Sir William Cook, 2nd Baronet (c. 1630 – January 1708), of Broome Hall in Norfolk, was a member of the

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

and a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

Member of Parliament.

Origins

He was only son and heir of Sir William Cook, 1st Baronet (died 1681), of Broome Hall, by his first wife Mary Astley, a daughter of Thomas Astley of

Melton Constable Melton Constable is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 518 in 225 households at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 200 ...

in Norfolk. His grandfather had acquired Broome Hall by marriage in 1603. The Cooke family had been seated at Linstead in Suffolk since the 15th century. The 1st Baronet remained neutral in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, though he did sign the Norfolk address to General

George Monck George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (6 December 1608 3 January 1670) was an English military officer and politician who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support ...

for a free parliament in 1660 and was made a baronet three years later.

Career

He attended

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

from 1647 and received legal training at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

from 1648 and was noted as "very well versed in every kind of learning, but especially distinguished by the suavity of his manners". He was a Justice of the Peace for Norfolk from 1660 to 1668 and a captain in the militia from around October 1660 to 1679 or possibly later. He became a commissioner for assessment Norfolk in 1661 and for Suffolk in 1679, holding both posts until 1680. In 1675 he was made commissioner for

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

s in Norfolk. He had become deputy lieutenant of Norfolk by 1676 and in 1681 he succeeded to his father's baronetcy. The 1677 session of parliament began to show fracture lines between Charles II's court and Parliament. Cook supported

Robert Paston Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth, FRS (29 May 1631 – 8 March 1683) was an English scientist and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1673 when he was created Viscount Yarmouth. He was created Earl of Yarmouth in 1679 ...

in backing the former, making him a potential pro-Crown candidate in the 1679 and 1681 elections. Cook did finally stand in 1685 for

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act of 1832, which had a very small electo ...

controlled by the Pastons) and won one of its two seats - in the same year he was made a freeman of

. However, soon afterwards he wrote to

William Sancroft William Sancroft (30 January 161724 November 1693) was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II, over his opposition to the king's Declaration of Indulgen ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury: He was appointed to nine minor committees during James II's single Parliament - he was the first man appointed to the committee for the bill for the renewal of the Yarmouth Harbour Act, meaning it was probably he who had introduced it. In 1688 he agreed that some of the laws penalising Roman Catholics and non-conformists might "require a review and amendment" but refused to agree to the abolition of the Test Acts. He was thus removed from his deputy lieutenancy and all other local office in February 1688 and in October that year refused to sit on the bench alongside Roman Catholics. In the post-

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

elections of 1689 he was returned for

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and also sat for the county in 1690 and 1698. When the House of Commons had to vote on the House of Lords' motion that the throne was not vacant (due to its being occupied by William III and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...

), Cook voted in agreement. After brief sick leave early in 1690, he returned to Westminster and sat on twenty committees in the Convention Parliament, including ones to repeal the

Corporation Act 1661 The Corporation Act 1661 ( 13 Cha. 2 St. 2. c. 1) was an act of the Parliament of England. It belonged to the general category of test acts, designed for the express purpose of restricting public offices in England to members of the Church of ...

, to inquire into the fall in rents, to adopt new oaths of supremacy and allegiance and to consider abolishing the

hearth tax A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is con ...

. He also helped consider a bill for bringing in

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s more efficiently and later committees to inquire into disasters during the war and to limit spending in elections. He had to sell Broome Hall and is buried in St Mary's Church, Cranworth, in Norfolk, where survives his mural monument displaying eight heraldic shields and an epitaph which describes him as a defender of monarchy "equally unaffected by the wicked artifices of rabid Papists and schismatics". In the absence of any sons or brothers, the baronetcy became extinct on his death.

Marriage

In 1664 (date of

marriage settlement A marriage settlement in England and Wales was a historical arrangement whereby, most commonly and in its simplest form, a trust of land or other assets was established jointly by the parents of a bride and bridegroom. The trustees were establish ...

) he married his step-sister Jane Stewart (died 1698), a daughter of William Stewart of

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

in Cambridgeshire and of

Barton Mills Barton Mills is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The village is on the south bank of the River Lark. According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is 'corn farm by the mill'. History ...

, by his wife Mary Greenwood (d.1686) (a daughter of William Greenwood of Burgh Castle in Suffolk) (whose inscribed ledger stone survives in Broome Church), the second wife of the 1st Baronet.Per ledger stone of Mary Greenwood in Broome Church, see image :File:St Michael's church - C17 ledger slab - geograph.org.uk - 1406578.jpg By his wife he had seven daughters but no son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, William 1630s births 1708 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1698–1700 English justices of the peace Deputy lieutenants of Norfolk Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk