Email 4/12/2005 from John Davison:
In 1901 Census at 59 Ferard Street, Derby, with wife, three adult children, two sisters and one sister’s child.


The following document comprising introduction and the transcription of the Frederick Cooke’s diary itself is copyright to Sarah Goodwin 2005 and reproduction in any form may only be undertaken with permission.
 
Contact: sarah@goodwin85.freeserve.co.uk
 
Transcript of the diary of Frederick Duckering Cooke of Derby
 
Part 1  January 1862 to December 1871
Part 2  18 January 1872 to 15 December 1872
Part 3  5 January 1873 to 30 November 1873
Part 4  31 December 1873 to 13 December 1874
Part 5  19 December 1874 to 9 December 1875
Part 6  Xmas 1875 to 24 October 1878
Part 7  28 October 1878 to 31 December 1890
Part 8  1 January 1891 to 12 September 1896
Part 9  21 September 1896 to 23 February 1901
Part 10 18 September 1902 to 24 April 1906
 
Introduction to the dairy of Frederick Duckering Cooke of Derby
 
The diary of Frederick Duckering Cooke came into my hands incidentally.  It was part of the estate of his grand-daughter Nancie Reynolds left to her friend Renée Goodwin who is my mother-in-law.  In spite of there being no personal “family history” aspect to the study for me, I became fascinated by it as a window on the Victorian and early Edwardian era and resolved to transcribe it for ease of reference and with a view to making it available to others.
 
The diary as an artefact
The black ink hand-writing is contained in a ledger-type volume of foolscap size with a black cardboard cover and marbled flyleaf.  The pages are numbered up to 315 and a partial attempt has been made at an alphabetical index on the remaining pages.  The opening page explains that the volume starts as an “epitome” and entries for the first ten years (1862-1872) are summarised from notebooks “knowing by experience how much is written on the spur of the moment which mature reflection would leave unwritten”.  After 1872 the entries are more immediate, but are still mostly written from memoranda, often a month or more at a time.  This self-censorship undoubtedly limits the interest the diary might have for anyone seeking historical experience “in the raw”, but has probably been instrumental in saving it from destruction by the author or his relatives and I would argue that there is still considerable insight to be gained from the facts given and the choices made of what to include and what to omit.
 
The period covered is 1 January 1862 (with a few remarks on his life before this date) to April 24 1906.  However, entries are by no means daily or even continuous. There are months when there is no entry and there are some periods when the diary was abandoned completely.  There are no entries for the years 1881 to 1884 and sparse entries for 1885 to 1888, 1890 to 1893 and 1901 to 1903.  Even in the months well covered it is rare for every day to have an entry.
 
Fred Cooke’s handwriting is fluent and neat, as you would expect of a man whose livelihood depended partly on this skill.  The main difficulties it posed for me as transcriber were in similarities of capital T and I, his habit of leaving lower-case t’s uncrossed and therefore identical with l, similarities between n and r and dots on i’s that floated out of position.  Context usually made the word obvious with little problem, except in the case of names, which obviously lack semantic clues.  A question mark has been added when I was not sure of the word.  Some spellings are seemingly “mistakes” but may reflect old usage.  For instance, he writes “staid” for the past of the verb to stay where we would write “stayed”, and consistently spells rabbit with two tt’s.  I conserved all spellings. Similarly, I reproduced his punctuation, which often lacked commas in lists of people.  Underlining is copied where it occurs and my comments are written in italics within brackets.
 
Some themes from the diary
Fred Cooke’s family background
Fred gives his date of birth in his introduction to the diary as 7 June 1843, and often notes his “anniversary of birth” over the years.  His father was a tenant farmer at Tothby, near Alford, though he had to sell up in 1863.  Fred had already left farming two years before when he took  articles in the solicitors’ firm of his sister Lizzie’s husband in Alford.
 
Fred’s father’s year of birth is unknown (He also was named Frederick), but his mother’s is recorded by Fred as being 1808.  Her maiden name was Robinson, a fact not given in the diary but in Fred’s handwriting on the flyleaf of an old Receipt Book which came into my hands at the same time as the diary.  Under the inscription “M Duckering’s Receipt book 1786", Fred has written: “Miss Mary Duckering married Mr John Robinson at Tothby or Alford.  Their daughter Elizabeth married Frederick Cooke, my father and this book came into my hands March 1904.  Frederick Duckering Cooke at Derby”.  The latter date mentioned tallies with the period in which Fred was tidying up the affairs of his sister Fanny, the last surviving member of the household of Fred’s family of origin.
 
Fred was the only son of Frederick Cooke and Elizabeth Robinson and seemingly the youngest of four children.  The others were Lizzie, Polly and Fanny.  Lizzie married Langley Joseph Brackenbury on 28 October 1862.  She had three children that are mentioned in the diary: Constance (Connie), Joe and Maud.  After the death of Langley Brackenbury on 25 June 1875, Lizzie spent time as housekeeper to Mr Kirkby of Sutterton near Boston and then cared for Fred Soulby’s children (brother of Edward, see below.  Fred Soulby had drowned himself at Peterborough in 1896).  Joe Brackenbury lived with Fred Cooke and his family in Derby and helped him in the business from August 1875, but, after taking his preliminary law exams in May 1878, he decided to learn coffee-plantation management and sailed for India on 16 July 1878.  Connie and Maud are often mentioned in the diary as staying with their grandmother (Fred’s and Lizzie’s mother) or visiting Skegness with Lizzie.
 
Polly Cooke married Barnes Walker on 4 August 1864.  She had two children, Harry (born 3.6.1865) and May.  Harry was Fred’s godson. Barnes Walker died on 21 April 1870 and Polly married Edward Soulby on 15 April 1874.  She had at least one child by him, Louie Soulby, who went on to marry Matthew George Megaw of Brighton on 26 September 1905.
 
Fanny Cooke remained unmarried and went on living with her parents in Alford.  She was regularly called in to help Fred Cooke’s household.  For example she stayed for about a month after the birth of their second, third and fourth children and to help with a house move in 1879.  She outlived her father by twenty years but her mother by only four.
 
Fred Cooke’s career
Brought up to the life of a tenant farmer, Fred left it of his own accord in January 1861 when he took articles with his brother in law Langley Joseph Brackenbury who was a solicitor in Alford.  The failure of his father’s farm over the next two years sealed this career path for him, cutting him off from the option of following his father on the land.
 
Fred passed all his law exams in 1866 and was accepted to appear in all the Common law courts by October 1866 and Chancery in January 1867.  On the first of January 1867 he moved from Alford to manage the Derby office of Marcus Huish, a solicitor in Castle Donington.  The offices were in the “old Jacobean residence”, The Wardwick, on the corner of Becket Street.  Fred was taken on at £120 per annum (around £10000 at 2004 values) with the possibility of a partnership when that of Huish and Eddowes expired (due 30 April1867).  As no offer had been made by 23 September 1867, Fred gave notice that he would leave.  However, unfortunately, Marcus Huish died suddenly (9 February 1868), leaving Fred with the urgent need to make his own arrangements.  He had an interview with another Derby solicitor, Gamble, on 2 April 1868 and arranged terms on 4 April to work for him at £200 per annum (around £17000 at 2004 values) for three months with a view to a partnership if business permitted after that date.  This was achieved on 24 June 1869.
 
By 1871 Fred Cooke notes that he is earning £350 per annum(around £30000 at 2004 values), but is being pressed by Gamble to invest more capital in the partnership.  He invested £50 in April 1872 (about £4000 by 2004 values), but seemingly the partnership had begun to sour and on 12 February 1873, Cooke gave Gamble notice of termination of the agreement.  Gamble decided to retire and a settlement was reached on 15 March 1873 at which point Fred Cooke embarked on business as a solicitor alone until a further partnership with Cooper in 1877.
 
It is not clear where the offices were that Fred occupied at this time.  Later in the diary he does refer to former offices in Amen Alley so these may have been the ones he was in with Gamble and continued to lease when on his own.
 
Fred seems to have taken all types of business.  Criminal cases and minor civil litigation dominate at first.  As time goes on he seems to have become more heavily involved in property transactions and to have begun speculatively to purchase property himself as well.  It is difficult to judge exactly what is going on, but he notes in the diary bidding for certain properties and being “pressed” to pay up, possibly before he has effected a sale.  A particularly long-running deal concerning a tan-yard at Horsley is noted as starting in February 1872 and not concluding until September 1878 with a loss of £2000 (about £150000 by 2004 values). 
 
Some small appointments were taken on to boost earnings.  Fred became a Commissioner for Oaths in November 1873 and acted as Presiding Officer at several elections from 1880 to 1895.  However, his books were scarcely balancing in December 1874, when he notes that his capital is down to £500 (about £40000 by 2004 values) and only £50 net profit has been made in the year (about £4000 by 2004 values).
 
By September 1878 Fred Cooke’s business had reached a financial low which lasted until July 1880.  It seems that too many claims became pressing all at once and he was forced to liquidate capital and forfeit securities.  His domestic furniture, worth nearly £300 (about £20000 by 2004 values), was under threat in May 1879 and he notes the terms of a moneylender: £80 to borrow £250 for a year and a half (about £7000 to borrow £23000 by 2004 values).  He appealed to relatives and friends and considerable bad feeling appears to have been generated between the Dolman family and the Cookes (Dr Arthur Dolman was a friend of Fred’s who had been his Best Man and who had married his wife’s sister Lottie).  On the other hand, there seems to have been at least sympathy and emotional support from others, if not ready cash.
 
Fred was forced to cut back on expenses over the following years.  He moved his office to the (presumably cheaper) premises at 4 Albert Street in June 1879 and did not renew his certificate to practice in 1878-9.  By 1885 he was working from home (52 Rose Hill Street). Further office moves chart a slow recovery.  By May 1886 he had one room at 11 ½ St Mary’s Gate, in June 1887 he leased the whole of 9 St Mary’s Gate, subletting the top bedrooms and kitchen, and finally in March 1892 he leased 3 rooms at £14 per month (about £1000 at 2004 values) at 8 Full Street.  He notes one other year when he did not renew his certificate, 1889-90 after much time lost through ill-health, but by December 1895 he had paid off most of his debts.
 
Although Fred Cooke was a sole practitioner from 15 March 1873 to 1 January 1877, he always had some kind of paid help if only to put coal on the fire during the winter.  In March 1875 he notes that a Richard Oliver left and he took “another small boy” in his place.  Fred’s nephew Joe Brackenbury helped in the business from August 1875 for a year before embarking on his articles with another firm.  A managing clerk Mr Walker is mentioned as being ill in September 1878.  He died in November of that year.  All of the Cooke sons spent some time in the business, too.  By November 1905 the final office move noted in the diary is to 22 Derwent Street, leased in youngest son Harry’s name.
 
Fred started his career in the Law with the following idealistic statement (given in a summary he makes at the end of 1862, aged 20). “Before me is spread the world and my position in that world depends entirely on my own exertions; oh may God grant me such strength of mind and determination of spirit that, surmounting all difficulties, I may at last reach such a point of heavenly worth and earthly good renown that, at my decease all men may say of me, “He was an honest man”.”
 
He gives the early routine of his time in articles as keeping his former style of life “hunting one day a week, shooting and out of door recreations, but working steadily in the office as well”.  In 1863 he notes that his office day ran from nine in the morning to seven in the evening with one and a half hours for lunch.
 
Once he was established in Derby, Fred made a considerable effort to extend his social network.  He notes the names of those he has met, presumably as an aide memoire.  He is excited to be in a position to act for the Earl of Chesterfield, who later becomes the godfather to Fred’s third son, named after the earl: George Philip (sadly to die in infancy).
 
Fred never seems to have become wealthy and his fortunes fluctuated throughout his career.  References to domestic house-moving, the contraction of his household in numbers of servants and the social activities embarked upon are the main barometers of his income.  He may have been able to rely on inheritances to subsidise his living expenses and there is also little doubt that he lived on credit of various kinds from time to time.  The following passage from the diary in 1875 gives an impression of his experience at this time:  “After much spiritual strife and prayer, I find my mind much strengthened in faith, for which I thank God; our daily prayer for ‘daily bread’ has been daily met, provision being constantly made, almost always from sources I have not looked to - truly there is peace in believing.  May he in his merciful providence bless my labours during the coming year so that I may be able within its compass to pay every man his due, and lay by something for His service.  May he give me wisdom to guide my steps aright in the situation in which he has placed me, and send me His Holy Spirit to keep my feet on the lines he has laid down for me to travel.”
 
Domestic Life
Fred married Annie Mason on 7 September 1869, when he was aged 26 and Annie 25.  She also came from Lincolnshire, living on a farm at Rigsby, close to Alford.  Fred had met members of the Mason family during his late adolescence and writes of skating with Will Mason on 7 January 1864, going to a ball with him on 29 January 1864 and horse-riding on 25 March 1864.  Annie’s other brother, Eardley Mason is mentioned on 28 January 1864, the date of his marriage.  Fred had obviously taken some interest in Lottie, one of Annie’s sisters, giving her one of his own paintings, a water colour of a “lion dining” on 8 November 1864.  However, he followed this up with one of a “lioness with cubs” for Annie on 13 December.  In 1872 when he summarises his earliest diary entries, he mentions that he first  “took note of” Annie at the choir he started (9 June 1864) at Alford church.
 
Before he “noted” Annie, Fred had become involved with a woman he refers to by her initials JV and some kind of proposal seems to have been made.  However, he came to see this liaison as ill-advised and sought to break it off in July 1865.  The rift appeared to take some time and it is only in November of that year that he again felt free.  By this time he had seen enough of Annie to consider marriage to her and he had an interview with her father on 12 March 1866 to explain his intentions.  Mr Mason was encouraging but urged Fred to become qualified before proposing to Annie.  This he did and proposed to Annie two weeks later, on 20 June 1866.
 
Fred’s move to Derby to set up in the Law separated the engaged couple for three years, with only occasional visits enabling them to keep in touch.  During this time he lived in lodgings at Mrs Allerstone’s, 28 Osmaston Street.  Fred and Annie married on 7 September 1869.  The couple then set up house in Derby at The Elms on Duffield Road where Mr Hall was their landlord.  The young couple began to establish themselves socially by entertaining and going to events.
 
The impending birth of their first child is only noted as an indisposition preventing Annie from going to Lottie’s wedding to Dr Arthur Dolman on 2 June 1870.  Fred announces in the dairy out of the blue “Little Ernest born” on 25 June 1870.  In September he notes that “we could not go out anywhere this autumn”, but on October 20 he takes Annie to London for a few days, in spite of the baby only weighing 7lbs (3.175 kg) at this point.  A nursemaid (Mrs Horobin) was engaged when Ernest was born.  The Cookes also had a “maid of all work” and a housemaid (Emily).  Annie’s sister Fanny Mason was godmother at the christening of Ernest on 16 September.
 
In March 1872 Fred reflects that his “wedded life has been to this moment an unbroken run of happiness (I believe mutual) and long may it continue!”  He refers to plans for taking a larger house “in anticipation of xxx”, and again the expected child only makes an appearance in the diary when he is born.  He took on the neighbouring “large house” at the Elms on 30 June 1872 and Bernard William was born on 8 August 1872.  Fred mentions that Dr Dolman attended Annie and this time it was Fred’s sister Fanny, sent for by telegram from Alford, who arrived later on the same day to help out.  Mrs Green was engaged as nurse to Bernard.
 
Fred notes that Annie “came out of her bedroom” on 17 August, at which time the baby weighed 3/4 lb more than he had at birth (when he was 8lbs (3.629 kgs).  Annie’s nurse left on 5 September, though had to be recalled as Annie had a stomach upset.  Bernard was christened on 19 September.
 
A third son followed about as swiftly as he could.  Again, there are few hints that he is expected, though his birth seems to have been slightly premature. On 18 June 1873 Fred writes: “Annie was unexpectedly “taken” during the night and was delivered of another boy.”  Fanny Cooke was fetched from Alford on 23 June and  Nurse Potter was engaged to help with the baby, George Philip (named after Earl Chesterfield at his own suggestion).  Unfortunately this baby died on 31 December 1873 after a short illness “from inflammation of the lungs”.  Both Annie and Fred had been away in London for a week from 15 to 22 December but the family were together for Christmas and all seemed well.  Two weeks after George’s death Fred writes “We miss him still very much.  He was so fair and fat and beautiful.”
 
A daughter was born to the Cookes on 3 November 1874.  As usual, Fred gives no hint of the expected event in the months beforehand, and Rosa Marion arrived before the doctor could be summoned.  Fanny Cooke came on 6 November and Fred went off to Lincolnshire on a week’s shooting holiday on 7 November.  Mrs Potter was engaged again as nursemaid.
 
The Cookes moved house in response to a need to economise, settling at Holton House, Full Street on 25 March 1875.  Their new landlord was Mr W Cox.
 
Their last son was born on 16 May 1877, Henry Edwin.  Fred makes no prior mention of the impending event.  Nurse Johnson attended Annie and, as Mrs Potter was “worn out and has been suffering from Rheumatism”,  Mrs Johnson was engaged for the baby: “We don’t much like her as an individual, but she is a good nurse.”  The nurses employed were not wet nurses (Mrs Potter, at least, would have been too old).  There is mention of Annie weaning Rosa four months after her birth and being a bit under the weather as a result.
 
On 10 June 1879 the Cookes moved again to Rock Villa, 7 Madeley Street.  On 21 July 1879 Lilian Amy Cooke was born, again before the doctor had time to arrive and again unheralded in his diary by her father.  On 18 August the nurse left.
 
On 20 March 1880 there is a reference to Annie being ill in the night with a “mc”, presumably a miscarriage.  A nurse is engaged for a week to care for her.  The last Cooke child, Laura,  was born on 15 January 1881.  Her birth is the only one not recorded in the diary, occurring at a time when Fred had let his writing lapse.  However, a reference is made later on to her age on three birthdays.
 
The Cookes moved house again in 1885 to 52 Rose Hill Street, buying the property in 1888 for £520 (about £50000 by 2004 values) only to sell it again in 1889 for £555 (about £51000 by 2004 values), to his disgust the profit disappearing on removal fees.  The family moved to the last address given in the diary: 22 (later to become 59) Gerard Street, leasing this from a Mr Winfield.
 
The diary gives some details of the careers and adult lives of the Cooke children.  Ernest worked in his father’s office in 1885 aged 15, then left home to work as a designer.  By 1890 he was head of Mr Simmond’s studio and had won a Bronze medal, two Queen’s prizes and two third grade prizes at South Kensington.   He was sent by his company to the States and lived for over two years in Philadelphia from July 1891 to January 1894.  By June 1894 he was working in Kidderminster and then he appears to move to London where in 1897 he is working for Woodward and Grosvenors of Newgate Street.   He became attached to a girl called Emily Pipe.  No marriage is documented in the diary but at Christmas 1899 Ernest and “Emily Pipe” are noted as visiting, while by June 1900 “Ernest and Emmie” came for a visit, and were later visited in London. If Fred is here following his usual practice in referring to her in these two different ways we can assume a marriage has taken place between the two dates.  No children born to them are noted during the period of the diary.
 
Bernard also worked in his father’s office and was considering going into the Law, remaining from May 1886 to March 1889 (aged 13 to 16).  He then left and started work at the Midland Railway engineering department of points and signals in Derby under Mr Paul Prince in May 1889.   He did well and became the third and last Signal Works Manager in 1919 and retained this position with L.M.S. after the re-grouping of 1923, being associated with major improvements and technological advances and having a number of patents to his name.  In June 1898 he married Lavinia (Vinnie) née Briggs and they had one daughter, Nancie Mary, who eventually inherited the diary.  Bernard retired in 1934 and died in 1939. (I am indebted to Tony Overton of the Midland Railway Society for the information on Bernard’s career after 1906).
 
Rosa passed the exams for the College of Preceptors in 1890 (second class, second division).  In February 1895 she went (by her own choice, Fred notes) as governess to the nine year old daughter of Reverend Cray of Lamplugh near Cockermouth, staying until July 1896.  She married Walter E Pratt in July 1897 and they settled in Lancaster where Walter had a job at a works.  Their son Norman was born in April 1900 and a daughter was born in May 1904.  Annie went to help her daughter on both occasions, and Lilian and Laura also went to stay and help their sister.
 
Harry passed his “Cambridge Local Examination” in 1897, and, started to help his father in the business from January 1891 (aged 13).  He did go on to take articles under his father and was still living at home in 1906.
 
Lilian, like Rosa, took the College of Preceptors examinations, gaining second class second division in January 1895. She married Archie Wright, son of the Cookes’ doctor, in August 1905 and they went to live in London (initially at 96 Abbey Road Hampstead in lodgings) where Archie was setting up as an apothecary.  He qualified in April 1906 as MRCS, LRCP, LSA.
 
Laura also passed College of Preceptor’s examinations (first class third division) in January 1895.  She took examinations in music and qualified as an Associate of Trinity College of Music in London in January 1901.  She then began to study to be an apothecary’s assistant, qualifying in 1906.
 
Servants were a continual part of the Cooke’s family life.  By 1870 they had three travelling with them on a visit to Chapel St Leonards.  Eliza the cook is mentioned as leaving after two years’ service in 1873, Mary the housemaid in February 1873 after a similar time.  Emily the housemaid left in August 1873.  Maria the nursemaid is mentioned in April 1874 and again in November 1876 when she left to get married.  By August 1880 the Cooke’s were down to one servant, Harriet Blakemore, who had to be locked in her room at night as she was prone to sleepwalking.
 
The Cookes kept animals, birds and fish as pets or, in keeping with Fred’s background in farming, for food.  At the Elms, where there was a large garden, they kept chickens from September 1872, and an experiment in raising pigs for sale was started.  This was abandoned in January 1875 as a failure.  A goldfish is mentioned in August 1872, followed by a dog, a Skye terrier named “Mop” in January 1873.  At least two cats appear, one in February 1873 and another,” Tiny”, in 1886.  Rabbits are referred to in April 1879, two white mice in June 1879 and pigeons/doves in December 1879 and in 1889.
 
 
Health
Fred Cooke was fairly preoccupied with his own state of health, chronicling ailments and consultations with doctors.  He also includes some information about the health of other members of the family.
 
Physically Fred was of medium height at 5ft 9 inches (1.65 metres) on 6 April 1863, when he was 20 years old.  He had grown three inches (7.5 cm) since the age of 15 ½..  His weight is given as 10 stone 13 lbs (69.4kg) on 7 December1866 aged 23, 10 stone 11 lbs (68.5kg) on 1 January 1869 aged 28 and 12 stone 11 lbs (81.2kg) on 12 August 1897 aged 54.  He took pleasure in many active pursuits while still in Lincolnshire and he records participation in races both over ground and in the water.  He retained a passion for walking into his sixties and took every opportunity to indulge this when in Derbyshire and on holiday in Wales.
 
Annie was 10 stone 5 lbs (65.8kg) at age 24 in January 1869 and 8 stone 9 lbs (54.9kg) at age 53 in August 1897.  She seemed to share her husband’s love of walking and often accompanied him on trips within Derbyshire as well as in Derby itself.
 
The vital statistics of the children are not given with any consistency.  Ernest was a very delicate baby, weighing only 7lbs (3.17kg) at the age of three months,.  By the age of 2 ½ he had grown to 2ft 11inches (0.89 metres) and weighed 2 stone 2lbs (13.6kg).  Bernard is the only other baby whose weight is mentioned: 8lbs (3.629kg) at birth.  Rosa’s weight at age 14 years 10 months is given as 7 stone 10lbs (49Kg).
 
In terms of preventative health care, Fred mentions vaccinations.  He was vaccinated (against smallpox which he notes was present at the time) in July 1866.  He documents the vaccination of some of the children.  Other diseases were considered endemic to childhood and Fred notes the onset of and recovery from measles for all the children.  Only one Cooke baby died in infancy, George Philip, who contracted a lung infection. 
 
“Rheumatism” is the condition that Fred seems to have been most prone to throughout his life.  However, it may be that this term covered a variety of actual and/or imagined medical conditions for him judging by the times of his life and circumstances under which he makes complaint.  He first notes an attack in July 1865 when, at the age of 22 he suffers from riding a “restive horse”.  In April 1867 he complains of “rheumatism” in his ankle and three years later he is ill for a month with “rheumatism” affecting his eyes.  By December 1872 his back is the seat of the problem; in April and December 1876 his hip.  In September 1877 his knees are affected and then his hand.
 
Stomach/digestive tract ailments are also documented.  In March 1868 he suffered from “peritonitis” which returned in April and May of the same year, laying him up for a week at a time.  Sick headaches then dominate, with a suspicious frequency in connection with over-indulgence at dinner parties, although Fred fails to make the connection.  He notes attacks 18 January 1872, 5 September 1872, 7 February 1873, 5 January 1876 and 29 December 1877 all after social events.  Another is noted the day after the birth of George Philip on 18 June 1873!  “Gout” in his stomach is suffered in June 1904 and July 1905,  “stomach spasms” in April, May, June and July of 1905, inflammation of the bowels in February 1896 and “colic” in June 1896 just before Rosa’s wedding.
 
Other episodes of ill-health include two bouts of “Erysipelas” in February 1878 and November 1903, a broken left arm from slipping on the ice in November 1890 and a “fit” lasting three quarters of an hour in January 1892,  He was examined by a Dr Greaves for Life Insurance on 27 November 1897 and writes that the report was not good “owing to rheumatism and heart action weak”.  He later writes of consulting Dr Wright, Normanton for “heart problems” in March 1899.
 
Annie seems to have enjoyed rude health, or perhaps any episodes of illness she suffered were not always documented.  A couple of references to sickness and diarrhoea, a probable miscarriage, modest periods of recovery from childbirth, “still bad with a tic” in February 1900 and a numbness down the left hand side of her face and forehead for which she was sent to Lincolnshire to recover in October 1891 are all that are imputed to her.
 
Social and leisure
Social and leisure activities take pride of place in Fred Cooke’s diary.  The periods about which he writes nothing or of which he notes that “nothing particular has happened” seem to be times when no outing or social event had occurred.
 
In the years before his move to Derby, Fred joined the Rifle Corps under Captain J Lister of Saleby.  He took part in rifle shooting competitions in March and August 1863, July 1864 and won a prize in October 1865. He gave a talk to the corps on “Theoretical Principles” in January 1866 and was raised to the rank of Corporal at the end of that month.
 
Fred hunted when he had the opportunity and took part on the South Wold hunt on 29 November 1862 and 6 January 1866.  He writes about swimming 1/4 mile in the Witham on 25 June 1863, and ½ mile breaststroke in 26 minutes on 1 July of the same year.  He mentions walking to Chapel St Leonards, 9 ½ miles in 1 hour 40 minutes in June 1863 and skating in the winters of 1864 and 1865.  Sailing, too, was within his capabilities and he writes of taking a small boat 7 miles along the coast in July 1864.
 
After the move to Derby, he returned each year from 1872 to 1876 at least once for the shooting on land of friendly farmers or on the coast, documenting the “bags” for himself, his father and other companions.
 
Visits to the seaside were regular features of the year.  In his youth this was Chapel St Leonards and he made a visit there each year from 1864 to 1871 except for 1869 when he and Annie went to Lowestoft for their honeymoon..  After the rail link had been established and excursions from Derby begun by Great Northern Railway (around 1878), Skegness became the favoured destination both for day trips and week-long holidays for Fred, Annie and the children.
 
Painting was Fred’s chief “hobby” and there were not many periods of his life when he neglected it.  From his remarks after visiting exhibitions of contemporary art, it is obvious that his taste was for the kind of romantic realism popular with traditionalists after Constable etc.  He makes the remark that “ “Art” is to hold the mirror up to nature”.  He took landscape, animals and still life as his subjects, sketching out of doors and completing works in oils, a favourite activity for a wet Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  He often gave the resulting works as presents to family or friends and others were mounted on the walls of his and Annie’s bedroom.  He submitted several works to exhibitions without success and sold some at a price of £1 each to WH Whiston and Bostock in December 1892.
 
Music was also an abiding interest.  Fred played the flute and sang tenor.  He began a choir in Alford and, on coming to Derby, joined the Choral Union.  He notes occasions when he sang tenor solos at St Alkmund’s church and St Peter’s Penny Readings from 1869 to1872.  A piano was hired in 1868 and bought for £42 (about £2600 by 2004 values) in October 1870.  All the children seem to have played it or some other instrument, Laura doing especially well.
 
Fred and Annie were communicants of the Church of England and they were regular church-goers from 1870 to 1880 at St Alkmunds.  Fred writes of his enjoyment of sermons particularly by Rev Abney.  He was a churchwarden and a member of the church committee at St Alkmund’s and the family rented a pew.  After moving to other areas of Derby, the family went to St Lukes, St James and St Andrews.  Other community work that Fred undertook was to be a House Visitor at the new Derby Royal Infirmary and he acted as solicitor to the Mechanics Institute..
 
Fred had to read a lot for his business and only mentions reading literature four times: Paradise Lost by John Milton, The Wortle Bank Diary, Robert Elsemere by Mrs Ward and Sergeant Ballantynes’s Reminiscences.
 
Physical activity and being out of doors remained important to Fred throughout his life.  He made much of the chances of skating that any cold winters allowed, and he and the children were among the first patrons of the indoor skating rink opened in Derby.  Walking was enjoyed for its own sake, and pleasure walks with Annie or some of the children across Derby to the station are mentioned as well as walks in the parks and surrounding fields.  Half or whole day trips into Derbyshire were taken as often as they could be, sometimes tacked onto a business visit to a Peak District town.
 
Fred and the family were avid supporters of any “attraction” that came to Derby.  They regularly attended the annual agricultural show and always made time to visit any circus or fair.  Visits to plays and opera, concerts given by the choral union, art exhibitions and pantomimes (usually in Nottingham or Birmingham) were also regularly made and enjoyed.
 
Visits to London were made for the sake of experiencing the capital and its landmarks, to see the Royal Academy exhibitions and to go to plays and musical events.  Fred mixed these in with business in the early years of his life in Derby, but his latter business life did not appear to involve matters outside Derby.  All the children were “shown the sights” by their father and Annie was treated to several trips at different times.
 
Spectator sports only begin to figure in the diary from 1898 onwards when a cricket match is attended.  From December of the same year Fred, Annie and any children at home took to going to football and baseball matches at the “Baseball Ground” (Derby’s ground that was joint for both sports at first, becoming home to Derby County FC alone until well into the twentieth century).
 
 
 
 
Main dates for events in the life of Frederick Cooke and his relations
7.6.1843 Birth of Frederick Duckering Cooke
10.4.1844 Birth of Annie Mason
June 1860 Fred Cooke leaves school
January 1861 Fred Cooke articled to Brackenbury, Alford (brother-in-law married to sister Lizzie)
1.1.1862 Diaries started
5.5.1863 Cooke family moves from Tothby to Alford
1 July 1865 Promised marriage between Fred Cooke and JV broken off, though clean break not achieved until 7.11.65
12.3 1866 Interview with Annie’s father about intention to marry
5.6.1866 All law examinations passed
20.6.1866 Proposal made to Annie Mason
1.1.1867 Fed Cooke taken into the firm of Marcus Huish, to manage the Derby office
7.9.1869 Marriage of Fred Cooke and Annie Mason. Arthur Dolman is Best Man.
25.6.1870 Birth of Ernest Cooke
17.1.1872 Epitome of diaries started
8.8.1872 (7.15am) Birth of Bernard William Cooke (Barny)
19.9.1872 Bernard William Christened
13.6.1873 (4.45 am) Birth of George Philip Cooke,  named for Lord Chesterfield.
31.12.1873 Death of George Philip Cooke from inflammation of the lungs.
3.11.1874 (1.10 pm) Birth of Rosa Marion Cooke
16.5.77 Birth of Henry Edwin Cooke (Harry)
21.7.1879 (10.40am) Birth of Lilian Amy Cooke (Lil)
20.1.1881 Birth of Laura Cooke (Lau)
19.5.1884 Death of Frederick Cooke (Fred Cooke’s father)
6.7.1897 Marriage of Rosa M Cooke to Walter E Pratt
21.6.1898 Marriage of Bernard William Cooke to Lavinia (Vinnie) Briggs at St Luke’s Church, Derby.  Gwendolyn (Gwennie) Briggs bridesmaid
18.8.1899 Engagement of Lilian Cooke to Archie Wright
11.1.1900 Death of Elizabeth (Robinson) Cooke
7.4.1900 Birth of Norman Pratt to Rosa and Walter Pratt
8 June 1902 Birth of Nancie Mary Cooke to Bernard and Lavinia Cooke
25.5.1904 Birth of daughter to Rosa (Cooke) and Walter Pratt
27.7.1904 Rosa’s daughter Christened at St Lukes
22.8.1905  Marriage of Lilian Cooke to Archie Wright
1917 Will of Frederick Cooke registered
1919 Bernard William Cooke becomes third and last Midland Railway Company Signal Works manager
28.7.1924 Marriage of Nancie Mary Cooke to Percy Edward Reynolds at All Saints Church, Derby
1934 Bernard William Cooke retires
July 1988 Death of Nancie (Cooke) Reynolds
 
Dates related to other connections of Fred Cooke
 
5.8.1808 Birth of Elizabeth Robinson (Fred Cooke’s mother)
22.6.1840 Birth of Polly Cooke (Fred’s sister)
26.2.1842 Birth of Iley Bradley (cousin of Fred Cooke; later wife of W. N. Mason, Annie (Mason) Cooke’s brother).
28.10.1862 Marriage of Lizzie Cooke (Fred’s sister) to Langley Brackenbury)
28.1.1864 Marriage of Eardley Mason (Annie’s brother)
4.8.1864 Marriage of Polly Cooke to Barnes Walker
3.6.1865 Birth of Harry to Polly (Cooke) and BarnesWalker
18.2.1867 Death of Fred Cooke (great-uncle to Fred Cooke of the Diary) in Boston, Lincs.
21.4.70 Death of Barnes Walker (Polly’s husband)
2.6.1870 Arthur Dolman marries Lottie Mason (sister of Annie Mason) at Rigsby, Lincs
16.1.1873 Birth of Son (Jim?) To Lottie (Mason) Dolman and Arthur Dolman
1873 Birth of Lavinia Mary Briggs (future wife of Bernard Cooke)
10.1.74 Birth of daughter to Lottie (Mason) Dolman and Arthur Dolman
15.4.74 Marriage of Polly (Cooke) Walker to Edward Soulby
25.6.1875 Death of L Brackenbury (husband of Lizzie)
7.12.1878 Birth of Louie Soulby to Polly (Cooke/Walker) and Edward Soulby
13.12.1878 Death of Annie Dolman (infant daughter of Arthur Dolman and Lottie (Mason) Dolman
17.4.1879  Marriage of Will N Mason (brother of Annie (Mason) Cooke and Iley Bradley (cousin of Fred Cooke) at Eastbourne.
1887 Will of Arthur Henry Dolman registered
1889 Birth of Gwendolyne Hannah Briggs (sister to Lavinia (Briggs) Cooke
25.7.1893 Marriage of May Walker (daughter of Polly (Cooke/ Walker/Soulby and Barnes Walker) to ? Talland
1897 Birth of Charles Maurice Reynolds (? future husband of Gwennie Briggs)
26.11.1903 Death of Edward Soulby (Polly Cooke.Walker’s husband)
10.2.1904 Death of Fanny Cooke (unmarried sister of Fred Cooke)
31.5.1905 Death of Eardley Mason (Annie’s brother)
26.9.1905 Marriage of Louie Soulby (Polly (Cooke/Walker)’s and Edward Soulby’s daughter to Matthew George Megaw, son of Brighton diamond merchant.

Derby Daily Telegraph, 7 September 1931. Deaths. Cooke. On Septmeber 5th, 1931, at 58 Mickle-gate, York, Annie widow of the late Frederick Duckering Cooke, solicitor, of Derby. Funeral Tuesday, 8th, at Caton, Lancashire. Aged 88.

Lincolnshire Chronicle, 10 September 1869. Marriages. Cooke-Mason. On September 7th, at St James, Rigsby, Lincolnshire (by the Rev Felix Laurent, M.A., Vicar of Saleby, assisted by the Rev J. H Oldrid, M.A., Vicar of Alford), Fred Duckering Cooke, Esq., Solicitor, of Derby, to Annie, second daughter of the late Mr James Mason, of Rigsby House.