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Dr A H Cooke's Research

Alfred Hinds Cooke (1854-1934) was a noted scholar in both Classics and Natural Phenomena. He lectured at Cambridge from 1879 to 1900, becoming dean twice and was then head master of Aldenham school from 1900 to 1920 followed by vicar of Mapledurham, Berks, from 1920 till his death.

His best known work is his "The Early History of Mapledurham" which was published in 1925. He still had energy left for more work then and somehow was introduced to the Powys-Lybbe family charter chests then held by my grandfather Reginald Powys-Lybbe who lived perhaps 15 miles away at Streatley, Berks. I am not sure what was done first, but he wrote four letters to my grandfather on the subject of the early Lybbes in Tavistock, Devon in the 15th century and then at Hardwick, three miles from Mapledurham, in the 16th century. Perhaps at much the same time he also wrote and had published (I know not where, though I have a printing of the pages. But, June 2009, I have just found this article in the Journal of the Berks Archaological Society, vol 30, pp. 124-138 and vol 31, p. 30) "The Early History of Hardwick by Whitchurch". So here they are:

Finally here's some 19th century pictures of Hardwick (note the file sizes):