A Victorian country gentleman had a quiet ambition to help people living with diabetes. What he didn’t want was a lot of fuss or praise when he achieved that goal.

Charles Campbell Coghlan OAM sidestepped the acclaim by leaving a generous gift in his will to further diabetes research and help all people living with the condition.

No one who knew Charles, who in his later years lived with type 2 diabetes and was a long-term member of Diabetes Victoria, was surprised at his generosity after his death. He lived a life infused with love for his wife Mary and family, community service, personal responsibility to help individuals in need, and a passion for thoroughbred racing and breeding.

Raised under the eyes of Ceres

Charles was born into a farming family with business interests in Ballarat on May 27, 1925, and spent his life in the district. Charles’s grandfather, James Coghlan, co-founded The Ballarat Brewing Company in 1853, just in time for the district’s gold rush. Its beer kegs were set up on the road from Melbourne to Ballarat to satisfy the thirsty diggers walking to and from the gold fields.

The brewery became one of the biggest manufacturing plants in Victoria outside of Melbourne, and Charles served on the company’s board for many years.

Charles was raised on a sheep and cattle property, Ceres, at Learmonth on the outskirts of Ballarat.

According to ancient Roman mythology, Ceres is the goddess of agriculture and she smiled on the property named in her honour under the stewardship of Charles, a hardworking, unflappable and astute grazier. With the help of Mary, the couple established Ceres as a showpiece of the district with a historically significant homestead, renowned gardens and a successful grazing concern.

Although he enjoyed and worked hard to develop opportunities in his life, Charles and his family also endured tragedy. His only sibling, an elder sister, Lois, died after a severe asthma attack on the family property when she was just 17. Charles and Mary poured their love for family into Mary’s sister’s children, Kate, Marie and Carmel, who knew their adored relatives as Uncle Pip and Aunt Mim.

Uncle Pip and Aunt Mim

“They were devoted to each other and were a gorgeous couple. They loved all of us, and we loved them, but in the deepest sense they only had one another,” his niece, Marie, said.

“Mim would cook for the shearers every year, she was always baking something delicious, and the two of them were a hard-working team.

“Every school holiday my sisters and I would go to Ceres to Pip and Mim. We’d be off to the races in Melbourne on a Saturday and then go to a lovely restaurant for dinner that night such as Maxims or the Windsor. It sounds special, doesn’t it, but we were just kids and that was life with Pip and Mim. We loved to be with them.”

A love of horses

Charles served four terms as the president of the Ballarat Turf Club after joining its committee in 1948. He also served the Burrumbeet Park and Windermere Racing Club, spending 69 years on the committee, 49 as president. This later achievement is believed to be a world record for service to a community-based not-for-profit club.

He was a life member of both of those clubs, as well as the Victoria Racing Club. In 1998, Charles was awarded the Order of Australia medal for his services to the horse racing industry in Victoria. Country race tracks are an important part of the social and job-creating fabric of regional Australia so while contributing to the horse breeding and racing industry, Charles was also nourishing his country roots.

Pip’s quiet kindness

In their life together, Charles and Mim were invited on many overseas adventures but they both preferred to stay close to home. They were country people who enjoyed their home, their town, family and friends, and each other.

A light went out in Charles’s life when Mim died in 2003. He lived alone in his home in Ballarat after selling Ceres in the 1970s until he required a higher level of care for a short time at a nursing home before his death at 92 in 2017.

Marie said after Charles passed that she was approached by many people who told her of Charles’s kindnesses, including a retired jockey who had ridden for him.

“He told me how kind Pip had been to him. At one stage this jockey had been very down on his luck. Pip promised him he’d give him some rides, gave him money to tide him over, and helped him through a very tough time,” Marie said.

“That was typical of Pip but he’d never talk about things like that.

“We asked ourselves many times why Pip hadn’t donated more of his money while he was alive. He gave away a bit here and there, but nothing substantial. His accountant asked me the same question, as he would have saved a fortune in taxes,” she said.

“My sisters and I think it was because he didn’t want any fuss. He didn’t want the fanfare.”

Marie said Pip did not have an enemy.

“He was known and respected.”

Charles Coghlan’s bequest

The Charles Coghlan bequest will make a difference to the lives of the 1.8 million Australians who live with diabetes. It has greatly enriched the Diabetes Australia Research Program which provides support and opportunity to talented Australian researchers to investigate all aspects of diabetes and its consequences, as well as the search for a cure.

The funds will increase the value of the research grants for years to come, some of which will bear Charles’s name.

Marie believed it was part of her beloved uncle’s quiet manner that he’d leave his estate to charities to help people.

“A stylish dresser all his life, Pip was a modest, quiet man with a very dry sense of humour. He loved a story but wasn’t a storyteller. He loved to socialise and to be with people. Through it all, he was a true gentleman, always calm and pragmatic.

“It comforts us to know that he has helped other people in his passing. Quietly, no fanfare, just a sign of his generosity,” Marie said.

“He was incredibly selfless.”