Sir Robert Cooke (c. 1598 – 1643) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

between 1640 and 1643. He served in the Parliamentarian army in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Cooke was the son of Sir William Cooke of Highnam and his wife Joyce, daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Warwickshire. He graduated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

on 20 January 1615 and entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

on 21 May 1617. He was knighted on 21 July 1621. He was Lord of the Manor of Highnam and was one of the seven commissioners who surveyed the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

in 1639.W R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester''
/ref> In April 1640, Cooke was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. In November 1640 he stood at

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Riv ...

but there was a double return and he was not seated as MP in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

until August 1641. He held the seat until his death in 1643. Cooke raised a regiment of foot for the parliamentary army by commission from

Sir William Waller Sir William Waller JP (c. 159719 September 1668) was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War, before relinquishing his commission under the 1645 Self-denying Ordinance. ...

and was made a colonel. He was Governor of Cirencester and then Governor of Tewkesbury in April 1643 when he left the town ungarrisoned. Cooke married Dorothy Fleetwood, daughter of

Miles Fleetwood Sir Miles Fleetwood of Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire (died 8 March 1641) was an English office-holder and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1641. Biography Fleetwood was the son of Sir William Fleetwood ( ...

of Aldwincle, Northamptonshire. He married secondly Jane Herbert, widow of the poet/priest

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devoti ...

and daughter of Charles Danvers of Baynton, Wiltshire. His son

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

was later MP for Tewkesbury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Robert 1598 births 1643 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Members of Gray's Inn Roundheads English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Politicians from Gloucestershire Knights Bachelor