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It's been awhile since anyone but me as a gentleman Simon but as my grandfather used to say "refuse nowt but blows, lad".

Ye Olde Vaults in Ashton has been a hostelry since at least 1808 when it was known as Heap's Vaults and owned by a family of local wines & spirit merchants. The Heap the family finally sold their interest around the time of Queen Victoria's death and the name was subsequently changed to Ye Olde Vaults. At no point in history does anyone named Cook figure in the licensing arrangements.

As Judy points out, if George Cook was the manager at Ye Olde Vaults, it's likely that it was the licensee who lived on the premises and that George had to live elsewhere with his family; a stone's throw away on Katherine Street would have done the trick. That section of Katherine Street was demolished to make way for the new Ashton swimming baths but Ye Olde Vaults is still there on Old Street, even if it's been re-modelled considerably since 1808 and is currently unoccupied.

I have a similar perspective to Judi on the term 'Vault'. Here in Manchester, it was the colloquial term used for the area of a pub in which men could drink in their working clothes directly after finishing work. This area was also known as the 'Tap Room', a term deriving from the old beerhouses. There remain several pubs in the Tameside area that have sections older people still refer to as 'the vault'.

The pub trade seems to be a late Victorian thread this Cook family. Apart from James, two of George's other sons were consecutive licensees at the Nelson Tavern in Wellington Road, Ashton-under-Lyne.

Allen Cook held the license from 1866 until his death on 27th November 1878 and his brother, William Henry Cook from 1882 until his own death on 17th December 1886. Contrary to popular opinion, they each left estates of considerable value.

Since 1808, The Nelson Tavern at 6 Nelson Street has had various addresses as the town expanded around it. The entire area was eventually demolished and replaced by blocks of flats in 1958 when the owners, Robinson's Brewery, transferred the license to newly built premises in Wellington Road, the March Hare. Robinson's brewery is still a family concern and they may well retain records.

I suspect the key document in respect of John Cook is the missing 1851 census for Central Ashton which suffered water damage. However, there are newspaper records, as yet un-digitised church records, rates books etc. available for manual searches in the local studies centre.

I can feel a visit coming on but it won't be this week.

I have just downloaded a birth registration certificate made out at Ettrick dated March 1st 1868. There is a handwritten note in the left-hand margin that reads:-

Dec. of Paternity See. "Reg. of Coz." Ent. Vol. 1 p.15 Nov 7th 1870

This was an illegitimate birth and I'm assuming the note indicates a different record that will comment on the child's paternity.

The mother was Christina Pringle who migrated with her child to New South Wales, Australia in 1883 and I would be interested to learn what the note means, and whether there's any way of checking the record to which it refers.