Frederic Boase
Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H
CONQUEST, Benjamin Oliver, stage name of Benjamin Oliver. b. near St. Michael’s church, Cornhill, London 1805; first appeared on the stage as a witch in Macbeth at Lyceum theatre; acted at Pavilion theatre 1827; sang song of Billy Barlow 4 times every night for 28 weeks; projected and opened with Wyman and Freer the Garrick theatre, Whitechapel 1830, proprietor of it with Gomersal to 4 Nov. 1846 when it was burned down; landlord of “The Hampshire Hog” tavern 410 Strand, London 1847–51; lessee of Grecian theatre, City road, London at rent of £1300, 4 March 1851 to death. d. New north road, London 5 July 1872. Actors by daylight i, 337 (1839) portrait.
CONQUEST, John Tricker. b. Chatham, Kent 1789; assistant surgeon military depot, Chatham 1808; studied at Univ. of Edin., M.D. 1813; L.C.P. London, Dec. 1819; gave 4 courses of lectures on midwifery yearly at his house 4 Aldermanbury Postern, London about 1820–4; lecturer on midwifery at St. Bartholomew’s hospital 1825; noted for his operation of tapping for hydrocephalus; author of Outlines of midwifery 1820, 6 ed. 1854; The Holy Bible with twenty thousand emendations 1841; Letters to a mother on the management of herself and her children in health and disease 1848, 4 ed. 1852. d. The Oaks, Plumstead common 24 Oct. 1866 aged 77. Medical Circular iii, 51–53 (1853), portrait; Physic and physicians ii, 265–67 (1839).
CONRAN, George. Second lieut. Madras artillery 27 July 1811, col. commandant 15 May 1851 to death; general 14 Dec. 1868. d. Bath 28 Aug. 1869 aged 76.
CONROY, Sir Edward, 2 Baronet (eld. son of Sir John Conroy 1 baronet 1786–1854). b. Dublin 6 Dec. 1809; ed. at Ch. Ch. Ox., B.A. 1830, M.A. 1834; attaché to special mission to Brussels 1831–8; deputy registrar of births, deaths and marriages in London 1836–42. d. Arborfield near Reading 3 Nov. 1869.
CONROY, Right Rev. George (son of Nicholas Conroy). Professor of dogmatic theology, All Hallow’s college, Dublin 1857–66; sec. to Cardinal Cullen, and professor of dogmatic theology in Holy Cross college, Clonliffe 1866–7; bishop of Ardagh 1871 to death; consecrated in St. Mel’s cathedral, Longford 11 April 1871; author of Occasional sermons, addresses and essays 1884. d. St. John’s, Newfoundland 4 Aug. 1878.
CONROY, Sir John, 1 Baronet (eld. son of John Ponsonby Conroy of Bettyfield, co. Roscommon 1759–97). b. Caerhyn, Carnarvonshire 21 Oct. 1786; second lieut. R.A. 8 Sep. 1803, second captain 13 March 1811 to 17 June 1822 when placed on permanent h.p.; K.C.H. 17 Aug. 1827; comptroller of the household to Duchess of Kent to 1837 when he retired on pension of £3000; created baronet 7 July 1837; comr. of Colonial audit board; sheriff of Montgomeryshire 1843; col. of Montgomeryshire militia 30 Aug. 1852. d. Arborfield near Reading 2 March 1854.
CONSTABLE, Henry (son of a small tradesman). b. Birmingham 10 April 1851; taught riding by T. Stevens on the Ilsley Downs; apprenticed to Wm. Reeves at Epsom 1867–71; first rode at Wye meeting on Skittles 1870; headed list of winning jockeys 1873, taking 110 races out of 395 mounts; won the Derby on Mr. W. S. Crawfurd’s Sefton 1878; first jockey and trainer to Lord Rosebery. d. Epsom 17 Feb. 1881. Illust. sporting and dramatic news i, 61 (1874), portrait, iii, 261 (1875), portrait, xiv, 563, 572 (1881), portrait; Baily’s Mag. xxv (1874), portrait.
CONSTABLE, Thomas (youngest son of Archibald Constable of Edinburgh, publisher 1774–1827). b. Craigcrook near Edin. 29 June 1812; learned printing with C. Richards of St. Martin’s lane, London; printer and publisher in Edin. to 1860; Her Majesty’s printer and publisher 7 Sep. 1839; issued Constable’s Miscellany of foreign literature 10 vols. 1854–5; issued Constable’s Educational series 36 vols. 1857–72; published The works of Dugald Stewart edited by Sir W. Hamilton 10 vols. 1854; author of Archibald Constable and his literary correspondents 3 vols. 1873; Memoir of Lewis D. B. Gordon 1877, privately printed; Memoir of Rev. C. A. C. de Boinville 1880. d. Marston Biggot rectory, Frome, Somerset 26 May 1881.
CONSTABLE, Sir Thomas Aston Clifford, 2 Baronet. b. Tixall hall, Staffs. 3 May 1806; succeeded 25 Feb. 1823. d. Burton Constable, Yorkshire 22 Dec. 1870.
CONWAY, Frederick B. (son of Wm. A. Conway, actor 1780–1828). b. London 10 Feb. 1819; made his first appearance at Princess’s theatre 4 Oct. 1847; went to the United States 1850 where he acted with Edwin Forrest playing Iago to his Othello, De Mauprat to his Richelieu and other companion parts; opened Pike’s opera house Cincinnati 1859; played at Sadler’s Wells theatre, London 1861; played leading parts at New Brooklyn theatre, New York 1864–73. d. Manchester, Massachusetts 6 Sep. 1874.
CONWAY, Thomas Sydenham. b. 7 June 1810; ensign 22 foot 14 Feb. 1828; deputy adjutant general Bombay 1849–51; captain Grenadier guards 14 July 1854 to 8 March 1864 when placed on h.p.; placed on retired list with hon. rank of general 7 June 1880; C.B. 4 July 1843. d. 19 Bury st. St. James’s, London 7 June 1885.
CONY, Barkham. b. Ely 5 Nov. 1802; made his first appearance in London 1828 at Coburg theatre in Love me, love my dog; first appeared in America 1835 with a number of well-trained dogs who assisted in the performance which consisted of Forest of Bondy and Cherokee Chief; played successful engagements all over the United States and Great Britain; styled the “Dog Star.” d. Chicago 1 Jany. 1858.
CONYBEARE, Very Rev. William Daniel (son of Rev. Wm. Conybeare, R. of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, London, who d. 5 April 1815 aged 76). b. London 7 June 1787; ed. at Westminster and Ch. Ch. Ox., B.A. 1808, M.A. 1811; founded with Sir Henry de la Beche, Bristol Philosophical and Literary Institution 1817; corresponding member of French Institute; V. of Sully, Glamorganshire 1821–36; V. of Axminster 1836–44; Bampton lecturer 1839; dean of Llandaff 29 Sep. 1844 to death; F.R.S. 9 Dec. 1819, F.G.S. 1821; gave the name of Plesiosaurus to a new genus of reptilia forming an intermediate link between the Ichthyosaurus and Crocodile; author of Elementary course of theological lectures 1836; Geological memoir of the landslip in Devon 1840; author with Wm. Phillips of Outlines of the geology of England and Wales 1822. d. Itchenstoke near Portsmouth 12 Aug. 1857. Quarterly Journal of Geol. Soc. xiv, 24–32 (1858); Proc. of Royal Soc. ix, 50–2 (1857); G.M. iii, 335–7 (1857); I.L.N. xxxi, 309 (1857), portrait.
CONYBEARE, Rev. William John (eld. son of the preceding). b. 1 Aug. 1815; ed. at Westminster and Trin. coll. Cam., fellow, 15 wrangler and 3 classic 1837, B.A. 1837, M.A. 1840; Whitehall preacher 1841; principal of the newly founded Liverpool Collegiate Institution 1842–8; V. of Axminster 1848–54; author of Essays ecclesiastical and social 1855; Perversion, or the causes and consequences of infidelity, a tale for the times 3 vols. 1856 anon.; author with Rev. J. S. Howson of The life and epistles of St. Paul 2 vols. 1852. d. of consumption at Weybridge 22 July 1857.
CONYNGHAM, Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2 Marquis (2 son of 1 Marquis Conyngham 1766–1832). b. Dublin 11 June 1797; cornet 2 life guards 21 Sep. 1820, lieut. 13 Dec. 1821 to 12 June 1823 when placed on h.p.; under sec. of state for foreign affairs 6 Jany. 1823 to 2 Jany. 1826; M.P. for co. Donegal 1825 to 1832; a lord of the treasury 30 April 1826 to 30 April 1827; succeeded 28 Dec. 1832; postmaster general 5 July to 31 Dec. 1834 and 8 to 30 May 1835; lord chamberlain of the household, May 1835 to 6 May 1839; G.C.H. 1823; K.P. 27 March 1833; P.C. 20 May 1835; lord lieut. of co. Meath 27 May 1869 to death; general 21 March 1874. d. 5 Hamilton place, Piccadilly, London 17 July 1876, personalty sworn under £500,000, 9 Sep. 1876. I.L.N. lxix, 113, 119, 255 (1876), portrait; Graphic xiv, 102, 108 (1876), portrait.
CONYNGHAM, George Henry Conyngham, 3 Marquis. b. London 3 Feb. 1825; cornet 2 dragoons 31 Dec. 1844; major 1 life guards 24 Aug. 1861 to 13 June 1868 when placed on h.p.; equerry to the Queen 30 Sep. 1872 to death; succeeded 17 July 1876; col. Royal East Kent yeomanry cavalry 16 Jany. 1878 to death; placed on retired list with hon. rank of L.G. 1 July 1881. d. Belgrave sq. London 2 June 1882.
CONYNGHAM, Francis Nathaniel (brother of the preceding). b. Goodwood 24 Sep. 1832; served in R.N. 1846–60; M.P. for Clare 1857–9 and 1874–80. d. The Muirshiel, Lockwinnock, Renfrewshire 14 Sep. 1880.
COODE, George (eld. son of Manners Benson Coode of St. Helier’s, Jersey). b. 1807; barrister I.T. 7 June 1833; assistant sec. to Poor law commission 18 Aug. 1834 to 13 June 1846; drafted the Irish poor law act, 1 & 2 Vict. c. 56; comr. for consolidating the statute law 1853; comr. for inquiry into state of education in England 1859; author of Report on the law of settlement and removal of the poor 1851; On legislative expression 1853; article on the Poor laws in Encyclopædia Britannica, 8 ed. xviii, 295–316 (1859); Report of local taxation and digest of the laws relating to 24 local taxes 1862; Report on the fire insurance duties 1862. d. Roselands, Walmer, Kent 27 Sep. 1869. Law mag. and law review xxviii, 178, 318–25 (1870).
COODE, Sir John Henry (son of Edward Coode of Penryn, Cornwall). b. Penryn 11 Feb. 1779; entered navy 16 June 1793; captain 21 Oct. 1810; R.A. 26 June 1847; V.A. on h.p. 27 May 1854, pensioned 10 Dec. 1855; C.B. 19 Sep. 1816, K.C.B. 5 July 1855. d. Plymouth 19 Jany. 1858.
COOK, Alexander Shank (son of Rev. George Cook, professor of moral philosophy at St. Andrews). b. 9 Dec. 1810; ed. at St. Andrews; advocate at Edin. 1834; procurator for church of Scotland 1861 to death; advocate depute; sheriff of Ross and Cromarty 22 March 1858 to death. d. Edinburgh 16 Jany. 1869.
COOK, Edward Dutton (eld. child of George Simon Cook of Tudor st. Blackfriars, London, solicitor, who d. 12 Sep. 1852). b. 9 Grenville st. Brunswick sq. London 30 Jany. 1829; articled to his father; pupil of Rolt the painter; dramatic critic of Pall Mall Gazette 1867 to Oct. 1875, of The World Oct. 1875 to death; edited Cornhill Mag. 1868–71; wrote all the lives of dramatists and actors in letter A of Dictionary of national biography 1885; author of Paul Foster’s Daughter 3 vols. 1861; Leo 3 vols. 1863; Hobson’s Choice, a story 1867; Art in England, notes and studies 1869; A book of the play 2 vols. 1876; Hours with the players 2 vols. 1881; On the stage 1883 and 9 other books. d. suddenly outside his house 69 Gloucester crescent, Regent’s park, London 11 Sep. 1883. Longman’s Mag. Dec. 1883 pp. 179–87; Theatre, Nov. 1883, 212, 272, portrait; Graphic xxviii, 321 (1883), portrait.
COOK, Henry David. Writer Madras civil service 1835; civil and sessions judge, Calicut 1857–66; civil and sessions judge, Coimbatore 1866 to 18 Sep. 1870 when he retired on annuity. d. England 16 June 1882.
COOK, James. Edited Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette from its commencement Oct. 1864 to his death; author of Bibliography of the writings of Charles Dickens 1879. d. Paisley 25 Oct. 1882 aged 65.
COOK, Rev. John (eld. son of Rev. John Cook 1771–1824, professor of biblical criticism in Univ. of St. Andrews). b. St. Andrews 1 Sep. 1807; ed. at Univ. of St. Andrews, A.M. 1823, D.D. 9 Dec. 1848; licensed for ministry of Church of Scotland 13 Aug. 1828; minister of Laurencekirk 1829–45; minister of St. Leonard’s in St. Andrews 1845–63; moderator of General Assembly 19 May 1859, convener of many of its important committees; Emeritus professor of ecclesiastical history in Univ. of St. Andrews 19 June 1860 to 30 July 1868; a dean of the chapel royal, Sep. 1863; author of Evidence on church patronage 1838; Six lectures on the Christian evidences 1852. d. St. Andrews 17 April 1869.
COOK, Rev. John (eld. son of Rev. George Cook 1772–1845, leader of the ‘moderate’ party in the Church of Scotland). b. 12 Sep. 1807; ed. at St. Andrews Univ., A.M. 1823, D.D. 1843; licensed for ministry of Church of Scotland 17 Sep. 1828; minister of Cults, Fifeshire 1832; translated to second charge at Haddington 1833, to the first charge 1843; sub-clerk of the Assembly 25 May 1859, principal clerk 22 May 1862, moderator 24 May 1866; author of Styles of writs and forms of procedure in the church courts of Scotland 1850, 4 ed. 1870. d. Haddington 11 Sep. 1874.
COOK, John Douglas. b. Banchory-Ternan, Aberdeenshire 25 March 1811; held an appointment in India; sec. of commission to inquire into revenues of Duchy of Cornwall; private sec. to Lord Lincoln, governor of Ionian Islands; reported in parliament for The Times; edited Morning Chronicle 1852–5; edited Saturday Review from first number 3 Nov. 1855 to death, joint owner of it with A. J. B. Beresford Hope, M.P. d. G1 The Albany, Piccadilly, London 10 Aug. 1868. bur. Tintagel churchyard. James Grant’s The Saturday Review its origin and progress 1873.
COOK, Paul (son of Charles Cook of Jersey, Wesleyan minister). President of French Methodist Conference; considered the founder of French Sunday schools. d. Paris 2 May 1886 aged 59.
COOK, Richard. b. London 1784; ed. at Royal Academy; gold medallist of Society of Arts 1832; A.R.A. 1816, R.A. 1822; exhibited pictures chiefly historical; illustrated Scott’s Lady of the Lake 1810. d. Cumberland place, Hyde park, London 11 March 1857. Sandby’s History of Royal Academy ii, 34 (1862).
COOK, Samuel. b. Camelford, Cornwall 1806; apprenticed to a woollen manufacturer at Camelford 1815; a painter and glazier at Plymouth; exhibited pictures chiefly coast scenes at New Water-Colour Society in Pall Mall, London about 1830–59, a member of the Society 1850; his “Early morning at the Lizard” was sold to Rev. Henry Tozer for 137 guineas at Plymouth 7 Feb. 1882. d. near Plymouth 7 June 1859. Hayle Miscellany vol. 2 (1860), portrait.
COOK, Thomas. Entered navy 17 July 1807; lieutenant 1 June 1818; professor of fortification and artillery at H.E.I. Co.’s military academy, Addiscombe, Jany. 1837 to death; F.R.S. 4 June 1840. d. Abbey road, St. John’s Wood, London 11 Dec. 1858.
COOKE, Edward. Barrister M.T. 12 Nov. 1819; judge of county courts, circuit 11, Bradford 1854 to 1861 when he resigned; author of The real cause of the high price of gold 1819; A treatise on the law of insolvent debtors 1827, 2 ed. 1839. d. 2 Taviton st. Gordon sq. London 6 Feb. 1862 aged 70.
COOKE, Edward William (son of George Cooke of London, line engraver 1781–1834). b. Pentonville, London 27 March 1811; painted sign of the “Old Ship Hotel” at Brighton 1825; etched 2 series of plates entitled “Coast sketches” and “The British Coast”; made 70 drawings of new London bridge 1825–31, most of which were engraved and published 1833; executed a series of pencil drawings for Earl de Grey 1832; travelled abroad 1832–44; A.R.A. 1851, R.A. 1864; exhibited 129 pictures at R.A., 115 at B.I. and 3 at Suffolk st. gallery; 2 of his pictures are in the National Gallery, “Dutch boats in calm” and “The Boat house”; F.R.S. 4 June 1863; published Views in London and its vicinity 1834; Grotesque animals invented, drawn and described 1872; Leaves from my sketch book 2 series 1876–7. d. Glen Andred, Groombridge near Tunbridge Wells 4 Jany. 1880. I.L.N. xlv, 173 (1864), portrait; Graphic xxi, 252 (1880), portrait.
COOKE, George. b. Manchester 7 March 1807; first appeared on the stage at Walsall, March 1828; acted at Strand theatre, London 1837, at Drury Lane 1839, at Marylebone 1847; played at Strand theatre 1848, at Olympic theatre to death. (m. 1840 Eliza Stuart, she d. 13 June 1877 aged 74); committed suicide 4 March 1863. Theatrical Times iii, 376, 397 (1848), portrait.
COOKE, Rev. George Leigh (son of Rev. Samuel Cooke, V. of Great Bookham, Surrey, who d. 30 March 1820). Matric. from Ball. coll. Ox. 26 Jany. 1797 aged 17; scholar of C.C. coll. 1797, fellow 1800–15, tutor; B.A. 1800, M.A. 1804, B.D. 1812; Sedleian professor of natural philosophy in Univ. of Ox. 1818–26; keeper of the Univ. archives 1818–26; V. of Cubbington, Warws. 1820 to death; V. of Rissington Wick, Gloucs. 1820 to death; P.C. of Hunningham, Warcs. 1820 to death; founded the Literary Dining Club, sec. of it many years; author of The three first sections and part of the seventh section of Newton’s Principia 1850. d. Cubbington 29 March 1853 aged 73.
COOKE, George Wingrove (eld. son of T. H. Cooke of Bristol). b. Bristol 1814; ed. at Jesus coll. Ox., B.A. 1834; barrister M.T. 30 Jany. 1835; contested Colchester, Feb. 1860, Marylebone, April 1861; special correspondent of The Times in China 1857–8; copyhold and inclosure comr. Dec. 1862 to death; author of Memoirs of Lord Bolingbroke 1835, 2 ed. 1836; The history of party from the rise of the Whig and Tory factions to the passing of the Reform bill 3 vols. 1836–37; Act for the enclosure of commons with a treatise on the law of rights of common 1846, 4 ed. 1864; Treatise on agricultural tenancies 1850, new ed. 1882; A treatise on the law and practice of copyhold enfranchisement 1853; Inside Sebastopol 1856; China and Lower Bengal 1858; Conquest and colonisation in North Africa 1860. d. 25 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea 18 June 1865.
COOKE, Rev. Henry (youngest child of John Cooke of Grillagh near Maghera, co. Londonderry, farmer). b. in farm house of Grillagh 11 May 1788; matric. at Glasgow college, Nov. 1802; licensed by the presbytery of Ballymena; pastor at Duneane near Randalstown, co. Antrim 1808–10; minister at Donegore, co. Antrim 1811–18; studied at Glasgow and Trin. coll. Dublin 1815–18; pastor of Killyleigh, co. Down 1818–29; moderator of general synod of Ulster, June 1824; pastor of May st. chapel, Belfast 24 Nov. 1829 to Feb. 1868; D.D. Jefferson college, U.S. 21 Oct. 1829; LLD. Dublin 9 Feb. 1837; granted freedom of city of Dublin 6 Feb. 1839; challenged O’Connell to a public discussion in Belfast 6 Jany. 1841, which he declined; moderator of the general assembly 1841; agent for distribution of Regium Donum 29 Nov. 1845 to death; professor of sacred rhetoric, assembly’s college, Belfast, Sep. 1847 to death, pres. of the college 1848 to death; dean of residence for presbyterian church, Queen’s college, Belfast 1849; author of Translations and paraphrases in verse for the use of the Presbyterian church, Killyleigh 1821; edited, J. Brown’s Self-interpreting Bible 1855, 2 ed. 1873. d. Ormean road, Belfast 13 Dec. 1868, statue of him erected at Belfast, Sep. 1875. J. S. Porter’s Life of Rev. Henry Cooke (1871), portrait.
COOKE, James (son of Thomas Taplin Cooke, circus proprietor, who d. 19 March 1866 aged 84). Leading rider of his father’s company; the only real rival of the great Andrew Ducrow; proprietor of a circus about 1837–49 and 1850–56; resided in Edinburgh 1856 to death. d. Portobello, Edin. 5 Sep. 1869 aged 59.
COOKE, Sir John Henry. b. 1791; ensign 43 foot 15 March 1809; captain 25 foot 27 July 1838 to 15 Dec. 1840 when placed on h.p.; conducted Louis xviii from Ghent to Paris, June to July 1815; sub officer of corps of gentlemen at arms 2 Oct. 1844 to 16 Sep. 1862; ensign of Yeomen of the guard 16 Sep. 1862, lieut. 2 Feb. 1866 to death; knighted at Windsor Castle 11 Dec. 1867. d. Albion villa, Upper heath, Hampstead 31 Jany. 1870.
COOKE, John P. b. Chester 31 Oct. 1820; leader of the orchestras at Adelphi, Strand and Astley’s, London successively; leader at Burton’s theatre, New York 1850; musical director at several New York theatres; composed and arranged music for the Winter’s Tale, Midsummer Night’s Dream and other Shakespearean plays; wrote melodies for the Sea of Ice. d. New York 4 Nov. 1865.
COOKE, Richard Harvey. Ensign 1 Foot Guards 20 Feb. 1798, captain 7 Nov. 1811 to 26 March 1818; C.B. 22 June 1815. d. 45 Upper Brook st. London 8 Oct. 1856.
COOKE, Rev. Robert. b. Waterford about 1820; joined the Congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate in France, ordained priest; stationed at Grace Dieu, Leics., at Everingham park, Yorkshire 1847–51; founded mission at Howden; restored mission at Pocklington; stationed at Leeds 1851; introduced the Oblates into Ireland, result being establishment of a mission at Inchicore; established a house of his order at Kilburn, London where a new church was erected 1879; founded church of the English Martyrs, Tower Hill, London; author of Pictures of youthful holiness 1872; Catholic memories of the Tower of London 1875, translated into French 1875; Sketches of the life of Mgr. de Mazenod, bishop of Marseilles and founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate 2 vols. 1879–82. d. London 18 June 1882. Gillow’s English Catholics i, 557–8 (1885).
COOKE, Thomas (son of Mr. Cooke of Allerthorpe in the East Riding of Yorkshire, shoemaker). b. Allerthorpe 8 March 1807; kept a school at Allerthorpe 1823–9; optician at York about 1836 to death; made a telescope of 25 inches aperture 1863–8 which was mounted at Gateshead 1869, it is still the largest and best in the United Kingdom; invented an automatic engine for the graduation of circles, perfected the astronomical clock, and built nearly 100 turret clocks for public institutions and churches; F.R.A.S. 1859. d. 19 Oct. 1868.
COOKE, Thomas Potter (son of Mr. Cooke of London, surgeon, who d. 1793). b. Titchfield st. Marylebone 23 April 1786; served in navy 1796–1802, present in battle off Cape St. Vincent 1797; made his début at Royalty theatre, Wellclose sq. Jany. 1804; stage manager of Surrey theatre 1809–16; acted at Lyceum 1820–2, at Covent Garden 1822–5; played Le Monstre (Frankenstein) 80 nights, at Porte Saint Martin theatre, Paris 1825–6; played at Adelphi 1828–9; his best known part was William in Douglas Jerrold’s drama Black-eyed Susan, which he acted over 100 nights from 6 June 1829 at Surrey theatre; acted at Covent Garden 1829–34 and 1836, at Drury Lane 1834–6; made his last appearance on the stage 2 May 1861 at Princess’s theatre; he is described by Christopher North in Noctes Ambrosianæ as ‘the best sailor out of all sight and hearing that ever trod the stage.’ d. 37 Thurloe sq. London 4 April 1864. Oxberry’s Dramatic Biography iii, 109 (1825), portrait; Stirling’s Old Drury Lane ii, 105–11 (1881); Tallis’s Illustrated life in London (1864) 33, 36, 40, 41, 3 portraits; Actors by daylight 11 Aug. 1838 pp. 185–87, portrait.
Note.—He left by his will £2000 to the Dramatic College, the interest of which was to be paid for a prize nautical drama, in compliance with the terms of the grant ‘True to the core, a story of the Armada,’ a drama by Angiolo Robson Slous was produced at Surrey theatre, London 8 Sep. 1866, the prize having been awarded to him at Maybury college, Surrey 23 April 1866.
COOKE, Thomas Taplin. Proprietor of a circus, his company consisted of his 19 sons and daughters; built the first circus in Edinburgh 1835; chartered a vessel and shipped all his circus to the United States 1837, where he performed to 1839 when his circus and all his horses were burnt at Baltimore. d. 2 Barossa place, Brompton, London 19 March 1866 aged 84.
COOKE, Rev. William. b. 1806; minister in the Methodist New Connexion body 1827 to death; filled in succession all the important offices of his denomination; author of Christian theology explained and defended 1846, new ed. 1879; Discourses illustrative of sacred truth 1871; Explanations of difficult portions of holy scripture; A survey of the unity, harmony and growing evidence of sacred truth; The Shekinah, or the presence and manifestation of Jehovah under the several dispensations, and other works including a number of polemical treatises in connexion with Roman Catholicism. d. Burslem house, Forest Hill 25 Dec. 1884.
COOKE, William. Lessee and manager of Astley’s Amphitheatre, Westminster bridge road, London 1855–60; took his farewell benefit 30 Jany. 1860. d. 149 Acre lane, Brixton 6 May 1886.
COOKE, William Bernard (brother of George Cooke, engraver 1781–1834). b. London 1778; pupil of Wm. Angus the engraver; published The Thames 1811 for which he engraved nearly all the plates; published with his brother George Cooke Picturesque views on the Southern coast of England 1814–26, chiefly from drawings by Turner; illustrated 10 other works 1812–40. d. Camberwell, London 2 Aug. 1855.
COOKE, Sir William Bryan, 8 Baronet (younger son of Sir George Cooke 7 baronet, who d. 2 June 1823). b. 3 March 1782; ed. at Ch. Ch. Ox., B.A. 1803, M.A. 1806; ensign 1 foot guards 15 Oct. 1803 to 1808 when he sold out; lieut.-col. 3 West York militia 26 Oct. 1811, col. 23 Feb. 1812 to 7 Dec. 1819; contested city of York 1818; banker at Doncaster, Retford and Worksop 1 Jany. 1819; succeeded 2 June 1823; the first mayor of Doncaster 1836, alderman 1837–8; sheriff of Yorkshire 1845; author of The seize Quartiers of the family of Bryan Cooke 1857. d. Wheatley hall near Doncaster 24 Dec. 1851. G.M. xxxvii, 185–6 (1852).
COOKE, Sir William Fothergill (eld. son of Wm. Cooke, professor of medicine at Durham Univ.) b. Ealing near London 1806; ed. at Durham school and Univ. of Edin.; ensign 39 Madras N.I. 8 Jany. 1826, resigned his commission 1836; partner with Charles Wheatstone, Nov. 1837, they patented magnetic needle telegraph 12 June 1837; laid down a telegraph between Paddington and West Drayton 1838–9, and from West Drayton to Slough 1842; invented with Wheatstone the single needle apparatus 1845; one of founders of Electro telegraph company 1846; received with Wheatstone the 4th royal Albert gold medal 1867; A.I.C.E. 21 May 1867; knighted at Windsor Castle 11 Nov. 1869; granted civil list pension of £100, 25 July 1871; author of Telegraphic Railways 1842. (m. 1838 Anna Louisa dau. of Joseph Wheatley of Treeton, Yorkshire, she was granted civil list pension of £50, 19 June 1880). d. 31 Castle st. Farnham, Surrey 25 June 1879. W. T. Jeans’s Lives of the electricians i, 134, 323 (1887); W. F. Cooke’s The electric telegraph, was it invented by professor Wheatstone? 2 vols. 1857; Authorship of the practical electric telegraph of Great Britain by Rev. T. F. Cooke 1868; Minutes of proc. of Instit. of C.E. lviii, 358–64 (1879).
Note.—The merit of initiating the idea of an international exhibition has been often warmly contested, but there is no doubt that the original proposition was made to the Committee of the Society of Arts in 1844 by Sir W. F. Cooke.
COOKE, William John. b. Dublin 11 April 1797; pupil of his uncle George Cooke the engraver; received from Society of Arts a gold medal for improvements in engraving upon steel 1826; employed upon the Annuals and other illustrated publications to about 1840 when he left England and settled at Darmstadt; engraved several pictures after Turner, Cox and Landseer. d. Darmstadt 6 April 1865.
COOKESLEY, John. Entered navy 29 Jany. 1791; captain 7 Dec. 1818, retired 1 Oct. 1846; retired R.A. 8 July 1851; invented a very simple and efficacious species of raft fully described and illustrated in the Nautical Mag. iv, 73–77 (1835). d. Rackley, Portishead near Bristol 25 Nov. 1852 aged 78.
COOKESLEY, Rev. William Gifford. b. Brasted, Kent 1 Dec. 1802; ed. at Eton and King’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1826, M.A. 1829; assistant master of Eton 1825–55; V. of Hayton, Yorkshire 1857–60; P.C. of St. Peter’s, Hammersmith 1860–8; R. of Tempsford, Beds. 22 Oct. 1868 to death; published Selections from Pindar 1838; Pindari Carmina 1844 2 vols. 1851; Selecta e Catullo 1845; A revised translation of the New Testament 1859, and 13 other works. d. Tempsford rectory 16 Aug. 1880.
COOKSON, Rev. Henry Wilkinson (6 son of Thomas Cookson of Kendal). b. Kendal 10 April 1810; ed. at Kendal, Sedbergh and St. Peter’s coll. Cam., 7 wrangler 1832, B.A. 1832, M.A. 1835, B.D. and D.D. 1848; tutor of his college, Master 3 Nov. 1847 to death; R. of Glaston, Rutland 1847–61; vice-chancellor of Univ. of Cam. 1848, 1863, 1864, 1872, 1873; member of council of the Senate almost continuously from institution of that body 1856; pres. of Cambridge Philosophical Soc. 1865–6; declined bishopric of Lichfield 1867. d. St. Peter’s college lodge, Cambridge 30 Sep. 1876.
COOKSON, Isaac. b. 1776; a glass manufacturer at Newcastle to 1845; sheriff of Newcastle 1801, alderman 22 Sep. 1807, mayor 1809–10; bought Meldon park, Northumberland for 56,900 guineas 19 April 1832; sheriff of Northumberland 1838. d. Munich 8 Oct. 1851.
COOLEY, William Desborough. F.R.G.S. 1830, hon. free member 1864; granted civil list pension of £100, 4 Oct. 1858; wrote for Lardner’s ‘Cabinet Cyclopædia’ The history of maritime and inland discovery 3 vols. 1830–1; published The world surveyed in the xix century 2 vols. 1845–8; Inner Africa laid open 1852; Physical geography, or the terraqueous globe and its phenomena 1876 and other works. d. 56 Crowndale road, Somers Town, London 1 March 1883. Proc. of Royal Geog. Soc. v, 232–3 (1883).
COOMBES, Robert. b. Vauxhall, London 1808; a waterman on river Thames; sculled his first race 4 July 1836; beat J. Kelly 4 Oct. 1838; stroke in the winning four at Liverpool regatta 1840 beating 5 crews; beat H. Clasper on the Tyne 18 Dec. 1844; beat C. Campbell 19 Aug. 1846 when he became champion of the Thames; presented with a champion belt 28 Oct. 1846; raced T. Cole for £200 a side 24 May 1852 when Cole won; won the pairs with Wilson at Thames regatta 1845; with his brother Tom Coombes beat Richard and Harry Clasper on the Thames 1847; trained the Cambridge crew 1852; never surpassed in speed and style during his time; author of Hints on rowing and training 1852. d. Kent lunatic asylum, Maidstone 25 Feb. 1860. bur. Brompton cemetery, London 7 March. I.L.N. 29 May 1852 p. 436, portrait.
COOPE, Octavius Edward (3 son of John Coope of London, sugar refiner). b. Leyspring, Essex 1814; a sugar refiner in London; a partner in brewing firm of Ind, Coope and Co. at Romford, Essex 1846, established a branch brewery at Burton-on-Trent 1856 the third largest brewing firm in Burton; M.P. for Great Yarmouth 29 July 1847 to June 1848 when unseated on petition; contested Tower Hamlets, Nov. 1868; M.P. for Middlesex 14 Feb. 1874 to 18 Nov. 1885, for Brentford division of Middlesex, Dec. 1885 to death; gave £15,000 towards rebuilding Whitechapel church 1875. d. 41 Upper Brook st. Grosvenor sq. London 27 Nov. 1886, personalty sworn upwards of £542,000. Licensed Victuallers’ year book (1876) 80–81, portrait; Morning Advertiser 29 Nov. 1886 p. 5 and 3 Dec. p. 2.