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Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was an English businessman. He is best known for founding the
travel agency A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinatio ...
Thomas Cook & Son Thomas Cook & Son, originally simply Thomas Cook, was a company founded by Thomas Cook, a cabinet-maker, in 1841 to carry temperance supporters by railway between the cities of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham. In 1851, Cook arranged ...
. He was also one of the initial developers of the "
package tour A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...
" including travel, accommodations, and the like.


Early life

Thomas Cook was born on 22 November 1808, to John and Elizabeth Cook, who lived at 9 Quick Close in the village of
Melbourne, Derbyshire Melbourne () is a market town and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England. It was home to Thomas Cook, and has a street named after him. It is south of Derby and from the River Trent. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was ...
. At the age of 10, Cook started working as an assistant to a local market gardener on
Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...
's estate. In 1828, he became a
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
missionary and toured the region as a village evangelist and distributing pamphlets and, in the 1830s, he became involved in the
temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
movement. On 2 March 1833, Cook married Marianne Mason (1807–1884) at the
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
in
Barrowden Barrowden is a village in Rutland in the East Midlands of England. ] The village's name means 'burial-mound hill'. There are a number of Tumulus, barrows in the area. The population of the civil parish was 506 at the 2011 census. There is ...
in Rutland. A son, John Mason Cook, was born on 13 January 1834. A daughter, Annie Elizabeth, born on 21 June 1845, died in a bath aged 35 after inhaling poisonous fumes from a faulty water heater.


Cook's first excursions

With the opening of the extended
Midland Counties Railway The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR s ...
, he arranged to take a group of
temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
campaigners from
Leicester Campbell Street railway station Leicester railway station (formerly Leicester Campbell Street and Leicester London Road) is a mainline railway station in the city of Leicester in Leicestershire, England. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway and owned by Network Rai ...
to a
teetotal Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...
rally in
Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
, eleven miles away. On 5 July 1841, Thomas Cook escorted around 485 people, who paid one
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
each for the return train journey, on his first excursion. This is sometimes reported as the world's first railway excursion; however this is incorrect as Grosmont church (
Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
) had already organised an excursion as a fund raiser in 1839. On 4 August 1845 he arranged for a party to travel from Leicester to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. In 1846, he took 350 people from Leicester on a tour of
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. In 1851 he arranged for 150,000 people to travel to the
Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...
in London. Four years later, he planned his first excursion abroad, when he took two groups on a 'grand circular tour' of Belgium, Germany and France, ending in Paris for the Exhibition. The Thomas Cook statue outside Leicester Railway Station, London Road, Leicester was unveiled on 14 January 1994 by his great-great-grandson Thomas Cook. It was sculpted by James Butler RA. He was awarded the Serbian
Order of Saint Sava The Royal Order of St. Sava is an Order of merit, first awarded by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1883 and later by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was awarded to nationals and foreigners for meritorious ach ...
.


Thomas Cook & Son

Thomas Cook acquired business premises on
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
, London in 1865. The office also contained a shop which sold essential travel accessories, including guide books, luggage, telescopes and footwear. In 1872, he formed a partnership with his son, John Mason Andrew Cook, and renamed the travel agency as ''
Thomas Cook & Son Thomas Cook & Son, originally simply Thomas Cook, was a company founded by Thomas Cook, a cabinet-maker, in 1841 to carry temperance supporters by railway between the cities of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham. In 1851, Cook arranged ...
''.Chisholm 1911 In accordance with his beliefs, he and his wife also ran a small temperance hotel above the office. Their business model was refined by the introduction of the 'hotel coupon' in 1868. Detachable coupons in a counterfoil book were issued to the traveller. These were valid for either a restaurant meal or an overnight hotel stay provided they were on Cook's list. Conflicts between father and son were resolved when the son persuaded his father, Thomas Cook, to retire at the end of 1878. Thomas Cook moved back at Thorncroft,
Knighton, Leicester Knighton is a residential suburban area of Leicester, situated between Clarendon Park to the north, Stoneygate to the east, Oadby and Wigston to the south and the Saffron Lane estate to the west. Originally a separate village a couple of m ...
, where he died on 18 July 1892, having been afflicted with blindness in his declining years. He was buried there on 22 July 1892.


Legacy – Thomas Cook and mass tourism

Thomas Cook was a frontrunner of establishing
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
systems and thus made
mass tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
possible in Italy. First, the circular tickets could be used on almost all Italian railways. These tickets allowed travel by train for a preset number of days along predetermined routes. Second, Cook designed a series of hotel coupons to complement circular tickets, which could be exchanged for lodging and meals at designated accommodations. Last, he introduced the circular notes which could be changed at designated hotels, banks, and tickets agents for Italian
lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
at a predetermined exchange rate. Cook's introduction of tourism-specific currency facilitated easier and effective trips within Italy. Also, by introducing a widely dispersed coupon system, Cook "helped to stabilize the burgeoning Italian economy not only by increasing the revenues from tourism but also by expanding the circulation of Italy's new currency, the lira." The coupon system spread rapidly and was well accepted throughout Italian cities. Furthermore, thanks to this system, middle class Italians could afford to travel more frequently and more easily.


See also

*
Thomas Cook European Timetable The ''European Rail Timetable'', more commonly known by its former names, the ''Thomas Cook European Timetable'', the ''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' or simply ''Cook's Timetable'', is an international Public transport timetable, timetabl ...
*
Cook's Travellers Handbooks ''Cook's Tourists' Handbooks'' were a series of travel guide books for tourists published in the 19th-20th centuries by Thomas Cook & Son of London. The firm's founder, Thomas Cook, produced his first handbook to England the 1840s, later expanding ...


References


Citations


General sources

* * * Usherwood, Stephen. "Travel Agents Extraordinary." ''History Today'' (Sep 1972), Vol. 22 Issue 9, pp. 649–655; online; coverage of father and son to 1899.


External links


Thomas Cook Biography

Rare Travel Poster: Cook's Nile & Palestine Tours
Shapell Manuscript Foundation
Thomas Cook Responds to Travel Testimonial: Original Letter

Article about Thomas Cook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Thomas 1808 births 1892 deaths Blind people from England British hospitality businesspeople Burials at Welford Road Cemetery Businesspeople in tourism English Baptists English carpenters English chief executives English company founders Recipients of the Order of St. Sava People from Melbourne, Derbyshire English Protestant missionaries English evangelicals 19th-century Baptists 19th-century English businesspeople