Cook

The Cook family  name has a long history in the village. Manasses the cook, sometimes written as Manasser Cocus, was a royal sergeant who held land at Hay Street in Ston Easton soon after the Norman Conquest. He had already died by 1084 when the Doomsday book was compiled and it is a mystery what he did to deserve the allocation of the two hides specified. It could be argued that Cook is one of the first recorded family names in the area but few family names can be traced back that far.

Mary Lockhere of Publow near Pensford married Charles Cook of Publow on 11/8/1736 in Chewton Mendip. This is the first known record of members of the Cook family in Chewton Mendip but it is not known why Mary Lockhere, chose, or was allowed, to marry in Chewton Mendip.

Parishes were responsible for the upkeep of the poor born within their parishes so any ‘incomers’ had  to prove they had the financial resources to maintain themselves and their family. Subsequent records of the Cook family in Chewton Mendip show they were builders, carpenters and farm labourers.

Amy Cook was a school teacher in the 1920’s and 30’s and can bee seen in several pictures of her can be seen in class photos of the period.