JOHN COOK was born in Sliddery towards the end of May 1817 and baptised on the 1st of June. He spent his early childhood on the Isle of Arran. Then, between 1824 and 1830, the Cook family crossed the Clyde and settled in the Ayrshire harbour town of Troon.
John was something of an anomaly amongst the Cook men of his immediate family. His father and grandfather before him and his sons after him were all mariners at some stage of their lives. John, however, took to the tailor’s craft.
In the 19th century, tailoring was one of a number of crafts regulated by guilds. Guilds were associations of artisans that controlled the practice of a particular trade or craft in many cities. By the middle of the century, the power of the guilds was in decline. …show more content…
John’s sister-in-law, Janet Fullarton Hunter, had also joined the household by 1861. Furthermore, the Cooks shared number 24 with a man named John Rodgers and his wife.
At the time of the 1871 Scotland Census, an infant cousin of John’s named Susan F. Dunlop was present at number 24. The exact nature of her relationship to the Cook family is unknown, and no records pertain-ing to the child’s birth or death have been found.
John achieved the rank of master tailor prior to his death. In order to become a qualified master, John would have been required by a guild or association to submit a ‘masterpiece’ – a work of exceptional quality dis-playing his skill – for examination. Upon attaining the rank of master, John would have gained permission to operate his own workshop and train apprentices. This was the traditional method of becoming a master. However, it is unknown to what extent such regulations were in place in Troon during the mid-1800s.
For the remainder of John’s lifetime, his family lived at Templehill at number 24. It was on the southern side of the street, and from the front doorstep, John would have had a view of the North Sands and Troon’s North Bay