John Herbert Cooke (3 August 1867 – 30 July 1943) was an Australian politician, variably referred to as "J. Herbert Cooke" or "J. H. Cooke".

History

He was born at

Payneham, South Australia Payneham is an eastern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Norwood Payneham St Peters. It is part of a string of suburbs in Adelaide's east with a high proportion of Adelaide's Italian-Australian and French-Australian residents, many of whom can be ...

, the third son of Ebenezer Cooke (ca.1832 – 7 May 1907), Commissioner of Audit for South Australian, of "Richmond House",

South Terrace, Adelaide South Terrace is one of the four terraces which bound the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is the southern edge of the city centre, and is bounded by the Adelaide parklands to the south, including Veale Gardens and A ...

and his second wife Rosa, née Phillipps (ca.1845 – 9 July 1941). He was educated at Frederick Caterer's Glenelg Grammar School, Norwood Commercial College and St. Peter's College, where he was Science Prizeman in 1883. He was employed at the

Islington Railway Workshops The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.Division of South Australia The Division of South Australia was an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division covering South Australia.The Northern Territory was part of South Australia until 1911. Its area was covered by the Divis ...

at the 1901 federal election as a

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

candidate. In South Australia, he was a councillor (Parkside ward) 1900–1904 and first mayor of the newly proclaimed

City of Unley The City of Unley is a local government area in the Adelaide metropolitan region. It is located directly south of the Adelaide city centre. The Corporate Town of Unley was created in 1871, when 2,000 signatories to a petition from residents of ...

1905–1907 (Mrs. Cooke laid the foundation stone of the new Town Hall in March 1907) then an alderman 1908–1914. He won the Central No. 2 seat on the Legislative Council in 1915 and remained an energetic member until 1933. In 1933, he lost preselection to

Hermann Homburg Hermann Robert Homburg (17 March 1874 – 12 December 1964) was a South Australian politician and lawyer. Early life Homburg was born in Norwood and educated at Prince Alfred College and the University of Adelaide. Following his admission to t ...

and

Collier Cudmore Sir Collier Robert Cudmore (13 June 1885 – 16 May 1971) was an Australian lawyer, politician and Olympic rower who won the gold medal in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain. Early life and rowing career Cudmore was born at Avoca, W ...

, and ran for Central No. 1 district as an independent. Though he performed creditably in a strong Labor district, he was unsuccessful. Unusually, he was permitted to continue using the honorific "Hon." after leaving parliament, on account of his long and meritorious service.

Other interests

He was a director of the Cowells Patent Lock Company and the Bruer Pianoforte Company amongst others, and invested in startup companies of local inventors. He was a leading Freemason, president of the Soldiers' Home League, the School of Arts and Crafts and the Myrtle Bank Home and prominent in many other associations. His widow and daughter presented the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

with a brass surveyor's level, made by Troughton & Simms, and reputedly used by

Colonel William Light William Light (27 April 1786 – 6 October 1839), also known as Colonel Light, was a British- Malayan naval and army officer. He was the first Surveyor-General of the new British Province of South Australia, known for choosing the site o ...

Family

John Herbert Cooke married Harriet Williams on 15 December 1896. They had one daughter Doris and lived at 174 Cross Road, Malvern.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, John Herbert 1867 births 1943 deaths Australian railway mechanical engineers Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Liberal and Country League politicians 20th-century Australian engineers 19th-century Australian engineers Colony of South Australia people