Cobar

Distinguished and Famous people from Cobar

🏛️ Lilliane Brady

Lilliane 'Lil' Brady moved to Cobar with her husband Allan for what was intended to be a twelve-month stay in the 1960s. It became a lifetime association with the mining town and a long career in local government. As mayor she campaigned for improved health facilities, infrastructure and the town's interests. She also gave the initial permission for council land to be used for the Cobar Sound Chapel. Her state funeral was held in Cobar in 2021, reflecting the prominence of a local advocate whose short stay had become something rather more permanent.

🤝 William Spence

William Spence became the Member for Cobar in 1898, bringing a trade-union organiser’s experience into colonial politics. Before becoming a miner, he had worked as a shepherd, butcher’s boy and shearer. He helped organise miners and shearers and was a leading figure in the formation of the Australian Workers’ Union in 1894. A committed Christian, he believed workers should bargain together with employers and preferred negotiation to strikes. He later entered the first Federal Parliament. His documented connection here is parliamentary representation of Cobar, linking the district with the wider movement for workers’ political representation.