Aynsley Cook

[2] A boy soprano,[3] Cook started singing at St. George's Catholic Cathedral in Southwark, and at concerts directed by Mendelssohn and Spohr.

[5] A bass-baritone, Cook made his stage début in Manchester later in 1856 when he appeared with the National English Opera Company managed by Lucy Escott.

For them he sang Sergeant Peterman in The Desert Flower and Pascal in The Armourer of Nantes, both in 1863, and in John Liptrot Hatton's Rose, or Love's Ransom (1864).

[6] He played General Boum in the first British production of The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein in November 1867 at Covent Garden in an English translation by Charles Lamb Kenney,[6][9] starring Julia Matthews in the title role.

[10] During the 1870 to 1871 seasons Cook was at the Gaiety Theatre in London, where he appeared as Van Bett in the British premiere of Lortzing's Zar und Zimmermann in addition to popular French works including Auber's Fra Diavolo and Hérold's Zampa.

[3] While with Carl Rosa Cook sang in Rossini's Stabat Mater in a charity concert to raise funds to restore St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh.

[12] In tribute, that evening at the Royal Court Theatre Claude Jaquinot conducted Chopin's Funeral March after a performance of Maritana.

[3] His daughter Annie Elizabeth Cook (1861–1946) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, while her parents were on an operatic tour.