Fonds paa-6507 - Thomas A. Cooke fonds

Thomas Alfred Cooke was born at Westbury-on-Trym, England on May 21, 1881. As a boy he attended Colston's School in Bristol, England. When he was a young man he left England to come to Canada on March 31, 1903, on a colonial expedition planned by the Rev. I.M. Barr. Cooke and the 2000 other people who sailed to Canada under the direction of Rev. Barr later became known as the Barr Colonists. Upon arriving in Canada, Cooke remained in Winnipeg, Manitoba on the advice of Rev. George E. Lloyd who later took over the expedition and for whom the town of Lloydminster was named. Cooke remained in Winnipeg until 1906 when he moved to his homestead near Marshall, Saskatchewan. In 1910 his girlfriend Margaret Rhyedech, moved to Canada from England. Born in Cinderford, Gloucester in 1884, Margaret came to Canada to marry Cooke in Tartonen, Saskatchewan. Together they had a daughter, Alberta Ellen and a son, David. The family remained in Saskatchewan for many years during which time Cooke served on municipal councils and on the school board. Then in 1940, they moved to Edmonton, Alberta where Cooke worked for the Dominion Bridge Company Ltd. until his retirement in 1954. Thomas Cooke died in Edmonton on February 28, 1966.