Sir William Henry Charles Wemyss Cooke, 10th Baronet (21 June 1872 – 11 June 1964)Mosley, Charles, ed. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'' 107th edition was a soldier, breeder of racehorses and orchid breeder. He served as a lieutenant the

East Kent Regiment The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

and the

Yorkshire Dragoons The Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1794 to 1956. It was formed as a volunteer cavalry force in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Its volunteer companies played an active role ...

and held the office of High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1903-1904. He moved from Wheatley Hall in 1911 to Ranby Hall in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, and after a period spent living in London he settled in

Hampstead Norreys Hampstead Norreys (alternatively spelt ''Hampstead Norris'' as it is pronounced) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is centred on the small tributary the River Pang, north of Newbury. Amenities Hampstead Norreys was award ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

where he started an orchid collection at

Wyld Court Wyld or WYLD may refer to * Wyld (crater), a lunar crater * Wyld (World of Darkness), a fictional entity * Wyld diagrams in fluid mechanics * Wyld's Great Globe, an attraction of Victorian London * WYLD (AM), a radio station (940 AM) licensed to ...

and became a pioneer of orchid breeding, in particular

cymbidium ''Cymbidium'' , commonly known as boat orchids, is a genus of evergreen flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are epiphytic, lithophytic, terrestrial or rarely leafless saprophytic herbs usually with pseudobulbs ...

s.''Dictionary Of British And Irish Botanists And Horticulturalists Including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers'' 1994 Taylor & Francis, London Part of his collection was moved to the

Quinta da Boa Vista The Quinta da Boa Vista ( en, "Estate of the Good View") is a public park of great historical importance located in the São Cristóvão neighbourhood, in the North zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The park was part of the gardens of ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

by his daughter while remainder became known as ''Wyld Court Orchids'', which in turn become the Living Rainforest park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, William, 10th Baronet 1872 births 1964 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England High Sheriffs of Yorkshire