Bernard Waley-Cohen Explained

Sir Bernard Nathaniel Waley-Cohen, 1st Baronet (29 May 1914 – 3 July 1991) was a British businessman. He was the 633rd Lord Mayor of London, elected in 1960.[1]

Biography

The son of Sir Robert Waley Cohen and Alice (née Beddington), Waley-Cohen was educated at Clifton College where he was a member of Polack's House. He was an Alderman City of London for Portsoken Ward, 1949–84; Sheriff of London, 1955–56; Lord Mayor of London, 1960–61; one of the Lieutenants, City of London, 1949–1991. He was a director of the Palestine Corporation, founded in 1922 by a number British businessmen to promote economic development in the British mandate of Palestine.[1] Waley-Cohen was a member of the College Committee of University College London, 1953–80. He was Treasurer 1962–70, Vice-Chairman 1970 and Chairman, 1971–80. In former times, as Alderman, he sometimes sat as sole Justice in the Mansion House Justice Room.

He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1957 and made a Baronet of Honeymead in the County of Somerset, in 1961.[2]

Waley-Cohen married the Hon. Joyce Constance Ina, daughter of Harry Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan (1920–2013). They had four children:

Their grandson (son of Robert) is the amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen who won the 2022 Grand National riding Noble Yeats. A 50/1 odds outsider, it was described as a fairytale win.

Arms

Escutcheon:Quarterly: 1st & 4th Argent on a chevron Gules cottised Azure between in chief two roses of the second barbed and seeded Proper and in base a buck's head couped also Proper three annulets Or (Cohen); 2nd & 3rd Argent a chevron Azure cottised Sable between in chief two eagles displayed of the last and in base on a mount Vert a hind trippant Proper (Waley).
Crest:1st a buck's head couped Argent attired Or holding in the mouth a rose slipped Gules the neck encircled by a wreath of oak Proper between four barrulets Gules (Cohen); 2nd out of a bush of fern a hind's head Proper in the mouth a rose Argent stalked and leaved also Proper (Waley).
Motto:All for the Best[4]

Notes and References

  1. News: Bernard Waley-Cohen, Ex-London Mayor, 77. The New York Times. Associated Press. 6 July 1991.
  2. Book: Rubinstein. William D.. Jolles. Michael. Rubinstein. Hilary L.. William Rubinstein. Hilary L. Rubinstein. The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. 2011. Palgrave Macmillan. 978-1-4039-3910-4. 1001.
  3. News: Lady Waley-Cohen. The Daily Telegraph. 18 August 2013.
  4. Book: Debrett's Peerage . 2000.