Ernest Cook

Cook was born in Camberwell, London and educated at Mill Hill School, as were his two brothers Frank and Thomas.

In 1928, along with his brother Frank, he sold his business interest in the family firm to the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits.

[1] Following the sale, Cook retired to Bath, and devoted himself to his art collection and the acquisition of country estates.

[1] In 1931 he acquired Montacute House in Somerset and the Bath Assembly Rooms for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

Cook acquired a total of seventeen estates, of which Bradenham, Buscot and Coleshill passed to the National Trust.