David Cook
| Town/City | Red Cliffs, Vic. |
|---|---|
| First name | David |
| Last name | Cook |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1876 |
| Submitted by | Christine Cook |
Story
David John Cook arrived in South Australia on the ‘Northern Monarch’ which docked in Port Adelaide on 12 June 1876. Known as Jack Cook, the red haired teenager from Yorkshire had been on board for just over 11 weeks on the journey from Plymouth, England. Family stories tell us that he had worked his passage, leaving family that he never saw again. Little is known of this family except that his older brothers were tall about 6 ft., while he was only 5ft. 2in. There are many tall descendants that provide evidence for this story.
After 8 years labouring in and around Adelaide, he married a local girl. Ellen L. E. Lower became his wife in St. Paul\’s Anglican Church, Port Adelaide in May 1884. She was about 5 years younger than him but a few inches taller.
In the years that followed they moved a number of times to be where there was work for Jack. Ellen bore him 3 sons, Frederick John, James Alonzo and Oswald Thomas, the 2 eldest having red hair like their Dad. When the children were small they lived in and around Adelaide city, but their father worked in the Adelaide Hills when they were school age.
Jack & Ellen separated when their boys were in their early teens. Jack travelled about the South Australian countryside getting work and finding company in the pubs along the way. He had infrequent contact with Ellen and his sons.
In his later years when he was unable to work to support himself, his 2nd son Jim, now living in Red Cliffs in NW Vic, accommodated him on his horticultural property. When Jim and his wife, Doris, were unable to care for him (Jim had health problems from his WW1 war service) Jack was admitted to a Salvation Army Home for aged men in Blackburn, Melbourne. He died there on 24th November, 1934 and was buried in the Springvale Cemetery.