Sir Thomas Cook

Apprenticed to a London cloth merchant as a boy, Cook became a member of the Drapers’ Company and a prosperous merchant. By the 1460s his London mansion was fitted with tapestries, plated of precious metals and valuable art objects worth almost £1,400. He owned various properties in London and its countryside, and according his will at least four brew houses, taverns and beerhouses, fishing weirs on the Colne, and a large farm at Gidea Hall. He used one part of his fortune to provide loans to the King Edward IV and to Queen Margaret. As reward for his financial services, Cook was knighted in 1465.

At the height of his career, Cook owned a fortune worth around £20,000 or £6.1bn in today’s money. Due to his wealth and prominence, he was elected an alderman (1456-1468) and Lord Mayor of London (1462-1463).

Accused of involvement in the Cornelius plot (1468), Cook had managed to preserve his estates and life although he was heavily fined and long imprisoned.