THE COOK FAMILIES OF FOLKESTONE
INFORMATION PAGE



COOK FAMILIES MY COOK TREE THE SMUGGLER THE PREACHER THE LIFEBOATMAN THE FOLKESTONE LIFEBOAT


STEPHEN COOK SARAH ANN COOK ELEANOR COOK EDITH COOK
Stephen Cook The Lifeboatman Sarah Ann Cook née Hughes Eleanor Cook Edith Cook
The Lifeboatmanabout 1890about 1902about 1910


Grave of Stephen & Eleanor Cook The Inscription Grave of Stephen & Sarah Ann Cook The Inscription
Stephen and Eleanor Cook Grave In Loving Memory of
ELEANOR
The Beloved Wife of
STEPHEN COOK
Who Died Oct 16th 1897
Aged 75 Years
Thy Will Be Done
Also of the Above
STEPHEN COOK
Who Died Dec 19th 1897
Aged 78 Years
Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to thy cross I cling
Stephen and Sarah Cook Grave In Loving Memory
SARAH ANN
Beloved wife of
STEPHEN COOK
Died 26th March 1902
Age 43
Had he asked us we would say
Lord we love her let her stay
Also of
STEPHEN COOK
Who died
November 28th 1923
Age 68
Re-united
Folkstone Cemetery May 2011 Folkestone Cemetery Summer 2006


Grave of William Cook The Preacher The Inscription Grave of his daughter Mary Ann PhilpottThe Inscription
Grave of William Cook In Loving Memory of
WILLIAM COOK
“COOKIE”
Native of Folkestone
The Children′s Friend
One of the Founders of the first
Band of Hope in the Town
He originated the Bible-Bag-Mission for Seamen
And Sunday Distribution of Little Books
Amongst Children.
He Went Home September 22nd 1888 aged 72 years
And was followed to the grave
By upwards of 4000 persons
He Being Dead Yet Speaketh
                       Heb XI. 4
Also of
MARY ANN
Wife of the above
Who died Jul 17th 1914
Aged 95 years
She made the First 24 Bags from
Cloth to start the Book Mission
Above Mentioned
 Grave of Mary Ann (Cook) Philpott In
Loving Memory
Of
MARY ANN
The Devoted Wife of
CHARLES PHILPOTT
Who died May 1st 1911
Aged 68 Years
Peace Perfect Peace
Also of the Above
CHARLES PHILPOTT
Who Died March 17th 1921
Aged – – Years

Mary Ann (Cook) Philpott 1892
Folkestone Cemetery Summer 2006 Folkestone Cemetery May 2011
Surprisingly there is an error in the inscription on William Cook′s grave. His wife was Sarah who died 1914.
Mary Ann was his daughter.		Mary Ann Cook Married Charles Philpott 1864


THE COOK FAMILY

The first record I have of a Cook in Folkestone is a burial in 1563 but there are no continuous records of them until after the marriage of Robert and Elizabeth in 1708. Robert was a fisherman as were many of the Cook men. There was also the name Cox and Cock in the town and it is possible there was some intermingling of these names.

Whilst most of the families tie together very well from this time my own first ancestor in this line remains a Mystery. John Cook and Susanna Fagg were married in October 1807. He was born about 1780 but I cannot find his baptism and until recently I had no clue to his date of death. Having researched his son Stephen, my line, I decided to take a look at William another son who became a famous preacher in Folkestone. There was a lot of information about William and his early life to be found in newspaper articles and his obituary. William gave an account of his father′s death and when I compared this with the story of the cutter “Jane”, a smuggling ship, the similarities and correspondence to John′s family was remarkable. Some books quoted a different source for the account of the disappearance of the “Jane” but I know it was William Cook as recently I have obtained additional obituaries for William Cook and photographs of the book written about his life and these confirm John, father of William, as the smuggler who went down with the cutter “Jane” in the winter of 1822/3. Details are given in their stories.

So it seems my first Cook ancestor was The Smuggler.. However one of his sons started as a smuggler and became The Preacher. a popular and well known character of the town who was given a huge funeral when he died in 1888. A grandson Stephen Cook became coxswain of the Folkestone Lifeboat, won an RNLI silver medal and was a respected member of the community. He was a fisherman, The Lifeboatman and my great grandfather.

If anyone finds the birth of John Cook about 1780 I do hope you will let me know. (email address below)



FOLKESTONE HARBOUR THE STADE FISHING NETS
The Harbour The Stade and Fish Market Fishing Nets
The Old HarbourThe Old FishmarketFishing Nets Drying


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Cook Information Page
Last updated April 2013
Web Page by Les Haigh. Email: (les.haigh at btinternet.com)

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