[3] Cook was born at Te Ore Ore near Masterton on 14 February 1904 to Madeline Cameron and her husband Walter and named Hinehauone Coralie Cameron.

She was tutored by Mary Elizabeth Tripe in oil painting, by Harry Linley Richardson in drawing and by Dorothy Kate Richmond in water colour painting.

[2] She travelled with her friend Helen Blair to France and to the United Kingdom in 1928.

[4] In June 1940 she married the Anglican minister and widower George Pilkington Cook, who was father to six children.

[6] Her parenting responsibilities impacted her art practice for over twenty years.