Early life

Cook was born at Chiltern, Victoria

Chiltern, Victoria

Chiltern is a town in Victoria, Australia, located in the north east of the state between Wangaratta and Wodonga, in the Shire of Indigo. At the 2006 census, Chiltern had a population of 1063. The town is close to the Chiltern-Mount Pilot National Park...

 to English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 splitter Henry Cook and his Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 wife Mary, née Wilkinson. He received little formal education and was soon a land-owner, owning land at Tallangatta

Tallangatta, Victoria

Tallangatta is a small town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. At the 2006 census, Tallangatta had a population of 950.The town is situated on the banks of the Mitta Arm of Lake Hume, approximately south-east of Albury-Wodonga along the Murray Valley Highway.-History:Tallangatta was founded in...

 and Porepunkah

Porepunkah, Victoria

Porepunkah is a town in north east Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Great Alpine Road, at the foot of Mount Buffalo north east of the state capital, Melbourne and north west of Bright. Part of Alpine Shire Local government area and situated on the banks of the Ovens River, near the...

. He married Sarah Anne Weston on 24 December 1894 at Porepunkah; in 1905, they moved to Oxley

Oxley, Victoria

Oxley is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Snow Road, south-east of Wangaratta, in the Rural City of Wangaratta. At the 2006 census, Oxley had a population of 289....

 and established a dairy farm.

Local politics

Cook was a member of Chiltern Shire

Shire of Chiltern

The Shire of Chiltern was a Local Government Area located about north-northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1994.-History:...

 Council 1902-04, and was elected to Oxley Shire

Oxley Shire

The Shire of Oxley was a Local Government Area located in Victoria, Australia, immediately to the south of the city of Wangaratta, which housed the shire's council chambers. Oxley covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1994.-History:...

 Council in 1908, being its president 1910-11 and 1916-17. He became one of the most active public figures in the Wangaratta

Wangaratta, Victoria

Wangaratta is a cathedral city of almost 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, about from Melbourne along the Hume Highway, with Benalla to the southwest, and Albury-Wodonga to the northeast. It is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers which flow from the...

 district, founding the North-Eastern Co-operative Society Ltd in 1906. He was also a director of the Milawa Dairy Co and chairman of the Butter and Chesse Factories Association of Victoria, and held membership of the Victorian Dairy Council, the Western and Murray Co-operative Bacon and Meat Packing Co, the Wangaratta Agricultural Society, and the Melbourne Chamber of Agriculture.

Federal politics

Cook entered the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 in 1919 as the Country Party member for Indi

Division of Indi

The Division of Indi is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. It is located in north-eastern Victoria. Its northern border is formed by the Murray River...

, defeating sitting member John Leckie

John Leckie (Australian politician)

John William Leckie was an Australian farmer turned politician.Leckie was born at Alexandra, Victoria and educated at Scotch College, Melbourne. He played Australian rules football for Fitzroy Football Club in 1895...

. He held the seat until 1928, when he mistakenly failed to lodge his nomination paper. He failed in an attempt to regain the seat in 1929.

Cook's health deteriorated until he died in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 on 21 May 1930, survived by three daughters and two sons. His wife Sarah had died on 26 June 1927. Cook was buried at the local cemetery at Milawa

Milawa, Victoria

Milawa is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Snow Road, south-east of Wangaratta, in the Rural City of Wangaratta. At the 2006 census, Milawa and the surrounding area had a population of 543....

.