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Born in England, Cook became a coalminer;
after coming to New South Wales in
1886 he found work at Lithgow mines.
He became secretary of the Miners’
Association and won the seat of Hartley
for the Labor Leagues in 1891. His
association with the Labor Party was
short-lived and he aligned himself
with the Free Trade group of George
Reid in the New South Wales parliament
and then in the federal parliament,
to which he was elected as the member
for Parramatta in 1901.
In 1908 Cook became leader of the
Free Trade Party and combined with
Alfred Deakin and the Liberal Party
to form the anti-Labor Fusion government
in 1909. In 1913 Cook replaced Deakin
as Liberal leader and his party gained
a slim majority in the election of
that year. Cook’s term as prime minister
was short as his legislative progamme
was frustrated by the Labor-controlled
Senate, leading him to gamble on an
early election in 1914 which he lost.
From 1917-1920 he was minister for
the navy in Hughes’ Nationalist government
and represented Australia at the Versailles
Peace Conference in 1919. He was
treasurer in 1920-21 and then retired
from politics. From 1921 to 1927
he was Australia’s high commissioner
to London. He was knighted in 1918.
[ref : ‘Dictionary of Famous Australians’
Ann Atkinson (Allen & Unwin, 1995)]
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