Richard Cecil Cook (2 March 1902 – 29 July 1977), was an Australian judge and a member of the Industrial Commission of New South Wales.

Early life

Always known by his second given name, Cecil Cook was born in

Marrickville, New South Wales Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council Local government ...

, one of nine children of Sir

Joseph Cook Sir Joseph Cook (7 December 1860 – 30 July 1947) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1913 to 1914. He held office as the leader of the Fusion L ...

, a politician and

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

from 1913 to 1914, and

Dame Mary Cook Dame Mary Cook (née Turner; – 24 September 1950) was the wife of Australian Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Cook. Biography Early years Mary Turner was 22 years old and had been a schoolteacher for eight years when she married Joseph Cook in 18 ...

. He attended

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1912–1920) and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, where he graduated with a

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1924.

Legal career

After graduating Cook worked as a solicitor until 1928 and then read for the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

. He was a

barrister-at-law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giv ...

until 1954.Who's Who in Australia 1977 (Melb, 1977) pp251

Judicial career

Cook was appointed as an additional member Industrial Commission of New South Wales in 1954 and as a judge of the commission on 13 May 1955. He was a judge until his retirement on 1 March 1972.

Wool trade report

In the 1950s, Cook was appointed by the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

under the monopolies act to inquire into the wool trade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Richard Cecil 1902 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Australian judges People educated at Newington College University of Sydney alumni Children of prime ministers of Australia