[4] In 1873, Cook "graduated" as one of the first women at the University of Cambridge with honours in the classic Tripos, at second class.
Sarah Woodhead, Cook and Lumsden were considered "the Girton pioneers", with Cook also described as "a tall, dark, willowy beauty with the melancholy air of one of Rossetti's nymphs, classical features and graceful movements.
She continued to champion women's higher education by creating a home-based university level teaching facility, supported by sympathetic professors from Owens College.
[1] Her final speech in 1900 was in the Free Trade Hall to the assembled Manchester High School for Girls community.
With her husband who was the editor, she contributed critical items to the Manchester Guardian[1] supporting women's right to vote as a suffragist.