Capt J Cooke - St Andrew - Donhead St Andrew, Wiltshire - Specific Veteran Memorials on Waymarking.com

A white marble tablet with black marble frame set on two corbels; lettering in black. Located on the south wall inside St Andrew's church, Donhead St Andrew.

The inscription reads:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF/ JOHN COOKE, ESQR LATE CAPTAIN OF/ HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP BELLEROPHON,/ WHO IN THE BATTLE/ OF TRAFALGAR/ ON THE 21ST OCT'R 1805/ HAVING EVINCED THE MOST CONSUMMATE SKILL,/ AND BRAVERY,/ IN THE CONFLICT OF THAT EVENTFUL DAY,/ FELL/ IN A MOMENT, GLORIOUS INDEED TO HIS COUNTRY,/ BUT MARKED BY INDIVIDUAL TEARS/ OF ALL WHO KNEW HIM./ HIS INCONSOLABLE WIDOW,/ PLACES THIS TABLET TO RECORD/ HIS VIRTUES AND HIS FATE,/ NEAR THE SPOT WHICH HE HAD CHOSEN/ AS HIS FAVOURITE RETIREMENT/ AND TO WHICH,/ HAVING LEFT IT TO THE CALL OF HIS COUNTRY,/ HE RETURNED NO MORE./ PERIUT ANNO AETATIA 43/ BE MERCIFUL TO HER O GOD WHO BENDS,/ AND MOURNS THE BEST OF HUSBANDS, FATHERS, FRIENDS,/ OH "WHEN SHE WAKES AT MIDNIGHT" BUT TO SHED/ FRESH TEARS OF ANGUISH ON HER LONELY BED,/ "THINKING ON HIM WHO IS NOT," - THEN RESTRAIN/ HER BITTER THOUGHTS AND HER SAD HEART SUSTAIN./ FATHER OF MERCYS SHE REMEMBERS STILL/ THY CHAST'NING HAND, AND TO THY SOV'REIGN WILL/ BOWS SILENT, BUT NOT HOPELESS WHILST HER EYE,/ SHE RAISES TO A BRIGHT FUTURITY,/ AND TRUSTS IN BETTER WORLDS THOU WILL RESTORE,/ THE HAPPINESS SHE HERE CAN MEET NO MORE/ LOUISA, RELICT OF THE ABOVE/ DEPARTED THIS LIFE AT CHELTENHAM FEBY 5TH, 1853/ AGED 96 YEARS

Below the tablet is a picture of an oil painting of the captain, and a short biography.

"John Cooke (c.1762 – 21 October 1805) was an experienced and highly regarded officer of the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the first years of the Napoleonic Wars. Cooke is best known for his death in hand-to-hand combat with French forces during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. During the action, his ship HMS Bellerophon was badly damaged and boarded by sailors and marines from the French ship of the line Aigle. Cooke was killed in the ensuing melee, but his crew successfully drove off their opponents and ultimately forced the surrender of Aigle.

Aside from his death, remarkably little is known of Cooke's circumstances. Even his date of birth is unclear, and unlike many of his fellow officers, Cooke was never a notable society figure. He was however well respected in his profession and following his death was the subject of tributes from officers who had served alongside him. Memorials to him were placed in St Paul's Cathedral and his local church in Wiltshire."

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