See also
- Walter ABBOTT's parents: Thomas Cook ABBOT (1831-1877) and Ellen TALBOT (1832?-aft1911)
- Walter ABBOTT's siblings: Susannah COOK-ABBOTT (1853-1855), William Cook ABBOTT (1854-bef1911), John Cook ABBOTT (1856-1913), Arthur COOK-ABBOTT (1858?-1918), Eleanor Cook ABBOTT (1859- ), Frederick Cook ABBOTT (1869- ), Susannah Kate Cook ABBOTT (1871- ), Clara Cook ABBOTT (1872-1884) and Sarah COOK-ABBOTT (1875-1958)
Walter Thomas Cook ABBOTT (1860-1929)
Royal Oak Pub c2005
Grave Monument details
| RiD No.: | 275 |
Personal Details
| Birth | Q3 1860 | Ipswich, Suffolk |
| Thomas's birth was registered as Walter Thomas C ABBOTT in September quarter 1860 in Ipswich, however it appears that throughout his life he used Thomas, rather than Walter, as a first name. | ||
| Census | 1861 (age 0-1) | 69 Bloomfield Street, Ipswich |
| On census night 7th March 1861, Thomas was about 9 months old and living with his parents at 69 Bloomfield Street, Ipswich | ||
| Census | 1881 (age 20-21) | 12, Star Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk |
| In the 1881 census, Thomas was still unmarried and his occupation was shown as "Engine Fitter" | ||
| Census | 1891 (age 30-31) | 1 Salt House Street, St Clement, Ipswich |
| The 1891 census return has been viewed and is transcribed as follows:- Thomas Cook / Head / Married / age 39 / occupation Traveller Wholesale Confectioner / b Ipswich, Suffolk Sarah Cook / Wife / Married / age 30 / / b Ipswich, Suffolk Alice M A Cook / Daughter / /age 9 / / b Ipswich, Suffolk Note that the surname used is "Cook" and Thomas is shown age 39 not 30. Presumably there are errors by the enumerator who collected the details? |
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| Occupation | 1905 (age 44-45) | - |
| At time of daughter Alice's marriage, his occupation given as publican | ||
| Note | 7 November 1919 (age 59) | |
| The England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995, shows that on the 7th November 1919, probate was granted in IPSWICH to Thomas Cook Abbott, retired publican, in respect of the estate of William Henry Haslam, who died on the 2nd October 1919. The estate was valued at £176 3s 3d | ||
| Death | 9 October 1929 (age 69) | |
| Thomas was buried in Ipswich cemetery. See the transcript of his family grave stone above. | ||
| Probate | 28 November 1929 | |
| 218, Felixstowe Road, Ipswich Thomas's executors were Mary Ann (wife) and James Barry Cullingham (solicitor). His wife Mary Ann survived Thomas by some 29 years and was living in Chelsea when she died. |
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Marriage and Family Details
| Spouse | Sarah Bennett VINCENT (1860-1905) | |
| Children | Alice Mary Ann COOK-ABBOTT (1882-1917) | |
| Marriage | Q4 1881 (age 21) | Ipswich, Suffolk |
The marriage transcript shows Thomas as WALTER Thomas C Abbott. |
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| Census (family) | 1901 (age 40-41) | The Royal Oak, 175 Felixstowe Rd. Ipswich |
| The 1901 Census shows Thomas Cook (Licenced Victualler age 39), residing at the Royal Oak Pub with wife Sarah (age 40), daughter Alice (age 19) and niece in law, Alice Vincent (age 13). | ||
Marriage and Family Details
| Spouse | Mary Ann COOK-ABBOTT (1862-1958) | |
| Children | Rebecca Mary COOK-ABBOTT (1906-1946) | |
| Marriage | Q4 1905 (age 45) | Berkhamsted |
| Banns read at Northchurch, Hertfordshire in October 1905. Marriage registered Q4 1905 in Berkhamstead, | ||
| Census (family) | 1911 (age 50-51) | |
| The Royal Oak, Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, Suffolk In 1911 census Thomas was a publican living at The Royal Oak, Felixstowe Road, Ipswich with his second wife Mary Ann. They are shown married for 5 and a half years (i.e. married 1905) 
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Other Details
Thomas is perhaps one of the more interesting characters in the Cook-Abbott line!
Thomas was born in Ipswich in 1860 and his birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of that year. His name was registered as WALTER Thomas Cook Abbott, but throughout his life he seems to have dropped the name Walter (except when he registered his marriage to Sarah Vincent).
He first appears in the census in 1861 as a child of 9 months living with his parents,Thomas and Ellen, at 69 Bloomfield Street, Ipswich. A the census was taken on the 7th of April 1861, this indicates that he was born around June 1860, however in the 1871 census, when he would be expected to be age 10 (coming up to 11), he is shown as 9 years old and this "loss" of a year follows through in all subsiquent censuses, except in 1891 when his age is given as 39 instead of the correct age of 29 (or should it really be 30?)
By the age of 19 he was employed as an engine fitter, and in the parish register birth entry for his daughter Alice in 1882, his occupation is also shown as "engine fitter". However, in the 1891 census his employment is given as a "travelling wholesale confectioner" and by 1901 he is a publican running the Royal Oak pub in Ipswich.
It is Thomas's two marriages which are particulaly interesting. In late 1881, Thomas married 20 year old Sarah Vincent and in 1882 they had a daughter, Alice Mary Ann. From later censuses, we can establish that Sarah was born in Ipswich in about 1860/61. A search of the census for 1881, before Thomas and Sarah were married, shows there are two Sarah Vincents of the right age in Ipswich. One, Sarah Bennett Vincent, was a paper sorter who was living wth her parents and siblings at 19 John St, Ipswich, the other was a servant in the home of John Talbot who was a mineral water manufacturer and possible relative of Thomas's mother, Ellen Talbot. Although I expected to find that Thomas married Sarah, the servant, in fact he married Sarah the paper sorter, as she was the one born in Ipswich (as reported in later family census's) whilst the other Sarah was born in Cotton, Suffolk (a small village several miles north of Ipswich in Hartismere registration district). Nevertheless, an interesting co-incidence.
Thomas, Sarah and daughter Alice appear in the 1901 census living at the Royal Oak, but by 1911, her place as wife of Thomas had been replaced by Mary Ann. The death of a 44 year old Sarah B Cook Abbott is registered in Ipswich in the 2nd quarter of 1905 so this seems to fit in with the circumstances.
Now this is where it gets interesting....
Out of nowhere, in October 1905 at a church in Northchurch, Hertfordshire, banns are read for the proposed marriage between a Thomas Cook Abbott of St Bartholomew (widower) and a Mary Ann Cook Abbott of Northchurch (spinster). This marriage is subsiquently registered before the end of 1905. This may be a co-incidence, but so far I have been unable to find any other Thomas and Mary Cook Abbott in the 1911 census, apart from the couple running the Royal Oak pub who the census says have been married for five and a half years!
I believe that this Mary Ann is Thomas's cousin,
At that time there were no church or legal restrictions prohibiting cousins from marrying. As Mary Ann was an unmarried 43 year old employed as a maid, this might have been a mutuially convienient arrangement for both of them but would there have been some raised eyebrows in the family?
Anyway, Thomas and Mary went on to have a daughter Rebecca in late 1906, about a year after they married. She can be found living in the Royal Oak with her parents in 1911.
Thomas dies in 1929 and is buried in the Ipswich municipal cemetry. Both of his wives, and his daughter, Alice, are buried in the same grave. Thomas died a fairly wealthy man, with an estate worth over £8,000.
Other Details
A brief history of the Royal Oak.
This is one of three pubs of this name to have existed in Ipswich, the others having stood in Northgate Street and Tavern Street. The license from the Northgate Street pub was transferred to 175 Felixstowe Road when this pub was opened in 1882, The pub was built and owned by J C Cobbald (of Cobbald's Brewery fame).
The publican's who ran the Royal Oak between 1891 and 1912 were
1891-1892: James Goodall Gooding
1900: Mrs Sarah Cook (Landlord away)
1900: Thomas Cook
1901: Thomas Cook [ref]
1911: Thomas Cook Abbott)
1912: Frederick Ward [ref]
The following is an extract from the Ipswich Journal, of February 17th 1900.
"On 5 Feb, Charles Fisk a bricklayer had previously been refused drink at the Royal Oak beerhouse on Felixstowe Road. Mrs Sarah Cook the landlady had served him with a beer at 10.30am after which he started using obscene language. She asked him to leave and showed him the door, he refused and struck her violently in the mouth. Customers in the bar took it upon themselves to eject Mr Fisk. It was stated in court that Fisk had been in trouble for the last 21 years with most offences caused by drink...also being drunk at the Cornhill on Feb 8th - Found Guilty & fined."
Not a particually auspicious start to Sarah's life as a landlady!
The pub closed on the 13th January 2014 and was subsiquently bought by the Co-op and was turned into a hostel and drop-in centre for recovering street-drinkers and other addicts.
(Acknowledgements to www.suffolk.camra.org.uk/pub/541)