From Australia’s Jewish Past: Abraham Abrahams
Abraham Abrahams was a highly respected businessman, a judge of art, a private philanthropist and a model citizen.
Abraham Abrahams
Abraham was born in Sheerness in Kent, England in 1813, part of an old Jewish family who had resided in England for nearly one hundred and fifty years.
He received a good education at a leading school in Colchester, and after finishing his education, he started working with Messrs Hyams & Co – clothiers of London.
It was not long before he was promoted to that of a commercial traveller, a position he held until 1850, when he emigrated to South Australia. He was inspired to seek his fortune in a different business environment than what he was doing in England and established a business as an importer in Adelaide.
As the business grew, he took on a partner who had previously worked at another importing business – Messrs Acraman & Co.
The company continued operations until 1860 when it was unfortunately dissolved. In 1864, Abraham accepted the dual positions of Secretary to the Equitable Fire Insurance Company and Secretary to the Imperial Permanent Building Society.
However, he found that the two positions taxed his strength severely, and he resigned from his position with the Building Society but retained that of Secretary to the insurance company until 1891. His next venture was, in conjunction with other like-minded business people, the idea of forming an Executor, Trustee, and Agency Company in South Australia along the lines of Dutch Companies operating in South Africa.
Fortunately, Abraham and his colleagues’ efforts proved successful, with some changes being made later on in the organisation of the company, which now carried on business under the authority of a special Act. Abraham took on the role of the Society Secretary.
He did not take on a prominent role in politics or in municipal affairs, but he was known as one of the best businessmen in Adelaide. For twenty years, his home was at the York Hotel in Rundle Street and so closely was he associated with the place he was known as the ‘’Father of the Hotel’’.
Few men had such a reputation for straightforwardness and honourable business practices as Abraham enjoyed. Though rather reserved in matters regarding his own affairs, he held very firm views on many questions and never hesitated to express his opinion. In matters of philanthropy as well as for the general welfare of humanity, Abraham always lent able assistance. He was indeed most charitable himself.
Abraham became Treasurer of the Assyrian Fund, the Indian Relief Fund and many others. He was a committee member of the Home for Incurables, and filled the office of Secretary of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a society that he practically founded. He was identified with many principal philanthropic organisations.
His Judaism was important to him and at different periods held positions of Treasurer and President of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation. He was one of the oldest members of the Synagogue, but in his later years, did not take such an active interest as he had done in his earlier years.
He was one of the original members of the Society of Arts. When the Public Library was separated from the Circulating Library, Abraham was elected by the South Australian Society of Arts to join the Board of Governors of the Public Library, the Art Gallery and the Museum, to which office he was gazetted in July 1884.
From November 1888 to November 1889, Abraham become Chairman of the Board. The citizens of Adelaide were under great obligation to him. During this same period, he was also Chairman of the Finance Committee – his knowledge of finance proved to be invaluable. The Board recognised his great association with art, and the Gallery practically gave him a free rein to which he took an absorbing interest in the arrangement of paintings in connection with the Jubilee Exhibition; when the Gallery was first established, his knowledge of the older masters proved to be of great value.
Abraham was serving on the Committee of the Zoological Gardens. A member of the Freemasons, he took the affairs very seriously and was one of the oldest members of the colony.
He held many positions within the organisation, including being a Justice of the Peace.
In December 1891, at a finance meeting of the Board of Governors of the Public Library, Abraham was granted leave of absence. During the later years of his life, he suffered very much from the hot weather, and his health began to decline. In January 1892 he left Adelaide for Hobart to escape the heat and regain his strength. In letters he wrote from Hobart, he wrote that he was improving and, therefore, the news of his death at the age of seventy-nine came as a great shock. Abraham had travelled to Melbourne on his way back to Adelaide and he died in the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne on 3 April 1892. His body was brought by train back to Adelaide and he was buried in the Jewish Section of the West Terrace Cemetery. His funeral was conducted by Reverend Abraham Boaz and was attended by a large gathering of people.
All knew Abraham as courteous, punctual to the point of punctiliousness (paying extreme attention to detail), polite, precise and utterly dependable. He was a great art lover with a deep knowledge of the Old Masters, of which he owned a small but valuable collection.
Abraham never married.
In 1891, in recognition of his service to art, he was presented with a portrait of himself painted by John Upton, a prominent artist of the times. The portrait hangs in the Art Gallery of South Australia.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:-
Obituaries Australia; Wikipedia; National Library of Australia – Trove; Art Gallery of South Australia
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