I'm interested in the article that you wrote regarding Dr. Thomas Cooke and his school. I'm doing family research on my wife's family. Dr Cooke was her grandfather's grandfather. Her great grandfather was the one mentioned in the article who died, Granville. The family lived at 40 Brunswick Sq, just around the corner from the school when located at Henrietta Mews. I believe that that part of the property is now a garden/landscape centre. I'd be very interested in any extra research that you could share regarding the school and the events happening after the doctors death. Was the building housing the school on Henrietta Mews built by Dr. Cooke or was it an already existing structure. I understand that he did build a small cottage on the property to house students and where his son, Granville eventually died from gas asphixiation. When was the building eventually torn down? Where was the school located before it was moved to Henrietta Mews?
Thank you very much for your comment – it’s fascinating to hear of your family connection with Dr Cooke. I don’t have much further information about the buildings other than that they became derelict between 1914 and 1925.
Before moving to Henrietta Mews, the school was at 31 New Bridge Street, Blackfriars. I believe the property at Henrietta Mews belonged to the Church of St George the Martyr and the family rented it, continuing to pay even after it went out of use. The school itself comprised a couple of large sheds, which don’t sound very permanent, so I would imagine Dr Cooke put them up after renting the grounds. I'm afraid I don't know when they were removed.
Edward Knight MRCS, who had previously been the school’s administrator, became its director after Cooke’s death until 1914, when it closed and a caretaker remained on site, living in the cottage where Granville later died. I am sure you are aware of the details of the tragedy. 40 Brunswick Square is now the Foundling Museum and there is a children's nursery in the approximate location of the anatomy school. A cottage remains in Henrietta Mews and I think it might be the same one, but I'm not sure.
Thank you for the additional information. My wife's grandfather was a very interesting man. The first time that I met him was when my wife and I were engaged in 1974. Cyril Cooke was in a nursing home west of Toronto where I live. He had all of the information about his grandfather, Dr Cooke and His grandmother, Comtesse Aglae Helene Edme De Hamel De Manin. Cyril's cousin Peggy was a scholar in England who kept the family archives and records of all births, deaths, marriages and memorabilia. She used to go out and give lectures on the Cooke family background. I have what is known in the family as The Book of Cooke, which includes a vast amount of records, documents and pictures. This was kept and filled in by Cousin Peggy, as she was affectionately known, and sent to Canada before her death.
I've scanned all of the information in the ledger that she kept and I've been able to get a lot more information off the internet and through a subscription to Newspapers.com. Some of the information in your article helped me to find a few other things from old news articles.
Much family lore has surrounded the mysterious death of Granville. He and Cyril's mother were divorced in 1905. I've got newspaper articles and the original court documents. Granville was a brilliant man, but he seemed to have a screw loose in his head. He was in and out of jail almost immediately after his marriage to Mabel Violet Wright in 1896. After his grandfather died in 1899, his father's stints in prison and then his mother's infidelity, Cyril ended up being raised by his grandmother, Comtesse Aglae. His mother was not allowed to have custody of Cyril. The court granted custody to Granville.
Cyril got married to the granddaughter of Dr Henry Bendelack Hewetson of Leeds in 1923. He was a very interesting man. Cyril and Winifred ended up having 12 children. Ten of the children were born in England and then Cyril wanted to leave England after the death of his grandmother in 1939. He came to Canada by way of British Guiana in 1940 where the 11th child was born. He got the premier of Ontario to personally sponsor the family and they ended up living on his farm for a year before they finally got themselves established. My mother-in-law was the 2nd of the 12 children.
I've been trying to expand on the information in the book of Cooke and to organize the material into something that could be shared among the extensive family. I've been able to get quite a bit of information from old newspaper clippings about the death of Granville on April 1, 1925 when he was found dead in the cottage next to the anatomy school, where he was living with another young man who was also found dead. Not much was known about this throughout the years. Granville didn't have a sense of smell and he often left the gas on without realizing that he had done so. That may explain his death in the cottage, but there were questions surrounding the young man's death. It was determined that both had died due to accidental asphyxiation.
The newspapers at the time made a huge splash about the 'House of Death'. It was an eerie place with old tombstones all over the grounds, old body parts in the buildings and huge amounts of vials of poison found.
Thank you for the additional information. I will add it to my records and share it with the family. Please let me know if you stumble upon any additional information related to the family or school.
It is wonderful to have this background information - thank you for sharing it.
I have seen quite a few of the newspaper articles from 1925 and the story evidently caused quite a stir due to the macabre location and the mystery surrounding the men's deaths.
I will certainly be in touch if I find out anything further.
I'm interested in the article that you wrote regarding Dr. Thomas Cooke and his school. I'm doing family research on my wife's family. Dr Cooke was her grandfather's grandfather. Her great grandfather was the one mentioned in the article who died, Granville. The family lived at 40 Brunswick Sq, just around the corner from the school when located at Henrietta Mews. I believe that that part of the property is now a garden/landscape centre. I'd be very interested in any extra research that you could share regarding the school and the events happening after the doctors death. Was the building housing the school on Henrietta Mews built by Dr. Cooke or was it an already existing structure. I understand that he did build a small cottage on the property to house students and where his son, Granville eventually died from gas asphixiation. When was the building eventually torn down? Where was the school located before it was moved to Henrietta Mews?
Thank you very much for your comment – it’s fascinating to hear of your family connection with Dr Cooke. I don’t have much further information about the buildings other than that they became derelict between 1914 and 1925.
Before moving to Henrietta Mews, the school was at 31 New Bridge Street, Blackfriars. I believe the property at Henrietta Mews belonged to the Church of St George the Martyr and the family rented it, continuing to pay even after it went out of use. The school itself comprised a couple of large sheds, which don’t sound very permanent, so I would imagine Dr Cooke put them up after renting the grounds. I'm afraid I don't know when they were removed.
Edward Knight MRCS, who had previously been the school’s administrator, became its director after Cooke’s death until 1914, when it closed and a caretaker remained on site, living in the cottage where Granville later died. I am sure you are aware of the details of the tragedy. 40 Brunswick Square is now the Foundling Museum and there is a children's nursery in the approximate location of the anatomy school. A cottage remains in Henrietta Mews and I think it might be the same one, but I'm not sure.
Thank you for the additional information. My wife's grandfather was a very interesting man. The first time that I met him was when my wife and I were engaged in 1974. Cyril Cooke was in a nursing home west of Toronto where I live. He had all of the information about his grandfather, Dr Cooke and His grandmother, Comtesse Aglae Helene Edme De Hamel De Manin. Cyril's cousin Peggy was a scholar in England who kept the family archives and records of all births, deaths, marriages and memorabilia. She used to go out and give lectures on the Cooke family background. I have what is known in the family as The Book of Cooke, which includes a vast amount of records, documents and pictures. This was kept and filled in by Cousin Peggy, as she was affectionately known, and sent to Canada before her death.
I've scanned all of the information in the ledger that she kept and I've been able to get a lot more information off the internet and through a subscription to Newspapers.com. Some of the information in your article helped me to find a few other things from old news articles.
Much family lore has surrounded the mysterious death of Granville. He and Cyril's mother were divorced in 1905. I've got newspaper articles and the original court documents. Granville was a brilliant man, but he seemed to have a screw loose in his head. He was in and out of jail almost immediately after his marriage to Mabel Violet Wright in 1896. After his grandfather died in 1899, his father's stints in prison and then his mother's infidelity, Cyril ended up being raised by his grandmother, Comtesse Aglae. His mother was not allowed to have custody of Cyril. The court granted custody to Granville.
Cyril got married to the granddaughter of Dr Henry Bendelack Hewetson of Leeds in 1923. He was a very interesting man. Cyril and Winifred ended up having 12 children. Ten of the children were born in England and then Cyril wanted to leave England after the death of his grandmother in 1939. He came to Canada by way of British Guiana in 1940 where the 11th child was born. He got the premier of Ontario to personally sponsor the family and they ended up living on his farm for a year before they finally got themselves established. My mother-in-law was the 2nd of the 12 children.
I've been trying to expand on the information in the book of Cooke and to organize the material into something that could be shared among the extensive family. I've been able to get quite a bit of information from old newspaper clippings about the death of Granville on April 1, 1925 when he was found dead in the cottage next to the anatomy school, where he was living with another young man who was also found dead. Not much was known about this throughout the years. Granville didn't have a sense of smell and he often left the gas on without realizing that he had done so. That may explain his death in the cottage, but there were questions surrounding the young man's death. It was determined that both had died due to accidental asphyxiation.
The newspapers at the time made a huge splash about the 'House of Death'. It was an eerie place with old tombstones all over the grounds, old body parts in the buildings and huge amounts of vials of poison found.
Thank you for the additional information. I will add it to my records and share it with the family. Please let me know if you stumble upon any additional information related to the family or school.
It is wonderful to have this background information - thank you for sharing it.
I have seen quite a few of the newspaper articles from 1925 and the story evidently caused quite a stir due to the macabre location and the mystery surrounding the men's deaths.
I will certainly be in touch if I find out anything further.