Sir Robert Gordon Cooke (29 May 1930 – 6 January 1987) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician.

Early life

Cooke was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

to Walter R. Cooke and Maud Cowie.General Register Office — Births in April, May and June 1930 Vol: 11a 570 Cooke was educated at The Downs School in Wraxall, Somerset,

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

Career

He served as a councillor on

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 ward ...

1954-57 and was a teacher of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

at a

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

public school.''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1955, 1966 & October 1974 While a councillor and teacher, Cooke contested

Bristol South East Bristol South East was a constituency in the city of Bristol that returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, mainly from th ...

in 1955. He was

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 o ...

for

Bristol West Bristol West is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Thangam Debbonaire of the Labour Party. It mostly covers the central and western parts of Bristol. Constituency ...

from a 1957 by-election until 1979. He introduced the Fatal Accidents Act 1959, the direct forerunner to the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 which provides for investigation and compensation in cases of work-related deaths. He was knighted in the 1979 Birthday Honours. Cooke died in January 1987 at the age of 56 of Motor Neurone Disease.

Film location owner

He was the owner of

Athelhampton Athelhampton (also known as Admiston or Adminston) is a settlement and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated approximately east of Dorchester. It consists of a manor house and a former Church of England parish church. Dorset County Council' ...

House in Dorset, location of the 1972 film ''

Sleuth Sleuth may refer to: *Detective *Sleuth, collective noun for a group of bears Computing * The Sleuth Kit, a collection of forensic analysis software *SLEUTH assembler language for the UNIVAC 1107 Entertainment and media *Cloo Cloo (stylized ...

'', starring

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

and

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

, as well as the 1976 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' serial ''

The Seeds of Doom ''The Seeds of Doom'' is the sixth and final serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fic ...

''.

References

External links

*
Parliamentary Archives, Papers of Sir Robert Cooke MP, 1930-1987
1930 births 1987 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in South West England Knights Bachelor People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1930s-stub