Major Sir Benn Jack Brunel Cohen KBE (5 October 1886 – 11 May 1965) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician and campaigner on behalf of

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

people. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Liverpool Fairfield from 13 years, from 1918 to 1931.

Early life

Cohen was born in Toxteth Park,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, where his father, Louis Cohen, was a businessman and Conservative local politician. His family owned the

Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s, which Cohen's father ran after the death of David Lewis. Both of his grandfathers were politicians in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

, and then joined the family business. He married Vera Evelyn Samuel in 1914, becoming the son-in-law of

Sir Stuart Samuel, 1st Baronet Sir Stuart Montagu Samuel, 1st Baronet (24 October 1856 – 13 May 1926) was a British banker and Liberal politician who was Member of Parliament for Whitechapel. Samuel was the elder brother of Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel. He attended ...

. They had three children: two sons and a daughter.

War service

Cohen volunteered for military service in 1906, joining a

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

battalion of the

King's Liverpool Regiment The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which wer ...

. He served with the battalion after the outbreak of the First World War, but remained in the depot in Liverpool until 1917. Meanwhile, two elder brothers joined the Regiment on the Western Front in France, where one was killed in action and the second was gassed. At his own request, Cohen was sent to France in early 1917. He was promoted to Major in June 1917, but was wounded at the

Third Battle of Ypres The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

, and both legs were amputated above the knee. He used an

electric wheelchair A motorized wheelchair, powerchair, electric wheelchair or electric-powered wheelchair (EPW) is a wheelchair that is propelled by means of an electric motor (usually using differential steering) rather than human power, manual power. Motorized wh ...

for most of his life afterwards.

Political career

Cohen was elected as MP for Liverpool Fairfield in December 1918, and remained in office until he stood down at the 1931 general election. His

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in February 1919 was on the needs of disabled former servicemen, and he devoted much of his time to advancing the cause of disabled people, particular the war wounded, including problems of employment, training and

war pension War pensions are almost certainly the most ancient type of social security. Plutarch's Life of Solon mentions a law which provides that those who are maimed in war shall be maintained at the public charge. Halsbury's Laws of England traced their hi ...

s. He was involved in the discussions which led to the founding of the British Legion in 1921, and served as its honorary treasurer from 1921 to 1930, then as vice-chairman from 1930 to 1932, and again as honorary treasurer until 1946. He was effectively the parliamentary representative of the British Legion. He also served on the board of the

Poppy Factory The Poppy Factory is a factory in Richmond, London, England, where remembrance wreaths are made. It was founded in 1922 to offer employment opportunities to wounded soldiers returning from the First World War, creating remembrance poppies and ...

in Richmond, as a member of the council of St Dunstan's for 40 years, and as a governor of

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

for 33 years. He advocated rapprochement after the First World War between the former enemy nations, and spoke at the first International Conference of the Fédération Interalliée des Anciens Combattants in New Orleans in 1922. He visited Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. Cohen served as an army welfare officer for the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

in the Second World War. He chaired the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

's national advisory council on employment for disabled people, which spurred the passing of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944, mandating employers to give jobs to disabled people. He became vice-chairman of

Remploy Remploy is an organisation in the United Kingdom which provides employment placement services for disabled people. It is a major welfare-to-work provider, delivering a range of contracts and employment programmes, for people with substantial barr ...

in 1946, and its chairman in 1955. He was active in Jewish affairs, but was not a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

. He was the founding president of the anti-Zionist Jewish Fellowship from 1944 until it was dissolved after the foundation of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1948. He was also a member of the council of

. He received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in 1943, and was appointed a KBE in 1948. He published an autobiography, ''Count Your Blessings'', in 1956. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1961 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

. He died in London, with a memorial service at the

West London Synagogue The West London Synagogue of British Jews, abbreviated WLS ( he, ק"ק שער ציון, ''Kahal Kadosh Sha'ar Tziyon'', "Holy Congregation Gate of Zion"), is a synagogue and congregation, affiliated to Reform Judaism, near Marble Arch in centr ...

References

* * *Niall Barr, 'Cohen, Sir (Benn) Jack Brunel (1886–1965)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 201
accessed 17 Oct 2011

External links

Portrait
National Portrait Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jack 1886 births 1965 deaths People from Toxteth Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers British Army personnel of World War I British politicians with disabilities Knights Bachelor Jewish British politicians