The Russian Pedlar

Originally from Russia, Albert Abram Coppleson (1865-1948) was never one to shy away from a challenge. After leaving home at sixteen, walking to Hamburg, then travelling to London, he met Polish-born Woolf Ruta Cohen. In search of adventure, the pair made their way to New South Wales.

Spending his first few years in the colony as a travelling pedlar with just a pack on his back and speaking little English, Albert found the rural folk more welcoming than those of the city. He and Woolf set their sights on Wee Waa, opening a store on Alma Street in 1890.

Known initially as ‘Coppleson and Cohen,’ Coppleson’s General Store was renowned as a ‘leading house for high-grade up-to-date goods and honest values.’ The store was the first in Wee Waa to install petrol bowsers, enabling automobiles from the big smoke to stop and refuel in the town.

Coppleson dropped Cohen from the store’s name a few years later when Woolf struck out on his own in Walgett. Albert’s commitment to Wee Waa was unrelenting; the store had a few locations over the years, was burgled and burnt to the ground at least twice and survived many near-misses.

When the Namoi district was declared a shire, Albert was elected to the first Shire Council and served as President many times. A driving force behind local infrastructure projects, he pushed for sealed roads, railways, irrigation, and the construction of Keepit Dam. He also helped establish Wee Waa’s annual P. A. & H. (Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural) Show.

Albert’s resilience, business acumen, and community spirit led him to become a local success story for his work as a retailer, pastoralist, and politician.