Harry Abotomey

Henry “Harry” Abotomey, also known as “Harry the Prophet,” was born in 1876 in New South Wales, the son of Beshara and Labeebe Abotomey, of Syrian descent. He married Christina Mary Ryder at White Cliffs in 1900, they had two sons.

Abotomey was an opal buyer, first at White Cliffs where he gained a reputation for paying high prices for quality black opal. He moved to Lightning Ridge in 1909, travelling frequently between the fields and Sydney. At the Ridge he purchased stones from miners including Jack Murray and Fred Bodel, sometimes paying what were then considered exceptional prices.

In 1909 he was one of several new buyers who arrived at the Ridge, along with Percy Marks and Ernie Sherman. Letters to the Walgett Spectator that year showed his support for the Lightning Ridge field, responding to negative views from those at White Cliffs. He continued to buy opal through 1910 and 1911, with a hut at Nettleton and later moving to Sydney.

On 18 June 1912, at his home in Double Bay, Sydney, he died by suicide at the age of 36, an unfortunate end resulting from a gambling addiction. His death came as a shock to the opal community, where he was regarded as one of the major buyers of his time.

Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: A Journey With Colour: A History of Lightning Ridge Opal 1873-2003, Len Cram, 2003, pp. 91-92, 94, 124; The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, pp. 17-18, 238; ‘White Cliffs’, Barrier Miner, 6 April 1905, p. 4; ‘Opal Merchant’s Suicide’, The Sun, 28 June 1912, p. 6.