Plymouth
Stonehouse (1813-1845)
Although today we can say John Cooke worked from London and Plymouth, this is not strictly accurate. The address he usually gave on his work produced in Devon is actually Stonehouse. In 1690 the Admiralty decided it needed a new naval dockyard, preferably in the west of England, and chose to build it east of the Hamoaze at the mouth of the Tamar River. The area here, owned by the St Aubyn family, had been known as Stoke Damerell and this was prominent in the map drawn up for Sr John St Aubyn in 1810 (19). Residential areas were squeezed into a narrow rectangle of land, completely surrounded by dockyard and barracks with only two roads leading out (both through government property) and one waterfront on the west coast. Nevertheless, by the time John Cooke moved to the area, it had a population larger than its two neighbouring areas of Stonehouse and Plymouth combined.
Fig. 22. The West Prospect of … Plymouth by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck.
The view
of Stoke Damerell, or as it was popularly known, much to the chagrin of the
locals, Plymouth Dock or simply Dock of Samuel and Nathaniel Buck (Fig. 22)
shows the west side of the town with its access to the Hamoaze. Plymouth, the original settlement was to the
east and situated between the Tamar and Plym rivers, but very much concentrated
around the harbour of Sutton Pool. Between these two conurbations lay the small
village of Stonehouse, or more properly East Stonehouse (West Stonehouse lay in
Cornwall).
The shortest
route in and out of Dock was via a bridge and the exceedingly high toll (of one
half penny) also had to be paid by the soldiers from the garrison. This forked
into Fore Street in the north and Edgcumbe and Union streets in the south. Union
Street being the main connecting route between Plymouth passing through marsh
land, the New Road and Dock. In 1812 Fore Street was described thus: but in
so despicable hole as Fore Street is at present, no man of property can be
expected to reside and the writer is disparaging of the landowners, Earl
Mount Edgcumbe and Sir John St Aubyn.[1]
This
was the situation when John Foulston (1772-1841) won a competition to design
the Theatre Royal with Hotel group of buildings in 1810. This complex was
completed between 1811 and 1813 (see Fig. 35). Notable for the
integration of cast and wrought iron in its construction it had to make way for
a cinema in the 1930s. However, another of his first projects in Plymouth was to
construct Union Street to join the three towns; it was planned as a grand
boulevard and was then mainly populated by the wealthy. Consequently, only 12
years later, in a second edition of The Tourist´s Companion written in
1823, the buildings were said to
be: neat and handsome, and the streets straight and commodious, particularly
those of Durnford-street, Emma-place, Edgcumbe-street and Union-street. These are
almost entirely occupied by genteel families, chiefly those of naval and
military officers, and other persons holding situations under government. The addition
of Union-street … is an improvement of the greatest importance … [it] affords a
spacious thoroughfare, and presents … a succession of neat and uniform buildings.
Fig.
23. John Foulston´s
arrangement of buildings in Ker Street, c.1829.
There
is one very noteworthy example of Foulston´s work in his complex of buildings
which still stand in Ker Street, constructed in 1821-24. Consisting essentially
of the Devonport column, erected to commemorate Devonport´s change of name and
status, it also includes a Greek-style town hall and a library built in an
Egyptian style along with other neighbouring buildings (Fig. 23).
The
first guide book to any of these Three Towns, as they were called,[2] is
generally regarded as The Picture of Plymouth and the text is credited to Henry
Woollcombe (1777-1846), a local Plymouth resident and Attorney at Law of
Frankfort Street, who founded the Plymouth Athenaeum and became Mayor of Plymouth
(1813). This guide was first issued by Rees and Curtis and contained one small
map, The Town of Plymouth Dock 1811 (20) signed by John Cooke, and
was a smaller copy of the large plan drawn up for the St Aubyn family (19).
There was no immediate reason
to think John Cooke was local, or even living locally, as the book was sold by Longman,
Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, a well-known London group of publishers and
booksellers. With much expanded and revised text this was republished as The
Tourist´s Companion, published by Granville & Son of Plymouth-Dock, in
1823 and 1828 (see entry 20). Significantly, for the second issue, the
date (1811) was deleted but New Road Stonehouse Plymo was added to Cooke’s
signature. This now linked Cooke with Plymouth and New Road and identified the
engraver of the 1811 map with Plymouth.
It will not be until 1815 that we have any signed
work by Cooke but, as stated earlier, there is evidence that John Cooke married
Elizabeth Beecham in 1809 and moved south to set up home. From 1813 we find John
and Elizabeth Cooke resident in Stonehouse, Plymouth. The couple do not seem to
have been regular church goers as the baptisms of their children often took place
years after birth. The registers of baptisms record that James Cooke was baptised
in September 1813 (recorded in St Andrew, Plymouth) with a note “said to be
born December 25th 1812”: father was John Cooke, Engraver. Two years later,
Edward Cooke was “said to be born in 1814” when his birth was recorded in St
Andrew, Plymouth in February 1816 with the parents´ address simply recorded as Stonehouse.
According to The Plymouth, Plymouth Dock and Stonehouse General Directory of 1814, Cooke, J, Engraver and Copperplate Printer was resident in Fore Street, opposite the Royal Navy Hospital (Fig. 24). Further children were baptised together in April 1827; John Cooke (born 1821), Henry (1823) and William (1825). A further son, Charles, was born 23rd March 1830 but not baptised until 24th September of the same year.[3]
Fig. 24. Detail showing Union Street and the Naval Hospital. Letter “h” in Union Street identifies the Copper Plate Printing Office.
It would appear that about the time Stonehouse
was receiving a make-over, John Cooke moved to the area and started a family.
With his experience at the Admiralty and knowledge of map and chart-making he
could have sought work at the rapidly expanding naval dockyard. Perhaps he was
enticed with the promise of further work by his previous employer, Sir John St Aubyn. Whether his first children
were born in Stonehouse (or London) is not clear from the birth registry but in
the 1861 census Edward, the second son, is listed as “Born Plymouth,
Devon”.
Edward himself became
a midshipman in the Royal Navy and married Charlotte Valentine in Stepney,
Middlesex in November 1838. In the 1841 census he was resident at St Vincent Street
in Stepney with his wife and daughter (Charlotte age 1) as well as William
Cooke, aged 15. Although Edward´s age is given as 25 (he would be 27) William at
15 could be his brother.
Links to sections of I - London
John Cooke of Howland Street (1799-1805)
The Ladies Circular Atlas and “Mr Barrow”
The Rev. Thomas Smith & The Universal Atlas
John Cooke and the Admiralty (1802-1805)
Between the Admiralty and Plymouth (1805-1812)
Links to section II - Plymouth.
Stonehouse (1813-1845)
Napoleon and Cooke´s first Plymouth engravings
The Copper-Plate Engraving, and Printing Office (1815-21)
John Cooke of Union Street, Stonehouse (1823-1845)
Summary
Return to Introduction
Link to IV: Short List of John Cooke's works.
[1] The Picture of
Plymouth by Henry Woollcombe,
1812. Pages 84-88.
[2] The Three Towns were Plymouth, Devonport (previously
known as Plymouth-Dock or Dock) and (East) Stonehouse.
[3] I am grateful to Dr Shirley Atkinson who made copies
of all birth registrations and baptisms available. She is a direct descendent of
Edward, the second son.
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