COOK, Maurice Ethelbert
| Service Number: | 3663 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 May 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 10th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Leichardt, New South Wales, Australia, 1885 |
| Home Town: | Toodyay, Toodyay, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Subiaco, Western Australia, 13 October 1958, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia Ashes scattered over garden |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 6 May 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3663, 10th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Mar 1918: | Involvement Private, 3663, 10th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: SS Ormonde embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 13 Mar 1918: | Embarked Private, 3663, 10th Light Horse Regiment, SS Ormonde, Fremantle | |
| 10 Jul 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sergeant, 3663, 10th Light Horse Regiment, per HT Oxfordshire | |
| 24 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 3663, 10th Light Horse Regiment |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Maurice was the fourth of ten children of Charles James Cook (b1857 in Somerset, England) and Rosina Marianne Willis (b1856 in Somerset, England). Charles (a Labourer) and Rosina married in 1878 in Bridgewater, Somerset and Charles worked as a Bricklayer before he and Rosina emigrated with their first child. The family arrived in Sydney NSW in April 1881 on board the Blairgowie, and Charles worked as a Builder. They moved to Melbourne, Victoria in 1887 and from there to Perth WA in 1904. Charles worked as a Builder in Perth before settling land near Toodyay and establishing Normanhurst Farm at Coondle near Toodyay. Charles was a Farmer and Grazier, Chair of the Roads Board and a Justice of the Peace.
Maurice was a Farmer on the family farm (Normanhurst Farm) at Coondle near Toodyay WA when he enlisted in the AIF in May 1917 - he had served with the CMF for five and a half years prviously. Maurice was a Private/Trooper (Service No:3663) initially with Depot Squadron Light Horse before being posted to 33/10 Light Horse Regiment in December 1917. Maurice served in Egypt (Moascar, Abbassis, Tripoli) and was a Sergeant when he was Discharged in October 1919. Brother Albert Victor Willis Cook also served in WWI and Maurice's son Reginald Harley Cook served in WWII.
Returning to WA following his Discharge, Maurice took up farming under the Soldiers' Resettlement Scheme. In 1921 The Midlands Advertiser wrote 'ME Cook obviously doesn't intend to let the grass grow under his feet and since returning from the front and entering into an agency business in Carnamah, he has done many things for the advancement of that district, important of which have been in regard to the appointment of a stationmaster at Carnamah, and also in connection with a district doctor and other things beneficial to the returned soldiers of the district and the residents generally'. It was in 1921 that he established Doroborne Farm on the Yarra Yarra Estate in Carnamah, and was a Commission Agent for agricultural firms.
In 1923 Maurice married Madeline Mary Golding (b1894 in Perth WA) and Maurice worked as a Carpenter with the WAGR. Madeline did not want to relocate from Perth, and remained in Perth with her mother while Maurice worked in Geraldton, Esperance and Kalgoorlie (Engine Driver). Maurice moved to Perth and the couple lived together briefly while Maurice was a Salesman and Munitions Worker. They divorced in October 1942 and both remarried.
In April 1950 Maurice married Florence Rieusset (nee Thomas; b1888 in Peterham, NSW) and the couple settled in Perth WA where Maurice was a Munitions Worker/Inspector. He died in 1958 and Florence in 1960.
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