Thomas Cook | |
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| Born | (1808-11-22)22 November 1808 Melbourne,Derbyshire, England |
| Died | 18 July 1892(1892-07-18) (aged 83) Leicester, England |
| Occupation | Founder ofThomas Cook & Son |
| Organization | Thomas Cook & Son |
Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was the founder of thetravel agencyThomas Cook & Son. He was born into a poor family inDerbyshire and left school at the age of ten to start work as a gardener's boy. He served an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker before becoming an itinerantBaptist preacher. He was a supporter of thetemperance movement and his first foray into tourism was a railway excursion toLoughborough for members of the Leicester Temperance Society in 1841. Following the success of this excursion, Cook, by now settled with his family inLeicester, began to organise tours further afield in the British Isles and, eventually, to the United States, Egypt and theHoly Land. In 1872, he went into business with his son asThomas Cook & Son, with a head office in London. Following his retirement in 1878, he returned to Leicester and took an interest in the Baptist church and charitable work until his death. Cook is credited with having, through his all-inclusive tours, made travel and tourism accessible to a wider public.
Thomas Cook was born on 22 November 1808 to Elizabeth and John Cook, who lived in a small cottage in Quick Close in the village ofMelbourne, Derbyshire. His father was a labourer who died when Cook was four years old; his mother was the daughter of aNew Connexion Baptist preacher. At the age of 10, Cook left school and started working as a gardener's boy onLord Melbourne's estate, while continuing his education at Sunday School and later becoming a Sunday School teacher. In 1828, he left an apprenticeship as a cabinet-maker to become an itinerant Baptist preacher, distributing tracts and setting up Sunday Schools in villages in theSouth Midlands for an annual salary of £36. In 1829, he met Marianne Mason, a farmer's daughter and Sunday School teacher fromBarrowden inRutland. The couple married on 3 March 1833 atSt Peter's Church, Barrowden and set up home inMarket Harborough in Leicestershire, with Cook working as a wood-tujarner. They had one surviving son, John Mason Cook, and daughter, Annie Elizabeth.[1][2]
While he was living at Market Harborough, Cook became a supporter of the temperance movement. In 1836, both he and Marianne signed the pledge and Cook became active in campaigning for abstention from alcohol.[1] Cook described how he got the idea for his first railway excursion when he was walking the 15 miles from his home to Leicester in June 1841 to attend a temperance meeting:[3] "A thought flashed through my brain – what a glorious thing it would be if the newly developed powers of railways and locomotion could be made subservient to the promotion of temperance". Cook's plan came to fruition on 5 July 1841, when he took a party of 485 members of the Leicester Temperance Society on a rail excursion fromLeicester Campbell Street Railway Station to Loughborough to attend a temperance meeting. He charged passengers oneshilling each to cover the cost of hiring a train from theMidland Counties Railway.[3] On the 150th anniversary of the excursion, a statue of Cook byJames Butler was unveiled outside Leicester Railway Station.[4]
Later in the year 1841, Cook moved to Leicester and set up as a bookseller and printer. He also ran two temperance hotels with his wife and his mother. In 1845, he organised his first profit-making excursion, taking a party toLiverpool,Caernarfon andMount Snowdon. The following year he branched out with tours to Scotland and in 1851 he arranged for 165,000 people to travel to theGreat Exhibition in London.[1] That same year he began publishingCook's Excursionist, a monthly magazine which, as well as advice to travellers and advertisements for travel goods, contained testimonials from people who had been on Cook's tours. One traveller wrote: "Everything is organised, everything is catered for, one does not have to bother oneself with anything at all, neither timings, nor luggage nor hotels".[5]: 25
Having organised tours in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man over the previous decade, Cook planned his first excursion abroad in 1855, a trip toCalais for tourists who went on to visit thePris Exhibition. This was followed by "a grand circular tour of the Continent", visiting major cities in Belgium, Germany and France.[6] In 1862, Scottish railway companies stopped issuing cheap group tickets for tour groups and Cook turned his attention further afield, to Switzerland and Italy, the United States, Egypt and the Holy Land.[1]
In 1865, Cook acquired business premises onFleet Street in London. The office also contained a shop which sold essential travel accessories, includingguide books, luggage, and footwear. In 1872, he formed a partnership with his son, John Mason Andrew Cook, and renamed the travel agency asThomas Cook & Son.[7] In 1868, the company introduced "hotel coupons" which were issued to travellers and could be exchanged for restaurant meals and hotel accommodation. "Circular notes", a form oftraveller's cheque, were introduced in 1874 and enabled tourists to obtain local currency.[3] Cook made his first round-the-world tour in 1874, and the same year advertised an annual conducted trip for 200guineas.[6]
While Cook travelled the world, his son stayed at home to run the company, moving to a new London headquarters atLudgate Circus. Cook and his son had different attitudes towards the business, with John Mason Cook being the more commercially-minded, and, after a number of quarrels, Cook retired from the partnership in 1878.[1]
Following his retirement, Cook moved back to Leicester to a house, Thorncroft, he had had built on London Road.[3] His later years were marred by the death of his daughter in 1880 and of his wife in 1884 and by increasing loss of sight. He still managed to travel and went to theHoly Land in 1888. At home, he continued his work for the Baptist Church, the temperance movement, and other charities. He died following a stroke on 18 July 1892.[1] He was buried in Welford cemetery in Leicester.[8] His wealth at death was £2731 7s. 2d His son died in 1899, leaving an estate of £622,534 3s. 4d. The business of Thomas Cook & Son was then run by Cook's three grandsons.[1]
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Cook is commemorated in the village of his childhood, Melbourne, byalmshouses and a chapel he had built in 1890. A plaque reads:"General Baptist Memorial Cottages and Mission Hall. Erected by Thomas Cook, a Native of Melbourne 1890".[9] In Leicester he is commemorated by his statue outside the railway station and a blue plaque on his home, Thorncroft.[8]
Historian of tourism Alan McNee described Cook as "perhaps the nineteenth century's greatest force for popularizing and democratizing travel", writing:[10]
Although the firm and its clients were often criticized by conservative commentators as a vulgarizing and destructive influence, Cook’s promotion of 'excursion' travel allowed a huge number of ordinary British men and women to experience travel in a way that would have been unimaginable for their parents and grandparents. In doing so, Cook transformed the fields of tourism and leisure.
