Person:James Cook (134)

James Cook was baptised on 20th January 1788 at Husborne Crawley in Bedfordshire, son of Elizabeth Cook, formerly Smyth, and her husband William Cook. James's mother died in 1797, when James was nine years old. James's father married a widow called Ann Lord, formerly Foskett, in 1799 who thus became James's stepmother.

On 17th January 1816, aged about 28, James was married at Bow Brickhill in Buckinghamshire to Mary Bedford. She already had a three year old daughter called Lydia. James and Mary went on to have a daughter, Sally (or Sarah), baptised four months later at Bow Brickhill. Sally's baptism describes James as a labourer.

By 1818 James and Mary had returned to Husborne Crawley. At Husborne Crawley they had five more children between 1818 and 1829: Ann, John, Mary, Samuel and Hephzibah, although Mary and Samuel both died under the age of two years old.

James's father died in 1827 and was buried at Husborne Crawley.

The 1841 census finds Mary and Hephzibah living together at Aspley Guise, which is between Husborne Crawley and Bow Brickhill. Mary was working as a lace maker. James appears to have been away from home on census night. Mary died in 1848, when she was said to be 60 or 61.

In both the 1851 and 1861 censuses James was lodging with people to whom there was no obvious family relationship, described as an agricultural labourer. He was also described as a pauper in 1851. James died in Aspley Guise on 20th June 1865, aged 77.

1. ↑ Bedfordshire Family History Society. Husborne Crawley Parish Register Transcript.

   Baptisms
   20 Jan 1788: Ja[me]s s[on] W[illia]m & Eliz[abeth] Cooke

2. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1755; Folio 21; Page 2, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Woburn Lane, Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire
   Henry Marshall, head, married, male, 34 [1816/7], Ag[ricultural] lab[ourer], b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   Sarah Marshall, wife, married, female, 34 [1816/7], b. Crawley, Bedfordshire
   Jane Marshall, daughter, female, 6 [1844/5], b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Elizabeth Marshall, daughter, female, 2 [1848/9], b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   James Cook, lodger, widower, male, 66 [1784/5], Pauper ag[ricultural] lab[ourer], b. Crawley, Bedfordshire

3. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1003; Folio 8; Page 10, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: West Street, Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire
   John Cooper, head, married, male, 40 [1820/11], Ag[ricultura]l laborer, b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   Eliza Cooper, wife, married, female, 40 [1820/11], Lacemaker, b. Ampthill, Bedfordshire
   Charles Cooper, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1845/6], Labourer, b. Ampthill, Bedfordshire
   Rebecca Cooper, daughter, female, 10 [1850/1], b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   John Cooper, son, male, 7 [1853/4], b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   Tho[ma]s Cooper, father, widower, male, 71 [1789/90], Labourer, b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   James Cook, lodger, widower, male, 75 [1785/6], Labourer, b. Crawley, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Woburn Union
   1865 Death in the Sub-district of Woburn in the County of Bedford
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   21	Twentieth June 1865 Aspley	James Cook	Male	80 years [1784/5]	Farm Laborer	Haemorrhage from Liver Certified	Charlotte Field Present at Death Aspley	Twenty second June 1865	J. Dexter Registrar

5.   James will probably not be the 65 year old agricultural labourer living at Eversholt in the 1841 census - that James was living with a John and Mary Everett, and their marriage in 1839 shows that she was Mary Ann Cook, daughter of James Cook, born about 1817, whilst the 1851 census says she was born in Eversholt, which fits with the Mary Ann daughter of James and Ann Cook baptised in Eversholt in 1815. That James Cook also appears in the 1851 census giving his place of birth as Eversholt, so was a different man to this James.