Nursing home, 7 Park Road (Click to see this topic in full)
Hi Annewiggy Thanks for the info re. "Queenswood" I have also had a look at the earlier topic. Regards Rick L

Nursing home, 7 Park Road (Click to see this topic in full)
Hi Airham, welcome to the site and I hope some one can help you with the information you are looking for. 7 Park Road which was called Queenswood has been mentioned in an earlier topic but maybe someone can help you with what happened to the property after David Cooke who lived there died in 1932. Cooke's of Coventry c1898

Cooke's of Coventry (Click to see this topic in full)
Hi Tobaccoman I know some of this information has already been posted but I will state what I know about David Cooke. I hope this helps. David Cooke was born in Coventry in 1865. His father, also named David, was a silk dyer and born in Coventry circa 1831. His mother, Fanny, was a silk winder and also born in Coventry circa 1831. David had a brother called Harry and two sisters, Ann and Emily. In 1861 the Cooke family lived at 9 Primrose Hill street. By 1871 they had moved to 36 White Friars Lane. David Cooke junior married Poly Cooper Ludgate in Coventry in 1887. Polly was born in Bulkington circa 1870. The couple had no children. In 1891 they were living at 81 Far Gosford Street. David Cooke was apprenticed to Aviss Brothers, cigar merchants of Gosford Street. In 1891 he commenced business on his own account as a wholesale and retail tobacconist at premises situated at 28A Burges and 81 Far Gosford Street. He launched the "Three Cups" brand in 1892 after Singers F.C. had won the Birmingham Junior Cup (19 March), Wednesbury Charity Cup (11 April) and the Walsall Junior Cup (20 April) He later moved to premises in Smithford Street. In 1896 he purchased the business of Charles Kelsey & Company, situated in Cross Cheaping. Four years later he acquired the business of J. Wrist & Company of Hales Street. In 1908 he took over the business of Griffiths & Aviss Limited, opposite the Craven Arms Hotel in High Street, the firm of whom he was originally apprenticed. David Cooke was the principal owner of Cooke's Tobacco Company. In 1928 he commenced a partnership with Harry Olliver, who later became a director of Coventry City Football Club. David Cooke was well known in the local Freemason's circles. He was a Grand Master of the Stoneleigh Lodge. In February 1930 he gifted 70 water colour paintings of old Coventry, created by the brush of his old school friend H. E. Cox, to Coventry Corporation. They hang proudly today in the Lobby of the Council House. It is believed that David favoured the handling code of football, so it is surprising he became a major benefactor of Coventry City Football Club. He joined the football club in 1908 with a donation of £25. He was appointed to the CCFC Board in March 1909 and elected chairman three years later. Prior to joining the club he said: " What money I possess, I have made in Coventry and if I can do anything to promote the interests of Coventry City Football Club, together with recreation of men, I feel I should do it". Southern League Coventry lost 2-0 against First Division Everton at Highfield Road on 3 March 1910, in the quarter-finals of the F.A.Cup. A record crowd of 19,095 generated huge gate receipts, coupled with the generosity of David Cooke, enabled the club to erect a new Main Stand in the close season of 1910. Times were particularly difficult for CCFC during the First World War. Cooke continued to work hard to keep the club going and this entailed further financial assistance. In 1917 he paid three years rent to safeguard the club's Highfield Road Ground and properties, effectively becoming tenant. The following year he bankrolled the club's entry into the Midland League. In March 1919 the Bantams were elected to the Second Division of the Football League and Cooke paid the club's application expenses and deposit. The "Bury Affair" as it became known was indeed a disgraceful event in Coventry City's history. Former Coventry City captain George Chaplin, speaking in the Coventry Herald in 1938, confirmed that both matches against Bury had been fixed, with him handing the bribery money over. Three points from those last two games preserved City's Second Division status and consigned Lincoln City to the Third Division North. Chaplin, when interviewed, confirmed he met David Cooke, had a "chat", and duly armed with £200 did his ugly deed. I cannot condone the actions of Chaplin and Cooke. Coventry City should have been thrown out of the League. The only explanation I can offer is that David Cooke was desperate to maintain the club's Division Two status and would use unscrupulous means to preserve it, especially having invested so much money. Cooke was banned for life by the Football Association in 1923. This was lifted on 12 October 1931, much to his delight. The football club faced severe financial difficulties in March 1922 and it was David Cooke who saved it from extinction. During his long association with CCFC, he gave the club in excess of £20,00, a huge amount of money in those days. He also presented a Daimler car as a gift for use by the club's directors. His popularity with supporters was illustrated perfectly when he was appointed first Life Member of the Coventry City Supporters Club on 7 October 1920. The following month he was presented with a gold medallion featuring a "bantam" by the same organisation, Cooke receiving a standing ovation for his services to the football club. He really was regarded as a true local hero and respected philanthropist. David Cooke died at home, "Queenswood" 7 Park Road, on 17 February 1932. He was 66 years old. His funeral took place at Coventry Cemetery (London Road) five days later. The Midland Daily Telegraph paid the following tribute: "David Cooke would have desired no further tribute from his fellow townsmen then they should remember him as a first-class sportsman , and few men have earned the title more completely. He made football his hobby, the welfare and advancement of Coventry City Football Club his personal concern. Mr. Cooke's interests were deeply founded and his sole incentive was that of placing the club among the foremost in the country. We have not the slightest hesitation in expressing the opinion, that had he not shouldered the colossal losses of the earlier years, the football club would have gone under". RIP DAVID COOKE.

Cooke's of Coventry (Click to see this topic in full)
Hi Tobaccoman There are several references to Cooke's Tobacco Co. on the online newspaper site in the Coventry Evening Telegraph but all in 1916. There are a lot of adverts for staff, mostly travellers and the addresses given are 8 Cross Cheaping and High Street. On the 24/10/1916 they announced that in view of the very early closing they would remain open at lunch time. In February 1916 due to the prohibition of the import of tobacco David Cooke undertook to supply cigarettes to prisoners of war at cost until the end of the war with free labour, packing, paper & string. There are several adverts for selling packing cases. I can find no adverts that refer to manufacture of cigarettes or for staff except for women packers. In 1891 he is living at 81 Far Gosford Street and calls himself a tobacco and cigar manufacturer but in 1901 and 1911 calls himself a tobacco, cigar and cigarette merchant. In 1911 he is living at "Queenswood", 7 Park Road