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The Rt Hon. Lord Cohen of Birkenhead, CH

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The Rt Hon. Lord Cohen of Birkenhead, CH Jewish Historical Studies, volume 39, 2004 - Henry: a physician of distinction theRt Hon. Lord Cohen of Birkenhead, CH* MERVYN GOODMAN Henry Cohen was born on 21 February 1900, the youngest of five children, to Isaac Cohen and Dora (nee Mendelson). Both were refugees from - pogroms in Poland what would now be called asylum seekers. They married inManchester and moved to Cardigan Street, Birkenhead, where they had four sons and one daughter. His father, a descendant of rabbis, was an impecunious general dealer about whom little is known. His mother was a dominant personality towhom he was deeply attached and with whom he lived until her death in 1955. Lord Taylor of Harlow recalled how 'Henry was a bachelor who lived with his mother in theToxteth area of Liverpool. For fun I used to say: "Where are you going for your summer holidays, Henry?" The answer was always the same: "I'm taking my mother to Llandudno.'"1 In one of his after-dinner speeches he related how once, when he had had a cold, his mother had gone to the local chemist, bought a bottle of Owbridge's Lung Tonic for him and, he added, put it on his account!2 After her death he spent the rest of his life living with his widowed sister,Anne Compton, who had a pet dog named Cob, an acronym of Cohen of Birkenhead. He attended the elementary Church School of St John in Birkenhead, where the fees were twopence a week, and where he showed an interest in acting. There he played the part of the firstwatchman in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. A local newspaper described how 'The first watchman had two lines to speak and both were inaudible'.3 His later distinction as an orator showed that he took this criticism to heart. Many years later Lord Walton, professor of neurology in the University of Newcastle and president of the General Medical Council, wrote of him: 'He almost always spoke without a note. Invariably his delivery suggested a * Paper presented to the Society on 8 April 2003. 1 Lord Taylor of Harlow, A Natural History ofEveryday Life (London 1988) 224. 2 Liverpool Jewish Gazette March 1949, p. 2. 3 Obituary, The Times 9 August 1977. 197 Jewish Historical Society of England is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Jewish Historical Studies ® www.jstor.org Mervyn Goodman total spontaneity, but those who knew him well explained that he prepared his talks with infinite care and being gifted with a photographic memory, learnt them by heart.'4 In one of his obituaries a correspondent wrote that 'Henry aspired to ... perfection He was amaster of the English language in both its spoken and written form'.5 Professor Brian Macgraith of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine said: 'He never made a speech. It was always an oration. - Perfect enunciation in a beautiful mellow voice which I suspect he enjoyed - ... as much as we did clear, precise delivery never a pause or a flicker Every now and then, when he was talking, he would glance upwards to the ceiling. Once I asked him why he did this.He told me that he could see in his mind every page of his manuscript, even the typist's errors and his own correc? tions. When he looked at the ceiling he was merely turning over a few pages.'6 He won a scholarship to the Birkenhead Institute, where he excelled not only in his studies. He became the school captain, captained the first XV rugby team, the firstXI cricket team and was the champion gymnast of the school. When asked how he found time to participate in sporting activities he replied: 'While it takes the other boys two hours to do their homework it takes me only 20 minutes'. It was there that he took elocution lessons. One of his schoolmasters remembered him as a brilliant boy 'who showed signs of genius at an age when most boys are only beginning to show signs of intelligence'.7 He himself said, on another occasion, 'Getting where I did took a lot of hard work. I don't agree with the remark about being a provin? cial genius.'8 At the same time he attended Hebrew classes at the Orthodox Hope Place Synagogue inLiverpool. He gained an open scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford, to study law, but because of his financial circumstances was unable to take it up. Instead he went to theUniversity of Liverpool on a local authority scholarship, still intending to become a lawyer at the Criminal Bar. He felt that to be a successful criminal lawyer the possession of a medical degree would be an advantage9 and he enrolled in themedical school. Rabbi Isaiah Raffalovitch, the minister at Hope Place Synagogue, wrote: 'One young man who was about to enter the University particularly caught my attention as being unusually talented. I suggested that I prepare him for entry into Jews' 4 J.Walton, TheSpice ofLife (London 1993)426. 5 Obituary, by 'G.W. P.', The Lancet 14August 1977. 6 T. Kelly, For theAdvancement of Learning: The University of Liverpool 1881-1981 (Liverpool 1981)250. 7 Obituary, British Medical Journal (hereafter BMJ) 20 August 1977, p. 525. 8 Obituary, Liverpool Daily Post 8 August 1977. 9 Obituary, Liverpool Echo 8 August 1977. 198 - Henry: a physician of distinction theRt Hon. Lord Cohen of Birkenhead, CH College as I thought he was destined to be one of the great ministers. But he thought otherwise and embarked upon the medical course. Now he is a professor at theUniversity.'10 In order to save money on tramcar fares he walked from his home to the Birkenhead Ferry and, after crossing the River Mersey, walked from the Pier Head to the University, a journey of more than a mile, and returned home in a similar manner. He took sandwiches for his lunch and, while eating them in the cafeteria, studied The Times crossword puzzle. Having completed his meal he would fill in the puzzle without further reference to the clues. On one occasion his fellow students gave him a page of the Liverpool telephone directory and said 'Henry, you have two minutes to memorize this' and he did it.He remembered the details of every learned paper he had ever read. As an undergraduate he participated in both theMedical Students' Debating Society (MSDS) and the Jewish Students' Society, of which he was a founder member and later student president. The minutes of the MSDS reported 'Mr H C-h-n was next called upon to deliver a fiveminute speech on Things I don t know. He resumed his seat after twominutes.'11 He graduated MB ChB in 1922 with first-class honours, having gained a distinction in every subject in the curriculum. When thirty-eight years later he was awarded the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa, in his own university, the Public Orator, Professor Dr Seaborne Davies, said (in a speech preserved in theUniversity archives): 'Throughout his apprentice? ship he so monopolized medals that at the end of his student career the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the vain fear that another Henry Cohen would appear in theUniversity of Liverpool, deemed it politic to abandon the Gold Standard.' He told me that when he qualified he joined both the Medical Defence Union and theMedical Protection Society, as he felt that neither body alone had sufficient funds to indemnify him. Neither body was able to confirm this. Cohen's subsequent career illustrated his catholic interests, and in each sphere he excelled. As a citizen he became a JP and a deputy lieutenant for Lancashire. In 1955 he was made a Freeman of Birkenhead and was given a similar honour in Liverpool in 1970. He served as president of the Merseyside branch of the English Speaking Union. He had been created a knight in 1949 and was raised to the peerage in 1956, taking the title of Lord Cohen of Birkenhead in the County Palatine of Cheshire. The motto he - chose for his baronial crest was Malis Mederi Nemini Nocere 'to cure 10 Letter from H. Nagley reporting a conversation with I. Raffalovitch the previous year, Liverpool Jewish Gazette July 1956. 11 Minutes of theMSDS, University of Liverpool, February 1922. 199 Mervyn Goodman illness and harm no one'. After his maiden speech in theHouse of Lords, on vivisection, of which Lord Silkin said that he had never heard a more effec? tive maiden speech, the Lord Chancellor, Viscount Kilmuir (formerly Sir David Maxwell Fyffe, MP for the Liverpool constituency ofWest Derby), asked: 'I wonder if your lordships will allow me a personal indulgence? The noble Lord, Lord Cohen of Birkenhead, started the practice ofMedicine at almost the same time as I started the practice of Law at Liverpool. I hope your lordships will allow me to take this slightly irregular opportunity to convey my congratulations to him on his brilliant speech to which we have just listened and to say that itwill give great pleasure not only to his old friends, of whom I am pleased to be one, but also to countless people on Mersey side and beyond.' In 1974 he was made a Companion ofHonour. His interest in the theatre was recognized in 1933 when he was invited to join the board of directors of the Liverpool Playhouse, the local repertory company. It was here that many famous actors and actresses began their careers. During his time on the board those who made their debut on the stage included Michael Redgrave, Diana Wynyard and Rex Harrison12 as well as Anna Neagle.
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