William Cooke (1711–1797) was an English cleric and academic, Provost of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

from 1772 and

Dean of Ely The position of Dean of Ely Cathedral, in East Anglia, England, in the Diocese of Ely was created in 1541 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The first Dean of Ely had been the last Benedictine prior of Ely. List of deans Early modern ...

from 1780.

Life

He was born in St. James's, Westminster, 15 October 1711. He was sent to

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

in 1718, and then

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in 1721. In 1731 he became a scholar, and in 1734 a Fellow, of King's College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. in 1735. Soon after graduating Cooke became an assistant-master at Eton. In May 1743 he was unanimously elected head-master, but found his health too weak for the place, and in 1745 took the college living of Sturminster-Marshall,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. In 1748 he was elected fellow of Eton College, and resigned Sturminster on being presented to the rectory of

Denham, Buckinghamshire Denham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, approximately from central London, northwest of Uxbridge and just north of junction 1 of the M40 motorway. The name is derived from the Old English for ...

; he was also bursar of Eton. In 1765 he proceeded D.D., and was appointed chaplain to

George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, (6 October 1716 – 8 June 1771) was a British statesman of the Georgian era. Due to his success in extending commerce in the Americas, he became known as the "father of the colonies". President of th ...

. In 1768 he accepted the rectory of

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

. On 25 March 1772 Cooke was unanimously elected Provost of King's College, Cambridge. He was vice-chancellor of the university in 1773. In April 1780 he received a prebend in

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...

, and on 9 August was appointed to the deanery. Cooke died at Bath 20 October 1797.

Works

Cooke published some sermons, and in 1732 a small (anonymous) collection of poems called ''Musæ Juveniles'', including a Greek tragedy on

King Solomon King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, called ''Sophia Theēlatos''. In one of the sermons (1750), on the meaning of the expression in the second Epistle of St. Peter, "a more sure word of prophecy", he contributed to the Middletonian Controversy, defending

Thomas Sherlock Thomas Sherlock (167818 July 1761) was a British divine who served as a Church of England bishop for 33 years. He is also noted in church history as an important contributor to Christian apologetics. Life Born in London, he was the son of the V ...

against Conyers Middleton. Cooke composed an epitaph for himself in a south vestry of

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan ...

, attributing whatever he had done to the munificence of Henry VI.

Family

Cooke married Catherine, daughter of Richard Sleech, canon of Windsor, in January 1746, and had by her twelve children. The eldest daughter Elizabeth Anne married

Benjamin Way Benjamin Way (1740–1808) of Denham Place was an English politician, Member of Parliament for in 1765. The son of Lewis Way F.R.S., director of the South Sea Company by his third wife Abigail, he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1758. ...

; the second daughter, Catherine, married Samuel Hallifax, whose epitaph was written by Cooke. One of his sons, Edward Cooke, became secretary at war in Ireland. Another son, William Cooke, was fellow of King's College, Cambridge, professor of Greek at Cambridge from 1780 to 1792, and rector of Hempstead-with-Lessingham, Norfolk, from 1785 until his death, 3 May 1824.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, William 1711 births 1797 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of Eton College Fellows of King's College, Cambridge 18th-century English Anglican priests Provosts of King's College, Cambridge Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge Deans of Ely Head Masters of Eton College People educated at Eton College