My  Cook  Family

in Hertfordshire



This family does not descend from Captain James Cook .
There are NO direct descendants of James Cook .
Any descendants of his bloodline come from his sister Margaret
who married James Fleck & thus are not COOK

Captain James COOK son of James COOK & his wife Grace Pace. Bb 27 OCT 1728 at Marton in North Yorkshire.  Of the 6 brothers & sisters James was the only son who married.
He married Elizabeth Batts on 21 DEC 1762 at St. Margaret's , Little Barking, ESSEX, Eng .   


Capt James Cook & his wife Elizabeth
had 5 sons & a daughter all of whom died before him,
unmarried & without issue.        

James   b 1763 died 1794  in Isle of Wight  age 31 UnM

Nathaniel  b 1764 died age 16 at sea in the Caribbean 1780 

Elizabeth   b 1767 died 1771 in Stepney age 4

Joseph   b 1768 died as an infant

George   b 1772 died as an infant

Hugh   b 1776 died  1793 age 17 at Cambridge University

 
Their father Captain James Cook died: 14 FEB 1779 at: Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii  



John Cook marriage 1671 to Mary Cannon by Lic from St Albans Archdeaconary

John Cook Bb 1646 son of William & Annis Cook at Condicote Herts

John Cook married Elizabeth Williams 1st Sept 1713 at St Albans

Edward   Bb to John Cook & Elizabeth his wife Flamstead 14 June 1713

Elizabeth   Bb to John Cook & Elizabeth his wife Flamstead 14 June 1713

John Cook death & burial 21 Jun 1709 St Albans

John Cook baptism 8 Nov 1714 son of Widdow Cook from Sundon at St Peters St Albans
 On  21 Oct 1731 he married Susanna Beasley of St Stephen St Albans


2022 ADDITIONAL RESEARCH has ADDED A FEW MORE CHILDREN TO THEIR FAMILY 
John Cook Married Frances Parrett on 7 May 1789 at Great Gaddesden Both OTP the both made their mark in the register

Joseph Cook  Recorded as a Quaker
Joseph Cook son of Joseph of Eaton Bray born 1688 died age 20 in 1708 buried 2 June in St Albans ( 5 miles south-west of the town of Dunstable )

Percy David RANDALL Cook  was my grandfather. Born in 1883,  he was 35 in 1918 at the outset of WWI  .
He serve in the  Royal Air Force as a clerk.  Occupation Accountant : Attestation 27 Jun 1917: Service number 231968 RNAS

Archive reference AIR 79/2088  served from 27 Jun 1917  1/April 1918- AFman II Wandsworth promoted 27 June 1917  ; DC Crystal Palace 2 Feb 1919 promotion ABM II (S);  18 Oct 1919 ABM II (S);  27 Dec Oct 1919 ;
transferred RAF Clerk 2 on 1 /4/1918 reclassified Clerk 1 1/9/1918 Transferred to RAF reserve Dec 5 March 1919; discharged 30 Nov 1920.

1921  Census living at  52 Tremaine Road Penge
Percy DR Cook Head 1883 38 born Hoxton, Middlesex, Manager Chemical Merchants Reitmeyer Calburn & Kendersly, 64 Cheapside, E C 2
Kate R Cook Wife 1882 39 Forest Hill, Oxfordshire, England Home Duties -
Clive R Cook Son 1908 13 Wealdstone, Middlesex, England - -
Joan H R Cook Dau 1911 9 Sydenham, Oxfordshire, England -


WWII Sept 1939 Register   9 The Warren , Carshalton U.D., Surrey 

Percy David Randall Cook   3 March 1883 age 54 occupation  Financial & Property Broker 

Kate Cook wife 13 Feb 1882  Unpaid Domestic Duties

Joan H R Mewes Dau   30 Aug 1911  "     "         " married 1935 to Bernard Mews photographer  

Clive Randall-Cook son 11 Apr 1908 Electrical Engineer Graduate -  married 30 Sept 1939;  ASRE   1939 to 42-      OBE 1966


circa 1947   'Sunnycote'  Mount Park Carshalton which had a garden filled with lavender

1960 ish they  moved to 50 Courtland Crescent, Banstead 

 

ANCESTORS

When Julia Randel , daughter of a brewer,  married David Cook an agricultural labourer they evidently took over the Red Lion at Ware with her as landlady 

1861 Red Lion Wareside Herts

David Cook Head 35 1826 Ag  labourer Standen, Herts  died age 41 1868
Julia Cook Wife 31 1830 (Innkeeper)   Ware, Hertfordshire,  died 24 Dec 1898
George D Cook Son   8 1853 Scholar Ware, Hertfordshire, England
Annie O Cook Dau 7 1854 Scholar Ware, Hertfordshire, England
Henry K Cook Son 5 1856 Scholar Ware, Hertfordshire, England
Amelia Cook Dau 2 1859 - Ware, Hertfordshire, England
Louisa Pricklove  14 1847 General servant Thundridge, Hertfordshire,


Residents at this address

1861/David Cook/Ag Labourer/35/Standon, Hertfordshire/ died 9 Nov 1868 age 41

1861/Julia Cook/Wife/31/Ware, Hertfordshire/Census died 1898

1861/George D Cook/Son/8/Ware, Hertfordshire/Census

1861/Annie O Cook/Daughter/7/Ware, Hertfordshire/Census

1861/Henry R Cook/Son/5/Ware, Hertfordshire/Census

1861/Amelia Cook/Daughter/2/Ware, Hertfordshire/Census

1861/Louisa Pricklove/General Servant/14/Thundridge, Hertfordshire/Census


1871/Julia Cook/Grocer & Beer House Keeper, Widow/41/Wareside/Census

1871/David Cook/Son, Assistant/18/Wareside/Census

1871/Amelia Cook/Daughter/12/Wareside/Census

1871/Mary Ann Cook/Daughter/9/Wareside/Census

1871/William Randall/lodger, Railway Platelayer/40/Colchester/Census


1881/Julia Cook/Grocer & Publican, Widow/57/Babbs Green, Hertfordshire/Census

1881/George D Cook/Son, Bricklayers labourer/28/Wareside, Hertfordshire/Census

1881/Annie C Cook/Daughter, Domestic Servant/27/Wareside, Hertfordshire/Census

1881/Mary A Cook/Daughter, Domestic Servant/19/Wareside, Hertfordshire/Census

then by 1890/  things had changed  & George Thake jun was the landlord /Beer Retailer & Shopkeeper/../../Post Office Directory

Joseph Cook married SARAH WARWICK   27 NOV 1813 Standon, Hertford, England 

 

David COOK born Standon Hert Chr 4 March 1826 son of Joseph and Sarah COOK.(IGI)

the follow need  double checking


HENRY COOK – Christening: 07 MAR 1824 Standon, Hertford, England

DANIEL COOK Christening: 10 NOV 1816 Standon, Hertford, England


JAMES COOK - Christening: 04 SEP 1814 Standon, Hertford, England  died as child
JAMES COOK - Christening: 11 APR 1830 Standon, Hertford, England

DAVID COOK - Christening: 04 FEB 1827 Standon, Hertford, England


CHARLES COOK Christening: About 06 JAN 1822 Standon, Hertford,England

JOSEPH COOK Christening: 30 MAY 1830 Standon, Hertford, England



Newhall  seen from the road on Google Maps 2014  - A large, ancient and obviously prosperous farm complex with barns and a moated house;  recently up for sale NewHall Farm,  part of the complex a very beautiful house for over  £2 million .

My Cooks appear to be mainly farmers or farm workers and the Randel's appear to have been local tradesmen in nearby Wareside

Babbs Green is a hamlet approximately 3 miles away from Ware, the county town of Hertfordshire.

Nearby villages include Widford, Hunsdon, Babbs Green and Bakers End with the hamlets include Cold Christmas and Helham Green.

The B1004 linking Ware to Bishop's Stortford goes through Wareside village and the main A10 road can be picked up at Thundridge.

Just because I love old and beautiful houses Ive researched Newhall.
Babs Green immediately north of Wareside village, Newhall  is less than ¼ mile from Babbs Green. Cooks Farm is on the other side of the village.


BHOL gives us this - In 1326 John de Hengham, clerk, granted all his tenements in the vill of Ware called LE NEWEHALLE,  -  viz. two messuages, 200 acres of land, 7 acres of meadow, 1½ acres of wood, to the Abbot and convent of Waltham Holy Cross,  to hold of the chief lords of the fee by the customary services. The house and farm buildings were inclosed by a homestead moat, one side of which is now filled up.  


 This estate remained in the possession of the convent until the Dissolution. Leases of it were granted to Nicholas le Blake in 1344 and 1365. 

In 1543 after the Dissolution it was granted to Richard Andrewes and Nicholas Temple, probably trustees, under the name of the manor and tenement called Newhall, with two woods called Abbottes Gardeyn containing 1½ acres, and Tyle Wood, containing 3 acres. They immediately alienated to John Dodyngton.  He died seised of it in January 1544–5, leaving a son and heir John, aged twenty–two,  who conveyed it in 1548 to Thomas Thorogood.  

 No further trace of Newhall has been found until 1783, when William Ward and Anna Maria Gardiner, spinster, conveyed it to William Leake. 

In the C19th it was owned by Mrs. Croft of Fanhams Hall. 


The Red Lion in Ware

Standon is about 8 miles from Ware

Ware is about 3 miles from Hertford about 25 miles from central London

Babbs Green is close to Wareside the village

STANDON, a parish (formerly a market town) in the hundred of Braughin, county of Hertford, 8 miles (N.E.) from Hertford.

Broxbourne, Eastwick, Gilston, Great Amwell, Great Munden, Hoddesdon, Hunsdon, Little Munden, Standon, Stanstead Abbots, Stanstead St. Margaret, Thundridge, Ware, Widford, Wormley.

~~

1891 Census  - Cottage, Wareside, Ware, Herts  

Julia Cook Head Widow  61 B 1830 Retired grocer Ware, Herts  died 1898

Isaac Lawrence Son in law Widr 351856 Bricklayer Ware, Hertfordshire,

Julia R Cook Granddaughter  8 1883 Wareside, Herts

Hetty C Cook Granddaughter 7 1884 Wareside, Herts England

William Randall border married  age 60  platelayer


 Julia Randall Cook granddaughter
Julia Randal Cook Bb 26 Oct 1832 
father George David Cook bricklayers labourer mother Jane   Pennyfeather

sent to Wareside School 

Julia Cook b 23 Aug 1882  father David Cook  admitted age 4 in 1886 Wareside C Of E  School

she was admitted again age 7 1889  father recorded as George this time but birth date the same.


 

Ware has been described as "one of the oldest, continuously occupied sites in Europe . It grew up beside a ford on the River Lea where  the Old North Road, followed the Roman road called Ermine Street the road between London and Lincoln & York and  the Great North Road the main medieval road between London & Edinburgh in Scotland. 

Ware , as  a small Roman town it served as a staging post for the legions on their way to York and Hadrian's Wall. In Saxon times, the town was on the frontier between Wessex and the Danelaw and that is when it  acquired its present name of Ware from the drop in the river or `weir'. 

In its position on  the North Road Ware became an important coach stop in the period from 1400-1700. with almost every building on the south side of the High Street  (then known as `Water Row') an inn, and a waggonway leading to an inn yard with stables and gardens running down to the river.

 Kings, abbots and pilgrims stayed in the Ware inns and in Chaucers   Canterbury Tales, 

Malt making,  the germinating of barley for the brewing of beer grew and by the 18th century Ware was the premier malting town in England.   Fortunes were made and lost in the malting industry and men were drawn to the town and by the 1880’s  there were as many as 140 malthouses in the town. 

 Since that high point the malthouses have been converted into housing or other uses, but the cowls of the malt kilns are still a feature of the skyline  

Ware is full of architectural jewels - many of them timber-framed. English Heritage has listed four of its buildings as Grade I, fifteen as Grade II* and 181 as Grade II. Some of these buildings are described on the Town Highlights, with a location map.




Addition research Connections unclear



1841 census Newhall Farm, Babbs Green.

Thomas Cook  Head  23   Ag Lab Bn. Standon b circa 1818 ( employee )

Maria Cook   Wife  23  Ware.


50 years later they were still in the same place

Census 1891 New Hall Green No.2.

COOK Thomas 64 Gardener(Em'ee) Hertfordshire - Standon
COOK Maria 63  Hertfordshire - New Hall Green

were there children ?



Another Thomas Cook  married Maria Clem  25 Jan 1851 Wareside, Hertford, 

children

William Cook 7 Nov 1852 Wareside, Hertford,

Mary Ann Cook 1 Oct 1854 Wareside, Hertford

Julia Cook 7 Dec 1856 Wareside, Hertford,

Eliza Cook 6 Feb 1859 Wareside, Hertford,

Alice Cook 2 Jun 1861 Wareside, Hertford,

Abraham Cook 1 Oct 1871 Wareside, Hertford,

Rosina Cook 4 Jul 1869 Wareside, Hertford,

Fanny Maria 5 Jul 1863 Wareside, Hertford,

Thomas Cook 2 Jul 1865 Wareside, Hertford,

James Cooke 4 Aug 1867 Wareside, Hertford,



1891 census

Standon Standon St

COOK Abraham 53 b 1838 Gardener(Em'ee)  Hertfordshire  Standon

COOK Eliza Wife 53   Hertfordshire Standon

COOK Charles Son 22 Bricklayer(Em'ee) Hertfordshire- Standon

COOK Henry Son 18 Builder's Laborer (Em'ee) Hertfordshire Standon

COOK Thomas Son 14 Errand Boy(Em'ee)  Hertfordshire - Standon

COOK Mary A Dau  12 Scholar Hertfordshire - Standon

Joseph Rist of Ware, Wareside married Elizabeth Cook of Ware, Wareside Ware, Wareside 18 Jul 1857

1891 Census shows the  tenants at New Hall Farm were

CHAPMAN William H  27 Farmer(Employer) born Herts– Ware

CHAPMAN Ellen 27 London - London City

RIST Maria 17 Domestic Servant(Em'ee) Herts  Ware
employed on the estate

RIST Edward 50 Farm Labourer (Em'ee) Hertfordshire - New Hall Gree RIST Sarah 47 Hertfordshire - Thundridge

RIST Emily Dau 20 Hertfordshire - New Hall Green  

RIST Aaron Son 17 Hertfordshire - New Hall Green  

RIST James Son 12 Hertfordshire - New Hall Green

RIST Francis Son 10 Hertfordshire - New Hall Green  

RIST Edith Dau 8 Hertfordshire - New Hall Green

RIST Ethel Dau 7 Scholar  Hertfordshire - New Hall Green RIST Edward Son 4 Hertfordshire - New Hall Green

 An Assortment of collected research 

HO/107/1705  F.418  P.7&8  1841 Census

 Babbs Green, Wareside.

Item 26  Ann Randle  widow  56  grocer  b. Thorley

Julia Randle  dau  21  at  home  Wareside

Item 27  David Cook   Unmarried  24  Ag Lab  Standon

Item 29  Joseph Randle Head  25  Brewer  Wareside

Thirza Randle  Wife   27 b  Manuden, Essex.


FINDS Hert RO

https://www.hertsdirect.org/ufs/ufsmain?ebz=4_1403442724607&ebd=0

Petty Sessions

George Randel 3 May 1910 Hunsdon accused Theft Hertford Petty Sessions summary
 conviction QSC/7 (No 6666)

Marriages

Joseph Rist of Ware, Wareside Elizabeth Cook of Ware, Wareside Ware, Wareside 18 Jul 1857

(Rist connects to New Hall Farm)

William Browning of Little Munden Married  Hannah Randel of Stondon Thundridge 13 Jun 1723

Thomas Clark Married  Lucy Randel Broxbourne 15 Sep 1827

Ed Millard Married Elizabeth Randel Newnham 26 Dec 1765

William Randel Married Mary Parsons Kelshall 2 Nov 1730

John Randel Married Martha Edwards Bygrave Bishops Transcripts 2 Jul 1749

William Randel Married Elizabeth Feld Wheathampstead 26 Jul 1761



Fatalities

 George Cook Cheshunt dead by Visitation of God 3 Aug 1838

 William Cook Standon accidental death 29 Sep 1833

 Thomas Cook Hemel Hempstead heart failure 26 Aug 1912

 Alfred Cook Berkhamsted drowning 15 Jul 1927

 Matthew Cook Potten End suicide - drowning in water tank 10 Aug 1911

 Kate Cook Berkhamsted cerebral haemorrhage 14 Jun 1917

 Emily Novis Cook Bovingdon suffocation - overlaid by mother 5 Mar 1918

 Ernest Albert Cook Hemel Hempstead accidental gunshot wound 31 Jul 1922

 


I was given

JOHN COOK Married Frances Howes 4 July 1790 Hatfield Herts Flamstead is near St Albans

but I also found

John Cook Married  Frances Humpreys in Wheathampstead 4 Mar 1783 (Wheathampstead is  St Albans, in the Hitchin and Harpenden parliamentary constituency.)

John Cook Married  Frances Parrat in Great Gaddesden 8 May 1789

( This seems a more likely choice given the birth dates for the children . Great Gaddesden is north of Hemel Hempstead. The parish borders to Flamstead, Hemel Hempstead, Nettleden and Little Gaddesden and also to Studham in Bedfordshire.)


I found children

JOHN COOK christening: 30 August 1789 FLAMSTEAD, son of John & Frances

THOMAS COOK christening: 26 Dec 1790 FLAMSTEAD, son of John & Frances

HANNAH COOK christening: 19 January 1794 Flamstead, dau of John & Frances

*JOSEPH COOK b 30 Sept 1792 son of John & Frances Flamstead Married Sarah Warwick

27th November 1813 at Standon  Witnesses James Cook, Mary Ann Cook & Samuel Pickett ( parish clerk)


Marriages

John Cook of Stevenage marriage by licences [ref AHH20/3] 1757 to Frances Blow of Stevenage

John Cook 4 Mar 1783 Frances Humpreys Wheathampstead

John Cook 8 May 1789 Frances Parrat Great Gaddesden

Richard Cook 5 Oct 1774 Ruth Cooper Flamstead

William Cook 1759 Elizabeth Kilbey of Caddington Flamstead Banns  

William Cook of Great Gaddesden  16 Nov 1808 & Cath Morton Flamstead by licence


Poor Removals & Settlements

John Cook Nov 19 1793 from Flamstead to Great Gaddesden Settlements


Tithe Awards

John Cook 1838 Flamstead occupier 491 DSA4/38/1 (Page 7)


Petty Sessions

Hemel Hempstead Petty Sessions : Game Trespass Source: Hertfordshire Mercury page 3

Publication date: 14/12/1861 Subjects: Petty sessions Places: Flamstead

Personal names: Noah Clark; James Dunkley; Richard Cook; Thomas Morton; Cornelius Clarke


WILLS date place occupation document ref

John Lea alias Cook 1727 Flamstead yeoman registered will 12HR207

John Lea alias Cook 1727 Flamstead yeoman filed will 85HW21

John Lea alias Cook 1727 Flamstead yeoman inventory H22/1481

Mary Alea widow alias Cook 1764 Hitchin formerly of Flamstead registered will 16HR428

Mary Alea widow alias Cook 1764 Hitchin formerly of Flamstead filed will 7HW72

John Lea alias Cook 1727 Flamstead yeoman inventory H22/1481

John Lea alias Cook 1727 Flamstead yeoman registered will 12HR207

John Lea alias Cook 1727 Flamstead yeoman filed will 85HW21


17th 18th c marriages

John Acrod & Ellen Cook Standon 15 Apr 1707

Richard Burling & Mary Cook Standon 30 Sep 1702

Francis Cook & Martha Campin Standon 11 Apr 1707

William Cook & Susan Wren Standon 28 Oct 1702

Henry Cook & Alice Brace Standon 10 Apr 1780

James Holden & Sarah Cook Standon 21 Sep 1795

William Osborn of Little Hadham & Elizabeth Cook of Standon Little Hadham 18 May 1799

Adam Smithson & Elizabeth Cook Standon 3 May 1697

Richard Stan & Ann Cook Standon 2 Oct 1716

John Waller & Kath Cook Standon 2 Jul 1719

John Taylor & Frances Cook Standon 10 Jun 1688

 

Cocke Cocks Coese Coke Coock Coocke Cook Cooke Cooks


Hertfordshire A large number of the inhabitants are employed in husbandry, and in addition to grain of choice quality, hay,  vegetables, and numerous fruits and flowers are extensively cultivated, especially for the London market.

The greater portion of the commerce of the county is supported by the trade in corn and malt. Manufactures are few;

paper-making silk-weaving, and straw-plaiting being the principal industries.

Herts. comprises 8 hundreds, 138 parishes, and parts of 3 others, and the municipal boroughs of Hertford and St Albans.

It is almost entirely in the diocese of St Albans. For parliamentary divisions,

Northern or Hitchin, Eastern or Hertford, Mid or St Albans, and Western or Watford,


Hitchin is a populous market town and parish in the hundred of Hitchin and Pirton - 34 miles N. N. W. of London

APPRENTICSHIP

Apprentices were indentured to Master craftsmen who would be responsible for their “moral welfare” The masters asked a premium for taking up the apprentice and the apprentices were largely unpaid getting room and board and clothing in exchange for learning specialised skills. When they completed their term of indentureship they became Journeymen and to became a master at their craft  they had to produce their Masterpiece. 

Apprentices were drawn from other crafts and families of the “middling sort”, rather than the poorest people. In the 18th and 19th centuries, orphans were sometimes taken on as “pauper apprentices” to work in mills.

BG/BAR/83 pauper placements Mary Cooper of Finchley placed with Mrs Cook of Finchley 30 Sep 1851

D/P53/16/6/1 John Cook of Clifton, Bedfordshire apprenticed to John Bailey, a Tailor of Clifton, Beds Jan 12 1780

D/P53/14/5/10 Joseph Cook son of George Cook of Hitchin apprenticed to John Sutton, a Carpenter of London May 04 1742

D/P19/14/5/11 William Cook son of William Cook of Berkhampsted apprenticed to John Ashby, a Cooper of Watford May 23 1774 Off Acc 1162/287

John Cook son of Samuel Cook of Harmes ?, Beds apprenticed to John Gosford, a Periwig maker of St Albans, Herts 11 December 1718

D/P53/14/4/113 John Squire son of John Squirte of Hitchin apprenticed to Thomas Cook, a Cordwainer of London Jun 05 1717

William Cook apprenticed 1773 to Thomas Wright Master Cornwainer Master Cordwainer of Stevenage
NA reference (IR 1 series)  28 f 2 Society of Genealogists number  142653

John Cook Mercer in Bedford Indentured 1718 Apprenticed Thomas Hubbard son of Thomas a Yeoman Premium/ fee  £30 .0s 0d
NA reference (IR 1 series) 45 f 131 SoG vol 5 Bedford page  2969 SOG no: 107597

John Cook son of William a Blacksmith of Willian Herts apprenticed 1724 to John Briant master tailor in Stevenage Herts Premium / fee £8 .0s 0d
NA ref (IR 1 series) 9 f 201 SOG vol 6 page  1177 SOG no: 44384 Country Apprentices London Apprenticeship Abstracts, 

1747 Richard Thorn son of Richard Thorn a draper of Walkern, Hertfordshire, apprenticed to John Cook of the , Butchers' Company 1 Jan 1746/

Samuel Green son of Edward Green a farmer Walkernbury Hertfordshire apprentices to John Cook of the butchers company 7 Jun 1749 

Edward Burnedge son of John Burnedge a weaver of Walkern, Hertfordshire, apprenticed to John Cook of the Butchers' Company 2 Nov 1758,

Richard Cook Master Weaver of Hodgson Hertfordshire for the fee of £5 .0s 0d Apprentice Benjamin Heath son of William Heath of Lindon a carpenter 1732.
 NA ref (IR 1 series) 13 f 69 SOG vol  14 page 2685 SOG No: 97740 Country Apprentices 1710-1808

George Cook Yeoman 1726 in Hitchin Herts for fee 10 guineas apprenticed Richard Dearmer son of Sleap Dearmer a husbandman of Offley Herts
NA ref 11 f 110 SOG Vol 8 page 554 SOG no:  57984 Country Apprentices 1710-1808

Thomas Pedder son of Thomas Pedder of Rodborn apprenticed to Jonathan Cook Master Baker 1741 of Chipping Barnet Herts 
NA ref T 16 / 181 Premium  £- .-s -d not given SOG vol 23 page 4496 SOG no: 158384

Richard Cook son of Joseph Cook a yeoman, Hoddesden, Hertfordshire, apprenticed to Thomas Roe, Coachmakers'& Coach Harness Makers' Company , 1 Apr 1708

William Crick , son of William Crick a farmer of Flamstead, Hertfordshire, apprenticed to Nicholas Cook, Farriers' Company 22 Jan 1739/40 [30 Sep 1741  master (deceased) turned over to John Heath],

Jonathan Strutton son of Jonathon Strutton a Yeoman of Gravely Herts apprenticed for a fee £6 .0s 0d to William Cook Master Blacksmith Willyon Hertfordshire in 1711 NA ref 1 f 62SOG vol 29 page  5648 SOG no: 230201

Thomas Braybook son of Thomas Braybook for the premium of £2 apprenticed to Thomas Cook of Hitchen Herts 1756 ? Master Baker 
NA ref 20 f 211 SOG vol 4 page 651 SOG no: 25160

Joseph Varnham son of John Varnham a gardener of, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, apprenticed to  William Cook Blacksmiths' Company 6 Dec 1722,

John Fells son of Thomas, Fells a smith of Watford, Hertfordshire, apprenticed to Jeremy Stocker 5 May 1726 on 4 Apr 1732 turned over to William Cook Blacksmiths' Company


More about apprenticeships here in London Lives

The slums in C19th Hitchen

Looking much further back I found marriage at the Abbey in St Albans- 

 I have yet to discover if these very old records from the Abbey registers connect to my family of Cooks BUT oddly ST Albans connects to my mother's family of Shearer.My grandparents lived there, my Grandmother until about 1959
 

Elizabeth Cooke marriage Thomas Sumerland 29 Aug 1563 at St Albans Abbey

Elizabeth Cooke married William Stutsburie 27 Jan 1565 St Albans Abbey

Chrispian Cooke married Henri Chamberlaine 12 Sept 1563 at St Albans Abbey

Thomas Cooke married Luce Richardson 16 Jan 1569 st St Albans Abbey

Hugh Cooke married Charity Dodder 3rd July 1586 at St Albans Abbey

Robert Cook married Maria Marchant 17 June 1588 at St Albans Abbey