Joseph Cook

Joseph Cook (NAA: M3614, 8)

Joseph Cook was Australia's sixth prime minister (1913–14). He had held the Defence portfolio in Alfred Deakin's government, and the Navy and Treasury portfolios in the government of WM Hughes.

Cook began his political life as a Labor parliamentarian in New South Wales before Federation. He joined the first federal parliament in 1901 as member of the Free Trade Party. In 1917 he was a key figure in the formation of the Nationalist Party led by WM Hughes. After leaving politics, Cook was Australia's High Commissioner in London.

What's in the National Archives on Joseph Cook?

The tables below list a sample of the Archives' records about Cook.

Personal records of Cook

People in prominent positions often have significant personal collections of records, as well as creating records in the institutions in which they work. These personal collections are usually a mixture of official and private material and may span a number of different positions. The National Archives collects personal records from Governors-General, Prime Ministers, ministers and some judges. For more information, see Commonwealth persons.

The National Archives holds a significant collection of papers and photographs gathered by Joseph and Mary Cook.

Collection references

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Political cartoons depicting J Cook, WM Hughes, A Fisher, J Forrest, A Deakin and W Lyne, and articles reporting on J Cook's political activities, 1909–10	1909–10	M3612, 3
	Souvenir program commemorating the arrival of the Australian Fleet in Sydney, 1913	1913	M3633, 4
	Pocket-sized diary containing notes on war, quotations, newspaper clippings and appointments, 1916	1916	M3580, 8
	Photograph and postcards of J Cook and RS Brown standing in the cockpit of the first Australian 'Seagull', with Mary Cook standing beside the flying boat, 1926	1926	M3613, 4
	Correspondence and newspaper clippings accumulated as High Commissioner including an acknowlegment from A Conan Doyle, 1923–27	1923–27	M3603, 4

Cook before his term as Prime Minister

In 1891 Joseph Cook was elected Labor member for Hartley in the NSW Legislative Assembly. In 1893 he became leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party. After splitting with Labor in 1894, he served in George Reid's Free Trade ministry as Postmaster-General (1894–98) and Secretary for Mines and Agriculture (1898–99).

In 1901 Cook entered federal politics as the Free Trade member for Parramatta. He was Minister for Defence (1909–10) in the fusion government of Free Traders and Protectionists led by Alfred Deakin. Cook became leader of the newly formed Liberal Party in January 1913.

Collection references

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Photograph of the opening of Mount Victoria Post Office by Postmaster-General J Cook, 1897	1897	C4076, HN456
	J Cook's notes and newspaper clippings on various topics, 1901–06	1901–06	M3580, 1
	Oaths of the seventh Commonwealth ministry (A Deakin), 1909	1909	A5447, 12
	From the Commonwealth parliamentary debates, two booklet copies of a speech by J Cook on the defence bill, 1909	1909	M3608, 2
	Invitation to J Cook, as Minister for Defence, to attend a cadet parade in Sydney, c1909–10	c1909–10	MP84/1, 2024/6/71

Cook during his term as Prime Minister

At the elections of May 1913, Joseph Cook's Liberals defeated the Labor Party. From 24 June 1913 to 17 September 1914 Cook was Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs. He was in office at the outbreak of war in August 1914. With only a small majority in the House of Representatives and a minority in the Senate, Cook's government lost office after the first double dissolution of the federal parliament.

Collection references

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Oaths of the ninth Commonwealth ministry (J Cook), 1913	1913	A5447, 16
	Pocket-sized diary containing notes, quotations and appointments, 1913	1913	M3580, 5
	Correspondence with the Governor-General regarding the double dissolution, Privy Councillor appointment and so on, 1911–14	1911–14	M3608, 6
	Double dissolution of the parliament, 1913–14	1913–14	A2, 1914/3834
	Transfer of Norfolk Island to the Commonwealth, 1913	1913	A2, 1913/540

Cook after his term as Prime Minister

Cook served as Deputy Prime Minister (1917–21), Minister for Navy (1917–20) and Treasurer (1920–21) in WM Hughes' Nationalist ministry. In 1918 he represented Australia at the imperial war conference and in the Imperial War Cabinet. In 1919 he attended the Versailles peace conference.

Cook left politics to become Australian High Commissioner to Britain (1921–27) and, before retiring, chaired the Royal Commission on the finances of South Australia as affected by Federation (1928–29).

Collection references

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Correspondence accumulated as Minister for the Navy, Treasurer and Acting Prime Minister, on topics including the Prince of Wales, High Commission, industrial relations and conscription, 1916–21	1916–21	M3603, 3
	Notes from a meeting about ship-building between WM Hughes, J Cook and representatives of Labor organisations, 1917	1917	CP103/11, 202
	Private and personal correspondence between the Governor-General and the Minister for the Navy, 1915–18	1915–18	A11085, B3C/12
	The 1921–22 Budget and associated papers presented by J Cook, 1921	1921–22	M3608, 1
	Deputation to the Acting Prime Minister about works at Canberra, 1921	1921	A199, FC1921/673

Mary Cook

Mary Turner married Joseph Cook in 1885. She became actively involved in her husband's career. Mary was also well known for her charity work, particularly with the Australian Red Cross Society. She represented Australia at International Red Cross gatherings on several occasions.

Collection references

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Pocket-sized diary containing appointments, notes on a visit to European war cemeteries and a dried flower inside the front cover, 1922	1922	M3580, 11
	Personal papers of Mary Cook including employment references, invitations, newspaper clippings, a speech card, photographs, lists and correspondence, 1883–1965	1883–1965	M3606, 3
	Photograph of a Red Cross Board of Governors meeting held in Paris, with Mary Cook representing the Australian Red Cross, 1923	1923	M3606, 11
	Studio photographs of Mary Cook in the dress she wore to be presented at court, 1926	1926	M3606, 19
	Memorabilia in various formats accumulated by Joseph and Mary Cook, 1912–49	1912–49	M3633

Significant subjects for Cook-related research

During Joseph Cook's term as Prime Minister, central issues included

• the outbreak of World War One
• the arrival of the new Australian naval fleet in Australia
• Federal Capital Territory development
• transfer of Norfolk Island from NSW to the Commonwealth

Collection references

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Appointment of W Griffin, 1914–21	1914–21	A457, A110/1
	HMAS Australia and Sydney – correspondence between the Prime Minister and the Premier of New South Wales about cooperating to extend a welcome, 1913	1913	MP472/1, 16/13/8794
	Correspondence relating to the proposed transfer of Norfolk Island to the Commonwealth, 1914	1914	A1, 1914/5027
	Aid to Britain in the event of war, 1914	1914	A6006, 1914/8/3
	Despatch of further troops to the war, 1914	1914	A6006, 1914/8/24

Photographic records relating to Cook

Collection references

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	J Cook as Prime Minister, nd	nd	A1200, L11180
	Eight studio photographs of J Cook taken throughout his career, c1909–c1929	c1909–c1929	M3614, 15
	Framed photograph of the first Liberal Cabinet, 1913	1913	M3798, 1
	J Cook in the uniform of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George with the Canadian High Commissioner, c1921–c1927	c1921–c1927	M3614, 9
	Joseph and Mary Cook attending Anzac Day ceremonies in London, c1922–c1927	c1922–c1927	M3614, 12

Relevant research guides

The National Archives has produced a number of research guides and fact sheets that may assist you with your research on Joseph Cook. These are available from the website and in print versions.

Royal Military College, Duntroon (Fact Sheet 165)

Building the provisional Parliament House (Fact Sheet 109)

Navy administrative records held in Melbourne (Fact Sheet 137)

Universal military training in Australia, 1911–29 (Fact Sheet 160)

Records of Papua New Guinea, 1883–1942 (Fact Sheet 148)

Army administrative records held in Melbourne (Fact Sheet 135)

Administration of the Australian Capital Territory (Fact Sheet 35)

Conscription referendums, 1916 and 1917 (Fact Sheet 161)

Federation: The Guide to Records (Research Guide)

Good British Stock: Child and Youth Migration to Australia (Research Guide 11)

Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Australians in NSW (Research Guide 1)

Papua New Guinea Records 1883-1942: Microfilm Collections (Research Guide 4)

Royalty and Australian Society: Records Relating to the British Monarchy held in Canberra (Research Guide 5)

Parliament House Canberra, 1927: Records Relating to the Design and Construction of the Provisional Parliament House (Research Guide 6)

More People Imperative: Immigration to Australia, 1901–39 (Research Guide 7)

Research databases

RecordSearch contains searchable descriptions of millions of items from our collection. Many of them are wholly digitised.

PhotoSearch allows you to search and browse over 110 000 photographs from our collection.