Alec Cooke, Baron Cooke of Islandreagh
Victor Alexander Cooke, Baron Cooke of Islandreagh, OBE, DL (18 October 1920 – 13 November 2007), was an Ulster Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland.
The son of Victor and Alice Cooke, he was educated in Marlborough College and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge with a Master of Arts in mechanical science. He served as a Royal Navy lieutenant between 1940 and 1946. He was chairman of Henry R Ayton Ltd, Belfast, between 1946 and 1989.[1]
Cooke was chairman of the Belfast Savings Bank in 1963 and of Harland and Wolff (1970–1987). Lord Cooke was Director of Northern Ireland Airports from 1970 to 1985. He was a Senator in the former Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1961 to 1968 and was the last member to remain politically active. In 1973, he was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim.[1][2]
Cooke became a deputy lieutenant of County Antrim in 1971 and was invested as an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1981. He was created a life peer as Baron Cooke of Islandreagh, of Islandreagh in the County of Antrim, on 11 August 1992.[3][1][4]
He married Alison Sheila Casement (daughter of Maj-Gen Francis Casement) in 1951 and had two sons (Michael John Alexander (born 1955) and James Victor Francis (born 1960)) and one daughter (Victoria Sally (born 1956), now The Hon. Mrs Nicholas Yonge). Lord Cooke of Islandreagh died following a long illness, aged 87.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Victor Alexander Cooke, Baron Cooke of Islandreagh". The Peerage. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ "No. 2838". The Belfast Gazette. 12 January 1973. p. 17.
- ^ "No. 53020". The London Gazette. 14 August 1992. p. 13809.
- ^ "Lord Cooke of Islandreagh". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 3 November 1992. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
External links
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- 1920 births
- 2007 deaths
- Ulster Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- High sheriffs of Antrim
- Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1961–1965
- Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1965–1969
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at Marlborough College
- Politicians from County Antrim
- Royal Navy officers
- Royal Navy officers of World War II
- Deputy lieutenants of Antrim
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
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- Life peer stubs
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