William Cook Jr. (abt. 1754 - 1832)

Born about 1754 in Ireland

Descendants

Died 1832 at about age 78 in Gays River, NS

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Biography

William Cook Jr. & Leah Campbell

This William Jr. was a child when he arrived with his father, William Cook, step mother Sidney Holmes Marshall Cook and the rest of the Hopewell party at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1761. He was part of the blended family in Portaupique, then in the household of Thomas Fletcher after his father’s death about 1767. William was probably 9-10 years old at that time. His birth year was about 1758 in Ireland and he died in Gays River in 1832. He married a woman whose family were also newcomers to Londonderry Township. Leah Campbell was her name. Unknown is the year of their marriage or where they first lived.

William obtained a grant of 250 acres of wilderness lands near Lake Egmont in present day Halifax County, NS in January 1786. The community was called Gays River, close to the borders of Colchester and Halifax Counties. Its coordinates are 45.0339 degrees North and 63.3546 degrees West.

The usual terms of a grant were 250 acres for the title holder with an additional fifty acres for a married man and each child. Ironically, William and Leah were already married with their first child in 1786 so that discrepancy remains a puzzle. William and Leah spent the rest of their lives on this farm and they died within eight days of each other over the year-end of 1831-32. She was aged 72 and he 74. See William Cook’s Last Will & Testament.

William Cook Jr. (1754-1832) William Jr., like his brother John, was born in Ireland. When their father drowned in Portaupique, young William and his brother were placed in guardianship but in different homes. It was likely William who went to the home of Thomas Fletcher (1738-1808) of Londonderry Township.

Sources

• https://web.archive.org/web/20211208040904/https://everywhereacookcooke.com/essays/the-cook-boys-and-sidney-holmes/