Fonds

Cook Family

Date 1797-1985

Dimensions400.2 cm of textual records and other material

ClassificationCommunication Objects - Documentary Objects - Other Documents

Object NumberP012

DivisionArchives - Textual Archives

CollectionMcCord

CreditGift of Hon. Dominic Elliot

Biographical Sketch

The nucleus of the Cook family consisted of George William Cook, his wife Willa Marion and their children Audrey Mark Elaine, Dorothy Mary, Marion Willa, Sarah Muriel Josephine and George Herbert. Two of the daughters married British Earls, one of whom was the son of the 4th Earl of Minto (Governor General of Canada from 1898 to 1904). Other family members included in the same fonds are the grandchildren of George William and Willa Marion, George William's ancestors and Willa Marion's family. In this enlarged family, we count militia captains, a recital violinist and a parliamentary representative.

George William's family was well known in Ontario, having made its fortune in the timber industry and land transactions. The Cooks operated Cook & Brothers, the Cook and Brothers Lumber Company of Ontario and the Cook Land Company Limited. When George William's family moved to Montreal, their principal residence was at the corner of Elm and Sherbrooke streets. Their fortune enabled them to occupy a prominent place in Montreal society. They also enjoyed entertaining at their country home in Val Morin, at Lac Norman.

Scope and Content

The Cook family fonds is a written and a visual testimony depicting the various activities of the lives of the Cook family members and, to some extent, of the O’Meara family. The fonds recounts, through textual documents and photographs, the life of Loyalist descendants, lumber businessmen and their families. By personal, financial, accounting and legal records, the fonds gives information on four generations of Cooks.

Classification Scheme

P012 Cook Family
     P012/A Business Records
          P012/A1 Cook & Brothers
          P012/A2 The Cook and Brothers Lumber Company of Ontario
          P012/A3 The Cook Land Company Limited
     P012/B Family Records
          P012/B1 Vita Churchill
          P012/B2 Cook Family
          P012/B3 Audrey Mark Elaine Cook
          P012/B4 Catherine Elisabeth Cook
          P012/B5 Dorothy Mary Cook
          P012/B6 George C. Cook
          P012/B7 George Herbert Cook
          P012/B8 George Josiah Cook
          P012/B9 George William Cook
          P012/B10 James William Cook
          P012/B11 John Larkin Cook
          P012/B12 Marion Willa Cook
          P012/B13 Sarah Muriel Josephine Cook
          P012/B14 Sarah Parmelia Cook
          P012/B15 Simon S. Cook
          P012/B16 Willa Marion Cook
          P012/B17 O’Meara Family

Information about the objects in our collection is updated to reflect new research findings. If you have any information to share regarding this object, please email reference.mccord@mccord-stewart.ca.

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