The Cookson Enigma
 Imagine
being an eleven year old boy, a self-confessed
"red-hot Kelly sympathiser [who] felt that an outrage had been committed
that morning"* (the morning being that of Nov. 11, 1880) and you were
sitting down to lunch at the table of Dr. Barker, the chief medical
officer who had just come from Ned Kelly's hanging...would you not have
also sat and "listened open-mouthed to the discussion on the enthralling
topic of the function just enacted"?** The Very Rev. Dean O'Hea, who had
also been in attendance at the Old Melbourne Gaol that day and at the
luncheon, joined in the spirited discussion of executions as he
expounded on guillotine methods and used props on the table including
tomatoes to illustrate his point. No small wonder that this lad soon
became so sought out by his associates eager to hear him recount the
thrilling tales heard over the repast.
By a strange quirk of fate, this lad, three decades later, would still
be thrilling an audience with his words as he wrote a series of articles
for the Sydney "Sun" entitled "The Kelly Gang From Within:Survivors of
the Tragedy Interviewed..Glenrowan And Its People As They Are To-day."
The writer of whom I speak is B.W. Cookson. We will return to a further
discussion of the "Cookson series," but first let's meet this enigmatic
man, Brian William Cookson (AKA Bryan), hereafter referred to as BWC.
His father, Francis (Frank) Cookson (1827-1886) first came out to
Australia
around 1860.
He returned to his native England, married the former Elizabeth
Tiplady (1845-1923) and fathered several children, BWC being born on
August 9, 1869. BWC attended school in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, England,
before Frank (along with the family) returned to Australia ,
eventually settling in Bendigo, then called Sandhurst. (Justin
Corfield's
entry on BWC has the family returning in early 1880, settling
in Melbourne and then in Bendigo, also he has a couple of other facts
different from the ones I was given by descendents). Frank Cookson did
not work (perhaps due to his various health problems?) and the family
was supported by Elizabeth's efforts as a schoolteacher and music
teacher. Around the age of 13, BWC went to work at a newspaper office,
but eventually complained of shooting pains behind his eyes, probably
due to the fact of being given the smallest of type to work with which
was an illegal workplace practice for a child his age. After nine months
on the job, he returned home in 1884 and had to stay in almost total
darkness for weeks, a kind local doctor sitting with him for several
hours daily until his mother could come home from work. Eventually his
mother answered a help wanted ad and BWC was offered a job at another
paper at the full wage he should have been given at the previous one.
They discovered he had only been paid half of what was the going rate at
the former employers. BWC took the new job and went and boarded with a
Church of England man. Meanwhile back at home both his parents were in
ill health, his father dying in 1886. Some years later, Elizabeth
Cookson
moved to South Africa. In 1892 BWC wed Laura Holman, she bore him 4
children, but she and the children were all deceased (due to illness)
by
the turn of the century. He married again
In 1902, he wed Lillian (or Lilian?) Florence Hamilton. She also bore
him 4 children.
The eldest, a son, died in his youth. In 1912, Lillian was killed at
home in a shocking and tragic firearm accident. Her three small
daughters were sent to a boarding school for a time. The two oldest
girls were eventually brought home, but the youngest stayed in the care
of the ladies who ran the establishment. BWC married a third time. He
wed Matilda MacMurray, the union produced no children and she outlived
him. In BWC's later life he was a reporter/sub-editor for the Argus and
worked for other publications as a reader and a setter of cryptic
crosswords. He was an inventor who patented a chocolate machine-money
in, chocolate out (I like it!) and he invented a printing type lock. At
one time he made a living making trout flies and even managed a theatre
in Sydney for a while. His fortunes rose and fell through the years and
he died in Sydney in 1942, well into his 7th decade of life. Looking
back over his life it seems that one could say of him as he said of Mrs.
Kelly in the first installment of "The Kelly Gang From Within" where he
wrote that she "drees a weird of woe."*** Yet, despite at times
suffering a woeful fate from boyhood on, this man's writings live on and
are a celebration, a celebration of his talent and his passion for his
subject and his keen eye for details. The Cookson series of articles ran
in the Sydney "Sun" daily from Sunday, August 27, 1911 through Sunday,
September 24,1911. His quick wit shines through, as well as his
compassion. His
verbosity and his command of the English language (he sent me scurrying
to the dictionary more than once, no mean feat!) serve to give us an
intimate glimpse into a world long-gone. But the sometimes bitter
memories dredged up were still as fresh as if they happened yesterday to
the interviewees, though 30 years had gone by since the passing of the
Kelly gang. As he interviewed Mrs. Kelly and Jim in the first few
articles, we can feel the heartache of the real (and perceived)
injustices inflicted on their family, and in the Mrs. Jones interview,
we find a woman who would die a short time afterwards, but who carried
her grief and hatred with her until the very last. Later we meet Sgt.
Steele, Constable Fitzpatrick, Detective Ward, and other players in the
drama. Events covered are the Wombat murders, Jerilderie, Euroa, the
Sherritt business and police watch parties, the siege, and all the
attendant final enactments, as well as remembrances from old time
Glenrowan residents and a gentleman who was allegedly "captured" by the
Kellys. The final piece to close it all out deals with the deaths of Dan
and Steve and deals with and dismisses the rumors that they were still
living at the time. These writings are a treasure-trove of information.
BWC's writing style is one to relish as he expounds on his thoughts
about the whole affair in between the memories of the witnesses. Any
writer can cite facts, and our eyes may glaze over as we skip ahead to
get to the much anticipated end of their scribblings, but it is a truly
rare writer who makes you linger over and re-read their words, to
prolong the sensation as they breathe life into their subject. As BWC
"swish swash[es] through a partially submerged paddock"**** to reach Jim
Kelly in rain that drenched him to the skin and ran into his boots we
too feel the bone-soaking chill...as his extended hand is heartily shook
by Jim Kelly upon parting (more than once), we feel the warmth. And as
he sits in ex-Constable Fitzpatrick's front room we can smell the smoke
from his pipe as he reluctantly begins his recitation of the events so
many years prior. We also feel the sigh of relief of coming into the
sunshine and fresh air after being in the "gloom of the musty
bedchamber"***** at Mrs. Jones's cottage. When one comes to the end of
the series, they are left feeling they wish to tarry a while longer with
the residents of Glenrowan and hear more thrilling tales by the
fireplace on a cold and damp winter night.
A special thank you to Roselyn and Celia (Cookson descendents), who
kindly supplied the family info and have granted exclusive rights to
this website for photos of BWC to be displayed.
Above: B. W. Cookson and his third wife Matilda.
These pictures are subject to the copyright of Cookson descendents.
The Francis Cookson family at their home in Barnard Street, Sandhurst
(Bendigo), Victoria, circa 1882
left to right-Francis Cookson/Brian William Cookson/Mary Ellen Cookson
(later Mrs. Edward William Taylor)/Elizabeth Cookson (nee
Tiplady)/Margaret Isobel Cookson (later Mrs. WilliamTiplady)/Arthur
Edward Fawcett Cookson/Henry Cookson
(If anyone has any further information of the later lives of any of the
Cookson family, particularly Brian's younger siblings, please contact us
at
 )
NOTES:
* The Sun, Sept. 13, 1911
** The Sun, Sept. 13, 1911
*** The Sun, Aug. 27, 1911
**** The Sun, Aug. 29, 1911
***** The Sun, Sept. 2, 1911
Researched & written by Sharon Hollingsworth.
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