Thomas Taplin Cooke

Thomas Taplin Cooke (1782–1866)^[1] was an eminent English showman, born in Warwick, who toured in America as well as his own country. In 1997 Cooke was inducted into the Circus Hall of Fame.^[2]

Private life

Cooke was said to have had between thirteen and nineteen children who were mostly circus performers. He and his wife, Mary Anne,^[1] had a daughter Rebecca who married James Clements Boswell [it] and their daughter was the equestrian performer Nellie Boswell.^[3] Another daughter, Mary Anne (1819-1897), married clown and contortionist William H. Cole; with their son, William Washington "Chilly Billy" Cole, she helped manage their Cole circus.^[4] At his death, her son's estate was valued at $5 million.

References

^ ^a ^b William L. Slout (1998). Olympians of the Sawdust Circle: A Biographical Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century American Circus. Wildside Press LLC. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-0-8095-1310-9. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
^ "International Circus Hall of Fame Inductees, Peru Indiana". Retrieved 9 June 2013.
^ Turner, John M. (23 September 2004). Boswell [married name Cattle], Nellie [Ellen Clara] (1858/9–1938), equestrian performer. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53838.
^ Cole Bros. Circus

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[Slout1998-1] William L. Slout (1998). Olympians of the Sawdust Circle: A Biographical Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century American Circus. Wildside Press LLC. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-0-8095-1310-9. Retrieved 9 June 2013.

[2] "International Circus Hall of Fame Inductees, Peru Indiana". Retrieved 9 June 2013.

[3] Turner, John M. (23 September 2004). Boswell [married name Cattle], Nellie [Ellen Clara] (1858/9–1938), equestrian performer. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53838.

[4] Cole Bros. Circus

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