Rev. Philip Henry Cooke (1859-1950)
Cooke was born in Maidstone, Kent and died at Old Heathfield, Sussex. He took his B.A. in London in 1881 and entered holy orders. While serving as a curate in Upper Clapton he joined the North London Natural History Society. His main interests were botany and archaeology. He spent many years exploring the countryside of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, searching for plants.
In 1914 he became Vicar of Ickleton in Essex and in the following years did excellent work on the flora of nearby Cambridgeshire.
In 1929 Cooke retired and returned to London. In the 1930’s he led excursions and attended meetings of the Archaeological and Botany Sections of the Society, extending his plant hunting into Surrey and Kent. He donated many of his specimens to the Society’s herbarium.
Rev. P. H. Cooke contributed one specimen to the LNHS gall collection.
For further information see his obituary in the London Naturalist