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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Sussex => Topic started by: mackaa on Thursday 03 July 14 12:20 BST (UK)
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Hi everyone
I am looking for some suggestions to find a family by the name of COOK, apparently from Sussex. They arrived in Western Australia in 1830. Mr Henry COOK and wife, name unknown. Three supposedly adult sons Henry, Thomas George, William. Thomas George born c1816. Also three children Phillip, Eliza and Mary Ann. Phillip born c1826 and Eliza c1817. Arrived WA on the Rockingham.
I have tried several of the paid sites to search for them but with such common names it is proving very difficult. Would appreciate any suggestions of Sussex specific search places. I have unconfirmed information that Phillip was born in Brighton.
Appreciate any help
Kind regards
Mackaa
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There is a baptism at the Brighton Bible Christian Providence Chapel, Cavendish St for:
Phillip Cook, born 23 Feb 1830, bapt 14 Mar 1830, parents William (shoemaker) and Susannah.
It also notes that Susannah was the daughter of Phillip and Elizabeth Gendle.
I'll have a look for some of the other names.
On second thoughts, this probably iisn't the right family. It could be a long trawl through the records as there were many churches and chapels in Brighton.
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I've had a look through the SFHG baptisms for Brighton and so far the only near match I can find is the Phillip mentioned in my previous post, although there are still registers yet to be transcribed. Are there any further details to help identify the family? Do you know the ages of Henry senior and the adult sons? Were they all the children of Henry senior? Are there any women mentioned who might be mothers of the children? Are any occupations mentioned?
It is possible that they were only in Brighton for a short time and the the family members were born somewhere completely different so any additional information will hep in the search.
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Thanks for looking Freespirit
The confirmed information I have is ...
Thomas George COOK - died 1884 in Western Australia. Obituary says late of Sussex age 70 years so born circa 1814. Obit also confirms arrival in WA in 1830.
Passenger list for "Rockingham" gives Mr and Mrs Henry COOK and three children - Phillip, Eliza, Mary Ann. Also lists William, Thomas and Henry as separate passengers - all sons of Henry. Rockingham Museum have advised me that Phillip was 4 years old on arrival and born 1826 Brighton, England.
Unconfirmed information :
Henry's wife name Mary
Henry himself bap 3 Nov 1780 Westbourne, Sussex - father Thomas - mother Jane
Daughter Eliza born c 1817
Son Henry born c 1819
Son Phillip born c 1826 - might be named Phillip Frederick Augustus COOK
Daughter Mary Ann born 1830
That is all I have at the moment
I have ordered marriage and death certs for Thomas George COOK but being a typical Genie I am impatient lol.
Thanks for any suggestions where to search
Mackaa
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SFHG Sussex Marriage Index has a Henry Cook marrying a Mercy Whiteing on 8 Nov 1805 which seems a good candidate for your Henry.
There are two baptisms for their children at Westfield:
Henry on 25 May 1806
Mercy on 21 Aug 1808
No further baptisms found there nor any Cook burials for the relevant period.
A Henry Cook married Mary Peen on 8 Nov 1796 at Sedlescombe and another Henry Cook married a Mary Cole on10 Jul 1798 at West Tarring but there are no relevant baptisms for their children in either parish.
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You got there just before me Artifis! The other thought I had was that Westbourne is right on the border of West sussex and Hampshire. Maybe some of the baptisms were in Hampshire. I'll have a look.
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Hello mackaa,
There is a family tree on Ancestry for Phillip Frederick Augustus Cook which shows he was born in Kent in 1826. The source is given as School Indexes in Rockingham, Western Australia.
He is shown as having emigrated to Western Australia on 14 May 1830. His residence in 1830 was Clarence Beach,Western Australia, where he went to primary school being listed in he school indexes.
I cannot find anything for them in Brighton, or Sussex,but it is difficult with the name being a common one as you say. Have you approached the Sussex Family History Group?
http://www.sfhg.org.uk/
Jo.
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Just a thought, as they're not coming to light easily in the baptism records, could they have been baptised on arrival in Australia?
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Thanks for the suggestions so far.
I have had a bit of a look into Phillip Frederick Augustus COOK - he is not from the right family. He was born 16 Jun 1914 in Northam, WA and died 2 October 1986 - buried at Culham Cemetery. Culham Cemetery is close to Toodyay however my Phillip is buried in the Toodyay Cemetery with his brother Thomas. The online tree says that Thomas and his wife Cecilia are also at the Culham Cemetery but they are not.
My Phillip Cook was born in approximately 1826. The death index gives the place of birth as Brighton (WA 1898/2652) so I am wondering if this is where the reference to Brighton has come from, although the Ancestry Tree I believe you are referring to gives place of birth as Kent. Age at death was 72 so a match for birth c 1826.
The Clarence School records do give the name as Phillip Frederick Augustus Cook but this is from the Ancestry Index only. I will attempt to get access to the original record to confirm this entry. If he was attending school in Clarence I would expect to see the other two younger siblings also - Eliza and Mary Ann. My other concern with this information is that all of the children had very simple traditional names - Phillip Frederick Augustus does not fit the naming pattern at all.
The 1805 marriage for Henry COOK to Mercy "feels" good. But that means I need to find probably four more children who remained in England and a death for the Henry baptised 1806 as there was another Henry travelled to Australia with them. I guess he could have been a lot older and still came to WA? - what a nightmare to try and find a Henry COOK in Australia lol.
So I think I need to be patient (yeah right) and wait for the certificates to come then contact the Sussex FHS. Unless anyone has any further ideas in the meantime.
Thanks for all your help
Mackaa
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If you join Sussex FHG then you have access to their online baptism and burial records. Not absolutely full coverage but it is getting better all the time and is very useful. It is only c£12 a year. Cook/Cooke is such a common name that it could take ages to search all the possible church registers so the SFHG index could really help.
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I'd also recommend joining the SFHG, the annual membership is significantly less than a single cd covering six or eight parishes only as charged by some other counties FHGs. Using my membership access I was able to trace several ancestors to their previous parishes working outwards from the known marriage/baptism information. Their Sussex Marriage Index cd is also an invaluable tool if you've lots of Sussex ancestors.
Looking at the Westbourne baptisms I found one more for Thomas and Jane - Amelia on 18 November 1787, no qualifier note as previous and subsequent entries regarding the child's age so likely to be soon after birth.
No Marriage for Thomas and Jane found in the SFHG Marriage Index so likely they married outside Sussex maybe just over the border in Hampshire as Freespirit1 suggested.
I am intrigued as to why Henry apparently moved from one side of Sussex to the other, probably for work but if an agricultural labourer that's some distance to go when there would have been employment opportunities nearer to Westbourne. I wonder if the Westbourne Henry is the right one and that your Henry was actually born/baptised in Kent which is nearer to Westfield than Westbourne - just a thought.
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There seems to be a Westbourne area of Hove - so maybe Henry was born there.
Jan ;)
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There is a Westbourne area of Hove (it includes Westbourne Street, Gardens, Villas and an area called Poets Corner) but it is a 20th century development: the parish is Aldrington and there was never a Westbourne parish.
I was also struck by the large distances between Westbourne (far west of West Sussex), Westfield and Sedlescombe (near Hastings way over east) and Brighton being midway. It's not very likely the same family moved between these places. Most of these are probably not related.
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Looking at the 1875 Ordnance Survey 1:2500 scale map of the area comprising the four Westbourne roads - Gardens, Place, Street and Villas, it was still undeveloped countryside and no indication of a 'lost' village/settlement so I agree with JohninSussex and also agree that the baptism at Westbourne is probably for another family.
Looking on Anc..... I found a baptism for a Mercy Whiting on Dec 1778 at Catsfield which is very near Westfield. Looking on SFHG I found the following:
Mercy Whiting ba 27 Dec 1778, d/o Samuel & Mary Whiting.
The SFHG Marriage Index has a Samuel Whiting and a Mary Stephens marrying on 26 Aug 1772 at Catsfield. Checking the Catsfield baptisms again these must be Mercy's parents as probable siblings for her are listed as follows:
Robert ba 18 Jun 1773, s/o Samuel & Mercy (Mercy/Mary - I have found these interchangeable at this period)
Mary ba 9 Oct 1774, d/o ditto
Samuel ba 11 Jun 1776, s/o ditto
Ann ba 12 Dec 1777, d/o ditto
Mercy as above, d/o Samuel & Mary
Richard ba 27 Dec 1778, s/o ditto - twin of Mercy?
Sarah ba 20 Aug 1780, d/o ditto
John ba 9 Jun 1782, s/o Samuel & Mercy
A possible problem regarding Mercy ba 1778 is that there is a burial for a Mercy Whiting on 23 Jun 1782, no age /relationship given, but this could John's mother as soon after his baptism so possibly complications from his birth? A Richard Whiting was buried 25 Jan 1783 and a Mary Whiting on 26 Oct 1783 who are likely to be connected with the above siblings/mother.
There isn't a Henry Cook listed at Catsfield but a John Cooke is listed ba 9 Jan 1763, s/o Felix & Mary. It would be worth trawling through records for other parishes in the area to see if Henry can be tracked down - Battle, Crowhurst, Sedlescombe etc.
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Hmm, Henry's proving to be an enigma. Out of curiosity I checked the following parishes to no avail, no mention of a Henry Cook/Cooke in the right time frame, either much too early or too late.
Ashburnham, Battle, Bexhill, Bodium, Brightling, Burwash, Crowhurst, Dallington, Etchingham, Ewhurst, Fairlight, Guestling, Hastings, Heathfield, Hurst Green, Hurstmonceaux (Herstmonceaux), Icklesham, Mayfield, Mountfield, Netherfield, Ninfield, Northiam, Rotherfield, Rye, Salehurst, Sedlescombe, St Leonards, Ticehurst, Wadhurst, Warbleton, Whatlington and Winchelsea.
This covers quite a large area around Watersfield but the area starts to go over into Kent for which I don't have access to records on-line. Anc..... only comes up with the Henry baptised at Westbourne but I don't believe that there are no other Henry's in the right time frame nearer than that.
There's also the possibility that he wasn't baptised or his baptism occurred in one of the few churches not yet transcribed on the SFHG site. Another possibility is that Henry wasn't the name he was baptised with or the first Christian name he was given, I've had numerous ancestors who've used another of their baptism names other than the first one.
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Westbourne, Hove is a non-starter then :( :D
I wouldn't rule out the Westbourne Henry, people were often more mobile than might be expected. One of my ancestors was born near Southampton but married in London in 1810. Mackaa do you have an occupation for Henry? It might indicate an increased likelihood of him moving from one end of Sussex to the other.
Jan ;)
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Hi Mackka
Interested in your post as I am researching the same Henry Cook.
I have had no luck in locating Henry and his family.
Have you been able to access his death info? As there are two possibilities according to the WA BDM's I have not purchased them.
Found the school record for Phillip Augustus stating he was born in Kent. I even tried to locate info on Mrs Cook's burial in Clarence with the WA Cemetery Board. But No Luck there either.
Have just joined the Chatroom so will be interested in any findings.
My mother is daughter of Thomas William Cook and Anne Hyde Bassett.
Regards
Gms51
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I am very sorry people for not replying to your great information sooner - but due to my mother being very ill I have simply had to drop some balls. Thanks for all the suggestions - I will follow up on them as soon as I can.
Gms51 - I have messaged you.
Thanks everyone and kind regards
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Hi
Messages do not work until someone has at least two posts so Gms51 needs to reply on here so that the system will work.
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Hi
Messages do not work until someone has at least two posts so Gms51 needs to reply on here so that the system will work.
Thanks - does this mean that the PM I sent to Gms51 will not be received by them?
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Yes. It is to stop spammers. Though having said that I see he does have the message icon showing so you may be lucky.
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Sorry Guys - new to this form of communication. Still not sure how it works.
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If you are happy for your post to be seen by all then you reply on the topic as you have just done. If the answer involves living people or more sensitive information then you can send a message to the poster by clicking on the letter icon under their user name on the left of the post. That is completely private. There is also a "My Messages" button on the brown toolbar at the top of the page.
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I am also looking for the Cook family who arrived in WA on the "Rockingham". I am not sure how old these posts are because I've just joined this site, and have come to a dead end on other sites. With regard to Mrs Cook, she is probably still at Clarence, as not all of the bodies were moved to Fremantle, and according to the resources at the State Library, Mary Ann could be there too as there were other Cooks that died there. It would be lovely to find them after such a horrible start to their new life.
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Hi Dianne
Welcome to Rootschat :D
Could you give a few more details please - eg names, dates of birth and what year your Cook family left the UK?
Jan :)
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Certainly. Henry Cook 1780, children: Thomas George 1815/16, William 1817, Henry 1819, Phillip 1826, Eliza 1828, Mary Ann 1830. Mrs Cook name unknown. Thomas' obituary said he came from Sussex, and Phillip's from Brighton. That is all that is known about this family prior to coming to Western Australia.
They left England as part of the Thomas Peel project on the "Rockingham" in 1830.
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Hello Diane
I've had another look but even after more than 3yrs with more records available online I can't find anymore about this family. I'll have a further look.
Mackaa who started this thread hasn't been around since Oct but will hopefully come back.
Jan