arthur David Waley (born Arthur David Schloss, 19 August 188927 June 1966) was an English orientalist and sinologist who achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. Among his honours were ...
was their cousin. Robert was educated at
Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...
and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.


Career

Cohen joined the
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
Company, 1901 and negotiated its merger with the Royal Dutch Oil Company, 1906. He was a director of the merged company and chief assistant to its managing director. Cohen was the petroleum adviser to the Army Council during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, for which he received a KBE, 1920. He retired from Shell in 1928 but became chairman of the African & Eastern Trade Corporation in 1929. He negotiated a merger with the Niger Company into the
United Africa Company The United Africa Company (UAC) was a British company which principally traded in West Africa during the 20th century. The United Africa Company was formed in 1929 as a result of the merger of Royal Niger Company, The Niger Company, which had b ...
in 1929; he resigned in 1931. Although he was generally opposed to
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
, Cohen was the main creator of the Palestine Corporation, a conglomerate with various diverse business interests. He was vice-chairman of University College, London, and president of the United Synagogue. As part of the preparations by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
for the proposed invasion of Britain, Cohen was listed in " The Black Book" of prominent British residents to be arrested.


Family life and residences

In 1904, Cohen married Alice Violet Beddington; the couple had two sons and a daughter. In 1919, Cohen bought Caen Wood Towers in the prestigious
Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...
suburb of North London, where the family held numerous social events; Lady Waley Cohen often allowed the gardens to be used for fetes and parties for girls clubs and Boy Scouts, and for raising money for the less fortunate. Lady Cohen died in 1935, but Sir Robert continued to live at Caen Wood Towers until about 1942 when it was taken over by the RAF and used as the Intelligence Training School. In 1924, Cohen rented from Earl Fortescue the Somerset estate of Honeymead,
Simonsbath Simonsbath () is a small village high on Exmoor in the England, English ceremonial county, county of Somerset. It is the principal settlement in the Exmoor civil parish, which is the largest and most sparsely populated civil parish on Exmoo ...
, on the high moor in the centre of
Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...
. Honeymead was one of the earliest farmsteads built by John Knight soon after his purchase from the crown of the former largely uncultivated royal forest of Exmoor in 1818. In 1927, Cohen purchased Honeymead with an estate of , including Winstitchen Allotment and Exe Cleave Allotment, together with the farmsteads of Pickedstones, Winstitchen and Red Deer (also known as Gallon House) and proceeded to introduce modern farming techniques. In 1961, his son Bernard Waley-Cohen was created a baronet "of Honeymead in the county of Somerset". , the estate was still owned by his descendants. Cohen died on 27 November 1952, aged 75, at his Highgate home.


Sources

* ''
Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' * ''
Who was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...
''


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Robert Waley 1877 births 1952 deaths British Jews Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Clifton College Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge People associated with University College London United Africa Company
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...