PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

FAMOUS PEOPLE

THOMAS COOK (1808-92)
THOMAS COOK was born in Derbyshire in 1808 into a comparatively poor family. His father died when THOMAS was four and he went to work for a local market gardener when he was ten. In 1822 he was apprenticed to his uncle, a wood turner and then moved to LOUGHBOROUGH to work for JF WINKS, a printer and Baptist Minister. By this time he was a devout Baptist and in 1828 he ws appointed Bible Reader and Baptist Village Missionary for Rutland. Here, he met his future wife MARIANNE MASON and, in 1830, they married and settled in Market Harborough.

In 1836, he became a total abstainer from alcohol. His enthusiasm for the cause led him to organise his first ever railway excursion, taking like minded people from Leicester to a temperance meeting in Loughborough on July 5th 1841. The trip, arranged with the MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY, was a great success, with 570 people making the 24 mile round trip at a cost of 1/- (5p) each. The travellers were conveyed in nine open carriage trucks - without seats. On arrival at LOUGHBOROUGH station, a procession was formed to march through the town, with bands playing all the way to the rally in Southfields Park. There, they were joined by others from Derby, Nottingham and Market Harborough. Catering had been planned for 1,000 people but almost twice this number turned up to support the rally. Games and sports, including cricket, took place until 6.00pm when speechmaking took over to gain support for the ideals of the temperance movement. COOK's Leicester passengers finally got back home at 10.30pm and were met by a large crowd waiting to hear all about their adventure! COOK was just 32 years old .

But this was not COOK's only trip to CHARNWOOD. In 1844, he brought a party of 500 schoolchildren from Leicester to SYSTON by rail. THis was followed by a two mile walk through the fields to MOUNTSORREL for a picnic on Castle Hill. It was on this trip that COOK's son JOHN, then just 10 years old, helped his father with the organisation for the first time. It was his job to guide his father's young charges on their hike, directing them with a long walking stick.

On another such trip, COOK and his fellow travellers went by horse and carriage to SILEBY and then walked across the meadows to have tea in COSSINGTON RECTORY.

But it was the success of his first excursion which led to COOK being asked to organise similar trips for temperance supporters and sunday schools all over the midlands.

In 1841, the COOKS moved to Leicester and set up the MIDLAND TEMPERANCE PRESS, which continued until 1854. But by that time, his excursions had become so successful that he left printing to concentrate full-time on travel. His first profits started to come in after he organised a trip to LIVERPOOL in 1845. This was a trip for pure pleasure, with no agenda of self improvement. One significant boost to the firm came in 1851, when 165,000 people went on a "COOK'S TOUR" to the London GREAT EXHIBITION over a period of six months.

In 1853, one of COOK's favourite projects, the TEMPERANCE HALL in Granby Street, Leicester was opened, together with the FAMILY TEMPERANCE HOTEL next door. The Hall later became the Essoldo Cinema and was demolished in 1961 while part of the Hotel can still be seen above a modern shop.

In 1855, the PARIS EXHIBITION saw Cook expanding into European tours. After many setbacks and disappointments, he managed to get an agreement to use a rather roundabout route from HARWICH to ANTWERP. But he made a virtue of this seeming limitation by offering a circular tour to include BRUSSELS, COLOGNE, the RHINE, HEIDELBERG, BADEN-BADEN, STRASBOURG and - eventually - PARIS. The return trip to LONDON was made via LE HAVRE or DIEPPE.

His first world tour, lasting 222 days, followed in 1872, by which time the firm had moved to London and THOMAS's son JOHN had joined him in the business. But his unequalled knowledge of world transport systems also had a more serious side. When a British army expedition was sent up the Nile to Khartoum to rescue General Gordon, it was THOMAS COOK who was asked to organise the transport.

By 1878, COOK had retired from active control of the business and he and MARIANNE returned to LEICESTER to run the TEMPERANCE HOTEL with their daughter, ANNIE. Tragedy struck in 1880 when ANNIE was overcome by fumes from a gas heater and drowned in her bath. In here memory, COOK built the COOK MEMORIAL HALL in Archdeacon Lane, which was demolished in 1969. A second tragedy came in 1884 with the death of MARIANNE, his wife.

In 1891, THOMAS COOK AND SON celebrated it's Golden Jubilee with a banquet at London's HOTEL METROPOLE and three year's later, the COOK MEMORIAL BUILDING was built in GALLOWTREE GATE, LEICESTER.

THOMAS COOK, who had been blind for several years, died on July 18th 1892 and is buried in WELFORD ROAD CEMETERY, LEICESTER.

Ironically, given his beliefs, there is a pub in Leicester called "THE THOMAS COOK".