Vincent Herbert Fuller COOK (1868-1940)

VINCENT HERBERT FULLER COOK, J.P., Pioneer Carriage Factory, Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, is the eldest son of the late Mr. H. J. Cook, of Payneham, who died in the year 1883. He was born at the above-mentioned town in 1865, and, at the close of his scholastic training, which was received at the Adelaide Collegiate School, served his apprenticeship to the coach-building trade, with the late firm of Peters and Fuller, of Adelaide. After concluding a term of five years with these gentlemen, he journeyed to Silverton, which had just come into prominence as a mining centre, and established himself in business as a blacksmith in conjunction with Mr. John Ferguson. Later on, when Silverton gave way to Broken Hill, Mr. Cook removed to the latter town and carried on in the same line until the time of the great strike, when he left the Barrier and came to Kangaroo Island.

The population on the island at that time mostly consisted of farmers, whose homesteads were so scattered that it was difficult to establish any satisfactory business relations with the community. Mr. Cook, however, persevered in his trade in the face of great obstacles, and gradually received sufficient encouragement to warrant a further development of the business. He was the first manufacturer of buggies, waggons, and ploughs on the island, and has now worked up a splendid connection, reaping the reward of his earlier enterprise. He is the local agent for the well-known Smith ploughs of Ardrossan, and is a maker of all kinds of agricultural implements, for which there is a continual demand.

In the earlier days of his residence at Kingscote Mr. Cook wisely secured a considerable amount of landed property, and carried on farming operations successfully. He has since disposed very profitably of a few thousands of acres of land, these transactions contributing materially to his general prosperity.

Mr. Cook is well known and widely respected, and in December, 1899, received his commission as Justice of the Peace. He holds the unique position of officiating Registrar of Marriages, this licence having been conferred upon him about 1897, on account of there being no resident minister on the island, and in this capacity he has celebrated many marriage ceremonies. He is a certificated lay reader of the Church of England, and fills the post of sidesman in that organization, having, in 1906, received a handsome testimonial in recognition of services rendered. Mr. Cook was also the founder of the Agricultural Bureau (of which he is Secretary) and of the Kingscote Rifle Club, which is, in the aggregate, the most successful club in the State, and still retains him as a member. He is connected with the craft of Freemasons, having been initiated about ten years ago into the Semaphore Lodge, No. 33. He has acted for many years as Secretary of the local Cricket Club, and fills that office in connection with the local sports held on behalf of the children every New Year's Day.

- Cyclopedia of South Australia, 1909, pp.1014-1015