He was the youngest son of John Cooke, a tenant farmer of Grillagh, by his second wife, Jane Howie or Howe, of Scottish descent, and was born on 11 May 1788. The 1798 Rebellion was said to have a powerful influence on his religious and political views. Cooke adopted the Non-Arian Old Light position in the Presbyterian tradition. Non-Arians tended to take a dogmatic, prescriptive and conservative view of Presbyterianism, rejecting the liberal views of the Arians based on following conscience and reason in matters of faith. He had a…
Henry Cooke
