Edward Tyas Cook

E. T. Cook
InThe Sketch,8 January 1896
Born	Edward Tyas Cook (1857-05-12)12 May 1857 Brighton,England
Died	30 September 1919(1919-09-30)(aged 62) South Stoke, Oxfordshire,England
Education	New College, Oxford
Occupations	Journalist editor author
Spouse	Emily Constance Baird (1884–1903)

Sir Edward Tyas Cook(12 May 1857 – 30 September 1919) was an English journalist, biographer, andman of letters.

Biography

Born inBrighton,Cook was the youngest son of Silas Kemball Cook, secretary of theRoyal Naval Hospital, Greenwich,and his wife, Emily,néeArcher. He was educated atWinchesterandNew College, Oxford,where he was President of theUnionand graduated with a double first. His friends assumed he would pursue a career in politics, but Cook's goal was to enter journalism. Moving to London, he worked as secretary for the London Society for Extension of University Teaching and made occasional contributions to several journals. During this time he joinedInner Templebut never sat for his bar finals.

Working on thePall Mall Gazette

In August 1888, Cook was recruited by his friendAlfred Milnerfor a part-time position with theLiberalnewspaper thePall Mall Gazette,then under the editorship ofJohn Morley.Cook was interviewed by Morley who, during the interview

asked me if I was an Oxford man. I said "Yes"; and then he asked me whether I was a very confirmed one – whether, for instance, I was a Fellow of a College. When I said "No", he said, "Then there is still some hope for you".

Cook subsequently succeeded Milner as assistant editor to Morley's successor,W. T. Stead.Upon Stead's resignation in 1889 Cook was selected as his replacement. Cook soon proved himself a more than capable editor, with a writing style more analytical than Stead's impassioned approach. As editor Cook carried forward many of the positions Stead advocated, such as Liberal Imperialism and a strongnavy,but he brought in a younger group of writers as contributors.

FoundingThe Westminster Gazette

Cook's tenure as editor of thePall Mall Gazettewas cut short when he was obliged to resign along with the rest of the political staff after the paper was sold toW. W. Astor,who changed its politics to supportConservativepositions.Seeking to fill the gap created by thePall Mall Gazette's departure from the Liberal fold, Cook started a new evening paper in January 1893,The Westminster Gazette.Launched with the help of Liberal publisherGeorge Newnesand employing the core of the old political staff from thePall Mall Gazette,the paper quickly established itself in the front rank of Liberal publications, earning the respect and admiration of the Liberal prime ministerLord Rosebery.Yet Cook insisted on preserving his independence as editor, and was not above supportingUnionistpoliticians when he felt them deserving of it.

Editing theDaily News

1899 portrait inVanity Fair

In December 1895, Cook was approached byArnold Morleyabout editing theDaily News.Considered to be "the single 'quality' Liberal morning paper",it suffered from falling sales and had earned the ire of many in the Liberal Party for its opposition to Rosebery's policies. Cook agreed only after Morley assured him that, as with theWestminster Gazette,there would be no interference with the Cook's editorial management. As editor, Cook continued to support what he thought was right, but despite his best efforts he was unable to reverse the decline in circulation.

The start ofBoer Warin 1899 brought Cook directly into conflict with theLittle Englanderwing of the Liberal Party. WhenDavid Lloyd Georgeorganised a consortium of Liberal businessmen to purchase theDaily Newsin 1901, he declared that the paper would adopt a stance of neutrality on the war. A strong imperialist, Cook was unable to remain under these circumstances, and was replaced byR. C. Lehmann.

Subsequent life and career

After leaving theDaily News,Cook worked as aleader writerfor theDaily Chroniclefrom 1900 until 1910. His main achievement during those years, however, was to edit the writings ofJohn Ruskin,on which he worked with Alexander Wedderburn. Published in thirty-nine volumes between 1903 and 1911, this remains the definitive collection of Ruskin's writings. Upon concluding this task, Cook moved on to writing other works, producing biographies ofFlorence NightingaleandJohn Delaneas well as handbooks to the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery, and to the Greek and Roman antiquities in the British Museum.A modern biographer of Nightingale comments that Cook’s work remains, nearly a century after it was written, “the unsurpassed account” of her public life. Cook was quick as well as effective: he completed the research and writing of one thousand pages in nine months.

At the start of theWorld War I,Cook lent his abilities to the war effort. He quickly produced a short pamphlet,How Britain Strove for Peace,which put the animus for starting the conflict onto Germany. In 1915 he became joint director of the official Press Bureau along with SirFrank Swettenham.Created to direct press coverage of the war, its function evolved with the conflict, yet Cook was greatly respected by his contemporaries for performing a difficult job with wisdom and devotion. Having been knighted in 1912, he was created Knight Commander (KBE) in 1917 on the inauguration of theOrder of the British Empire.After the war he produced two volumes ofLiterary Reflections,and an account of the Press Bureau that was published after his death.

Personal life

His wife, Emily Constance Cook (née Baird), was also an author, usually writing under the name of "Mrs. E. T. Cook".Her books includedLondon in the Time of the Diamond Jubilee(London: George Allen, c. 1897),The Bride's Book(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1901),Highways and Byways in London(London: Macmillan, 1903),From a Woman's Note-Book: Studies in Modern Girlhood, and Other Sketches(London: George Allen, 1903),From a Holiday Journal... Illustrated with Sketches and Photographs by the Author(London: George Allen, 1904) andLondon and Environs(Llangollen: Darlington & Co. and London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., 1909).

Works

His books included:

• Studies in Ruskin: Some Aspects of the Work and Teaching of John Ruskin(London: George Allen, 1891)
• Rights and Wrongs of theTransvaal War(London: Edward Arnold, 1901)
• Edmund Garrett:A Memoir(London: Edward Arnold, 1909)
• The Life ofJohn Ruskin(2 vols.) (London: George Allen and New York, Macmillan, 1911)
• Life ofFlorence Nightingale(2 vols.) (London: Macmillan, 1913)
• Delaneof "The Times"(Constable, 1915) (Makers of the Nineteenth Century series)
• Literary Reflections(1918–1919)
• The Press in War-Time: with some Account of the Official Press Bureau(London: Macmillan, 1920)

References

• Bostridge, Mark (2008).Florence Nightingale: The Woman and Her Legend.London: Viking.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922)."Cook, Sir Edward Tyas".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 745.
• Koss, Stephen(1984).The Rise and Fall of the Political Press in Britain.Vol. 1: The Nineteenth Century. NC: Chapel Hill.
• Mills, J. Saxon (1921).Sir Edward Cook KBE: A biography.London: Constable and Company.
• Morris, A. J. A.(2004). "Cook, Sir Edward Tyas (1857–1919)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32540.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)

External links

• Works by Edward Tyas CookatProject Gutenberg
• Works by Edward Tyas CookatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
• Works by or about Edward Tyas Cookat theInternet Archive