Thomas Cook

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Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook Memorial at Leicester Railway Station by James Walter Butler

Thomas Cook (born November 22, 1808 in Melbourne , Derbyshire , England , † July 18, 1892 in Leicester , Leicestershire ) was a Baptist clergyman and British tourism pioneer and founder of the travel company of the same name, later the Thomas Cook Group . The system of package tours goes back to him .

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Life

Thomas Cook came from a Baptist family. His parents John and Elizabeth Cook lived in simple circumstances and lived in Melbourne, a town in Derbyshire . His father died in February 1812 when Thomas was only three years old. His mother married James Smithard in September of that year. Thomas Cook had to drop out of school at the age of ten in order to contribute to family support; He could only continue to attend Methodist Sunday School . He first helped the greengrocer John Robey and then learned the carpentry trade at the age of 14 with the alcoholic Uncle John Pegg .

As a young adult, he published Christian tracts. From 1828 he worked part-time as a Baptist missionary and Sunday school teacher . At the same time he was a staunch abstainer and initiated major events and demonstration marches against the widespread alcohol abuse . Thomas Cook met Marianne Mason in Barrowden , County Rutland , where he had lived since 1829. The two married on March 2, 1833. Their marriage came from John Mason (* January 13, 1834), Henry (* 1835) and Annie Maria (* 1845).

On July 5, 1841, Cook organized the railway journey of 570 activists of the abstinence movement from Leicester to nearby Loughborough at the special price of one shilling per person. The extra journey, a third class train journey without seats, in open wagons on the Midland Railway was not organized to earn money, but to get people away from the gin bottle and out into the fresh air. In addition to the return trip, the tour price also included ham sandwiches and a cup of tea. This trip, which can be seen as the forerunner of the package tours later organized by Cook, marked the beginning of mass tourism .

Excursions to Liverpool (1845), Scotland (1846) and the World Exhibition in London (1851) followed. The first trip to mainland Europe took place in 1855. On May 17, 1861, Cook organized a train and ship trip to Paris for workers . For the first time, expenses for accommodation and meals were included in the price. This is how package tours began. In 1866 they traveled to America for the first time through Thomas Cook.

Thomas Cook's grave in Leicester

Cook ran the first package tour in 1869. Participants in this trip, which led to Egypt and was led by himself, were British and Americans. In 1872 he organized a 222-day trip around the world covering 40,000 km. Cook also organized the first Nile cruises in Luxor , which are considered to be one of the milestones in the history of mass tourism , because for the first time people who are comparatively less well off could afford them. Cook's company also organized state visits for foreign rulers . He founded the first travel agency in 1845, introduced travelers checks and hotel coupons. The travel company he founded, Thomas Cook and Son , was taken over by his enterprising son John Mason in 1879, despite a conflict-ridden relationship, and after his death from 1899 to 1928 remained in family ownership.

Thomas Cook's wife died March 8, 1884; he died on July 19, 1892 at his home in Leicester.

literature

  • Jörn W. Mundt: Thomas Cook. Pioneer of Tourism , UVK, Konstanz 2014, ISBN 978-3-86764-496-9
  • Andrew Williamson: The Golden Age of Travel (Travel Heritage) , 2001, ISBN 9781900341332
  • Klaus-Werner Haupt: Thomas Cook and the all-inclusive trips around the world. In: OKZIDENT & ORIENT. The fascination of the Orient in the long 19th century. Weimarer Verlagsgesellschaft / Imprint of the publishing house Römerweg Wiesbaden 2015, pp. 147–156 ISBN 978-3-7374-0220-0

Web links

Commons : Thomas Cook  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Brockhaus Calendar Adventure History July 5, 2007
  2. ^ A b c Andrew Williamson: The Golden Age of Travel (Travel Heritage) . Thomas Cook, 2001, ISBN 978-1-90034133-2 .
  3. ^ Jörn W. Mundt: Thomas Cook. Tourism pioneer. P. 19.
  4. ↑ Jörn W. Mundt: Thomas Cook, Pioneer of Tourism. S. 24f.
  5. ↑ 147 years ago today… ; in: Märkische Oderzeitung, Frankfurter Stadtbote 17./18. May 2008, p. 1.
  6. ↑ Kira Hanser: Holidays for everyone. For the 150th birthday of the Thomas Cook company. In: Welt am Sonntag , 2011, No. 20, p. 86.
  7. ↑ Jörn W. Mundt: Thomas Cook, Pioneer of Tourism. Pp. 108-177.
  8. ↑ Jörn W. Mundt: Thomas Cook, Pioneer of Tourism. Pp. 170-173.
personal data
SURNAME Cook, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British tourism pioneer and founder of the travel company of the same name
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne , Derbyshire , England
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 1892
Place of death Leicester