William Douglas Cook
Encyclopedia
William Douglas Cook was the founder of Eastwoodhill Arboretum
, now the national arboretum
of New Zealand, and one of the founders of Pukeiti, a rhododendron
garden, close to New Plymouth. He was a "plantsman with the soul of a poet and the vision of a philosopher".
, Scotland
1855) and Jessie Miller (Glasgow
, Scotland 1853). William arrived in Auckland
, New Zealand at 8 September 1879 and started working as an accountant with the Bank of New Zealand. Jessie arrived 19 August 1881. They married three weeks later. The first son John Arthur was born 9 September 1882. The family changed home often. At 28 October 1884 Douglas was born in New Plymouth. A daughter named Sheila Mary Melot was born in Auckland at 25 December 1891.
Douglas had a difficult relation with his father and left home when he was 17 years old to go working as a "cowboy" in Hawke's Bay Region. One year later he bought a peach orchard in the neighbourhood of Hastings
. The money he needed he borrowed from his father. He bought the orchard of James Nelson Williams, the grandfather of H. B. (Bill) Williams, who would play such an important role in the history of Eastwoodhill 60 years later. Douglas had bad luck. Two times frost destroyed most of the crops. He had to find another job. In a ballot he acquired a part of the Ngatapa settlement, 620 acres (2.5 km²) large. He called his new property "Eastwoodhill", after the house where his mother grew up near Glasgow.
He would live there all the rest of his life, and create a large arboretum, with more than 2,000 different taxa
of trees and shrubs. In the early years after his arrival at Ngatapa, the farm was substantially enlarged. But in later years he sold parts of the property again, to gain money for buying trees. In 1965 Douglas Cook sold Eastwoodhill to H. B. (Bill) Williams, who bought the arboretum with the purpose to preserve it for the future.
During World War I
Cook fought in Asia, Africa and Europe as a trooper
of the Wellington Mounted Rifles
and as a gunner
in the N.Z. Field Artillery.
William Douglas Cook married Claire Bourne at 20 October 1930. They adopted a son, named Sholto. The marriage did not succeed and Douglas and Claire separated in 1937..
Cook died in 1967, at the age of 83 years, a “plantsman with the soul of a poet and the vision of a philosopher”.
and Monterey Pine
(Pinus radiata) for firewood, and 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) of mixed orchard including apple, pear and plum trees for household use”.
He built a small cabin to live in. This was replaced by a larger dwelling in 1914. In that same year he left for voluntary service in World War I
. Just before his departure an order of a hundred trees and shrubs and a hundred rhododendrons and azaleas arrived and it was a rush to get these planted .
In the First World War Douglas Cook served in Gallipoli
, Egypt
and France
. In France he lost the sight of his right eye in 1916. He spent some time in England to recuperate. During that time he visited some beautiful gardens, especially the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
. After returning to New Zealand in 1917 (with a plant of both the red and variegated cabbage tree, that Arthur William Hill
of Kew gave him) he started creating his own park.
Now that he had learned to admire the beauty of trees, he started planting on a large scale. For instance in 1920 about 2,500 trees and shrubs were ordered for the garden. Bulbs and perennials were ordered too, including tulip
s, hyacinths, lilies
and gladioli
.
In the subsequent years plantings continued. The garden was extended. From 1927 onward, when Bill Crooks
got engaged, the creation of the "Parks" started:
At the end of his life, Douglas Cook had established an arboretum of international importance. Since then, new plantings contributed to what now has become the National Arboretum of New Zealand.
, who got involved in the development of Eastwoodhill in the 1950s (and still is involved in it up till now) remembers his "puckish sense of humour".
William Douglas Cook might be called “a passionate man, not because of his somewhat mercurial personal relationships, but he certainly showed an undeviating passion for planting trees over a lifetime”. His passion really took form after he took possession of the 260 ha property of Eastwoodhill in 1910. “After just six weeks a garden was shaping up, and by the end of the first year he had filled sixteen pages of his notebook with details of plantings".
Cook went back to Britain again in 1922 and 1924, to get new inspiration for his dream of establishing a park of his own.
After the second World War there was another impetus to Douglas Cook for collecting as much different trees as possible at Eastwoodhill. He was afraid that Europe would be destroyed in a new (nuclear) war and saw his plantings as a repository for good garden material.
Mortimer states that there “is a fair amount of information about what he bought (…), but not much about where he put them or what their fate was. He was essentially a collector (and a muddler), buying one of everything he hadn't got”.
s, and "rhodos" didn't fare well at Eastwoodhill, in the late 1940s. That brought him back to Taranaki. He knew that rhododendrons flourished in that region. He and Russell Matthews grasped the idea of creating a rhododendron garden at the slopes of Mt. Taranaki. In March 1950 they found a good spot at a good height above sea level, and with enough rainfall throughout the year. Douglas Cook bought the 153 acre (0.61916958 km²) of land called Pukeiti, and offered the site to the New Zealand Rhododendron Association. Having a lack of finances, this organisation declined his offer. In October 1951 he formed The Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust (by then a group of 24 like-minded people), to which he gifted the land. In 1952 a further 163 acre (0.65963818 km²) was gifted anonymously to the Trust. Membership of the Trust grew steadily, volunteers worked, donations of money, plants and materials flowed in, and Pukeiti, as the gardens have become known, flourished . The gardens now cover 900 acres (3.6 km²), holding 2,000 different specimen of rhododendrons and membership has reached 3,000 .
In the period 1948–1951 he published quite a few articles on Eastwoodhill in the New Zealand Gardenerand one in The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society
, as well as some articles on different topics.
In 1960 and 1964 he published articles on rhododendron
s in New Zealand and on Pukeiti in The Rhododendron and Camellia Year Book.
Eastwoodhill Arboretum
Eastwoodhill is the national arboretum of New Zealand. It covers and is located 35 km northwest of Gisborne, in the hill country of Ngatapa. It was founded in 1910 by William Douglas Cook...
, now the national arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
of New Zealand, and one of the founders of Pukeiti, a rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
garden, close to New Plymouth. He was a "plantsman with the soul of a poet and the vision of a philosopher".
Biography
Douglas Cook was the second son of William Cook (AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
1855) and Jessie Miller (Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland 1853). William arrived in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand at 8 September 1879 and started working as an accountant with the Bank of New Zealand. Jessie arrived 19 August 1881. They married three weeks later. The first son John Arthur was born 9 September 1882. The family changed home often. At 28 October 1884 Douglas was born in New Plymouth. A daughter named Sheila Mary Melot was born in Auckland at 25 December 1891.
Douglas had a difficult relation with his father and left home when he was 17 years old to go working as a "cowboy" in Hawke's Bay Region. One year later he bought a peach orchard in the neighbourhood of Hastings
Hastings, New Zealand
The city of Hastings is a major urban settlement in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, and it is the largest settlement by population in Hawke's Bay. Hastings city is the administrative centre of the Hastings District...
. The money he needed he borrowed from his father. He bought the orchard of James Nelson Williams, the grandfather of H. B. (Bill) Williams, who would play such an important role in the history of Eastwoodhill 60 years later. Douglas had bad luck. Two times frost destroyed most of the crops. He had to find another job. In a ballot he acquired a part of the Ngatapa settlement, 620 acres (2.5 km²) large. He called his new property "Eastwoodhill", after the house where his mother grew up near Glasgow.
He would live there all the rest of his life, and create a large arboretum, with more than 2,000 different taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
of trees and shrubs. In the early years after his arrival at Ngatapa, the farm was substantially enlarged. But in later years he sold parts of the property again, to gain money for buying trees. In 1965 Douglas Cook sold Eastwoodhill to H. B. (Bill) Williams, who bought the arboretum with the purpose to preserve it for the future.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Cook fought in Asia, Africa and Europe as a trooper
Trooper (rank)
Trooper from the French "troupier" is the equivalent rank to private in a regiment with a cavalry tradition in the British Army and many other Commonwealth armies, including those of Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Today, most cavalry units operate in the armoured role, equipped...
of the Wellington Mounted Rifles
Wellington Mounted Rifle Regiment
The Wellington Mounted Regiment was a New Zealand Mounted Regiment formed for service during the Great War. It was formed from units of the Territorial Force consisting of the Queen Alexandra's 2nd Mounted Rifles the 6th Mounted Rifles and 9th Mounted Rifles.They served in the Middle Eastern...
and as a gunner
Gunner (rank)
Gunner is a rank equivalent to Private in the British Army Royal Artillery and the artillery corps of other Commonwealth armies. The next highest rank is usually Lance-Bombardier, although in the Royal Canadian Artillery it is Bombardier....
in the N.Z. Field Artillery.
William Douglas Cook married Claire Bourne at 20 October 1930. They adopted a son, named Sholto. The marriage did not succeed and Douglas and Claire separated in 1937..
Cook died in 1967, at the age of 83 years, a “plantsman with the soul of a poet and the vision of a philosopher”.
Eastwoodhill
When Douglas Cook arrived at his newly bought land in 1910, he started planting immediately. In this first plantings “he followed a utilitarian approach – some mixed eucalyptusEucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
and Monterey Pine
Monterey Pine
The Monterey Pine, Pinus radiata, family Pinaceae, also known as the Insignis Pine or Radiata Pine is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California....
(Pinus radiata) for firewood, and 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) of mixed orchard including apple, pear and plum trees for household use”.
He built a small cabin to live in. This was replaced by a larger dwelling in 1914. In that same year he left for voluntary service in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Just before his departure an order of a hundred trees and shrubs and a hundred rhododendrons and azaleas arrived and it was a rush to get these planted .
In the First World War Douglas Cook served in Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In France he lost the sight of his right eye in 1916. He spent some time in England to recuperate. During that time he visited some beautiful gardens, especially the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
. After returning to New Zealand in 1917 (with a plant of both the red and variegated cabbage tree, that Arthur William Hill
Arthur William Hill (botanist)
Sir Arthur William Hill FLS FRS , was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and a noted botanist and taxonomist....
of Kew gave him) he started creating his own park.
Now that he had learned to admire the beauty of trees, he started planting on a large scale. For instance in 1920 about 2,500 trees and shrubs were ordered for the garden. Bulbs and perennials were ordered too, including tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
s, hyacinths, lilies
Lilium
Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though the range extends into the northern subtropics...
and gladioli
Gladiolus
Gladiolus is a genus of perennial bulbous flowering plants in the iris family...
.
In the subsequent years plantings continued. The garden was extended. From 1927 onward, when Bill Crooks
Bill Crooks
William Crooks , known as Bill Crooks was manager of Eastwoodhill Arboretum, Ngatapa, Gisborne, from 1967-1974...
got engaged, the creation of the "Parks" started:
- In 1927 the first plantings of "Corner Park" were made.
- From 1934 "Cabin Park” was planted.
- At the end of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
"Douglas Park" was included in the plantings. - In 1952, Douglas Cook, then being 71 years old, sold 925 acres (3.7 km²) of his property. The money was used for making ponds throughout the arboretum and for the development of "Pear Park", "The Circus", "Orchard Hill" and "Glen Douglas".
At the end of his life, Douglas Cook had established an arboretum of international importance. Since then, new plantings contributed to what now has become the National Arboretum of New Zealand.
Not an ordinary farmer
Douglas Cook wrote, in 1963: "I never was a farmer. That was only a means of living in the country and being my own boss. I never could stand taking orders and loved roaming the hills". He spend most of his money on plants, rather than investing it in his farm. And apart from that he was a nudist, and used to work only in a pair of boots and a sun hat. Bob BerryBob Berry (dendrologist)
Robert James Berry is a New Zealand dendrologist who founded Hackfalls Arboretum at his farm in Tiniroto, Gisborne. The arboretum is now known for having one of the largest collections of Mexican oaks in the world. During the 1950s and 1960s he was in regular contact with William Douglas Cook,...
, who got involved in the development of Eastwoodhill in the 1950s (and still is involved in it up till now) remembers his "puckish sense of humour".
William Douglas Cook might be called “a passionate man, not because of his somewhat mercurial personal relationships, but he certainly showed an undeviating passion for planting trees over a lifetime”. His passion really took form after he took possession of the 260 ha property of Eastwoodhill in 1910. “After just six weeks a garden was shaping up, and by the end of the first year he had filled sixteen pages of his notebook with details of plantings".
Cook went back to Britain again in 1922 and 1924, to get new inspiration for his dream of establishing a park of his own.
After the second World War there was another impetus to Douglas Cook for collecting as much different trees as possible at Eastwoodhill. He was afraid that Europe would be destroyed in a new (nuclear) war and saw his plantings as a repository for good garden material.
Mortimer states that there “is a fair amount of information about what he bought (…), but not much about where he put them or what their fate was. He was essentially a collector (and a muddler), buying one of everything he hadn't got”.
Pukeiti
Douglas Cook had a passion for rhododendronRhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s, and "rhodos" didn't fare well at Eastwoodhill, in the late 1940s. That brought him back to Taranaki. He knew that rhododendrons flourished in that region. He and Russell Matthews grasped the idea of creating a rhododendron garden at the slopes of Mt. Taranaki. In March 1950 they found a good spot at a good height above sea level, and with enough rainfall throughout the year. Douglas Cook bought the 153 acre (0.61916958 km²) of land called Pukeiti, and offered the site to the New Zealand Rhododendron Association. Having a lack of finances, this organisation declined his offer. In October 1951 he formed The Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust (by then a group of 24 like-minded people), to which he gifted the land. In 1952 a further 163 acre (0.65963818 km²) was gifted anonymously to the Trust. Membership of the Trust grew steadily, volunteers worked, donations of money, plants and materials flowed in, and Pukeiti, as the gardens have become known, flourished . The gardens now cover 900 acres (3.6 km²), holding 2,000 different specimen of rhododendrons and membership has reached 3,000 .
Writer
William Douglas Cook was a prolific writer of letters. He also published a number of articles in gardening journals and year books etc.In the period 1948–1951 he published quite a few articles on Eastwoodhill in the New Zealand Gardenerand one in The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
, as well as some articles on different topics.
In 1960 and 1964 he published articles on rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s in New Zealand and on Pukeiti in The Rhododendron and Camellia Year Book.
Honours and awards
- 1948: Fellow of the Royal New Zealand Institute of HorticultureRoyal New Zealand Institute of HorticultureThe Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture is New Zealand's only National Horticultural Society.Their mission is to "Encourage and improve horticulture in New Zealand by promoting the understanding, appreciation, conservation and use of plants"....
(RNZIH). - 1965: Veitch Memorial Medal from the Royal Horticultural SocietyRoyal Horticultural SocietyThe Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
(of the U.K.), recognition of his efforts over 45 years for service to horticulture. - 1966: Associate of Honour of the RNZIH.
Selected bibliography
- 1948a: “Development of 'Eastwoodhill', one of New Zealand's Outstanding Private Gardens”. In: New Zealand Gardener, 1 January 1948.
- 1948b: “Trees for the Farm – Why Not Get Away from the Commonplace?” In: New Zealand Gardener, 1 May 1948, p. 540 – 542.
- 1948c: “Nyssa sylvatica – For Autumnal Colours”. In: New Zealand Gardener, 1 July 1948, p. 743; and “two small trees of N. sylvatica on offer (by WDC), p. 753.
- 1949: “A New Zealand Garden, 'Eastwoodhill', Gisborne, North Island”. In: The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. LXXIV, Part 5, May 1949, p. 183 – 192 (+ 3 photos)
- 1950a: “The Glories of Autumn – Colour Parade at Eastwoodhill”. In: New Zealand Gardener, 1 May 1950, p. 664 – 667.
- 1950b: “Eastwoodhill in Autumn – Trees and Shrubs of Real Beauty”. In: New Zealand Gardener, 1 July 1950, p. 848 – 9.
- 1951a: “A Plantsman's Garden – Unique Horticultural Collection at Lindisfarne”. In: New Zealand Gardener, 1 February 1951, p. 472 - 4.
- 1951b: “A Plantsman's Garden – The Lindisfarne Collection”. In: New Zealand Gardener, 1 March 1951, p. 526 - 8.
- 1960: “Rhododendrons in New Zealand”. In: Rhododendron and Camellia Year Book 1960, p. 54 – 59
- 1963: letter of 1 January 1963. Posthumously published in: Eastwoodhill Information Series no. 2 (1992)
- 1964: “Pukeiti”. In: Rhododendron and Camellia Year Book 1964, p. 21 - 26.
Literature
- Jellyman, A, R. Hair, A. Smith and L. Bublitz - A Guide to Pukeiti. Publ. by Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust, New Plymouth 1976 (with articles contributed by A. Jellyman, R. Hair, A. Smith and L. Bublitz).
- An. – Eastwoodhill, the colours of an arboretum. Publ. by Eastwoodhill Inc., Ngatapa, Gisborne 2007. ISBN 9780473124717. This book contains a collection of photographs by Gisborne Camera Club Inc. Design and Production by Gray Clapham. Photographic co-ordination: Stephen Jones. Introductory essay: Sheridan Gundry. Botanical descriptions: Paul Wynen.
- Berry, John - A Man's Tall Dream; The Story of Eastwoodhill. Publ. by Eastwoodhill Trust Board, Gisborne 1997. ISBN 0473045613
- Clapperton, Gerry - The Story of William Douglas Cook. Publ. as a leaflet “Eastwoodhill Information Series No. 1” by Eastwoodhill Trust Board, Gisborne 1992
- Mortimer, John (1997) – 'A Magnificent Obsession' in: New Zealand Growing Today, Kumeu, New Zealand, ISSN 1171 7033. April 1997, p. 45 – 51
- Smith, Graham – Pukeiti, the Rainforest Garden (with photographs by Jane Dove Juneau). South Pacific Light Press, Oakura 2007. ISBN 0473125943