Toxopholite – a most unusual name

If you’ve ever thought Victorian names were boring, all those William and Mary Ann’s, think again. Meet Toxopholite John Douglas Cooke.

Was he the first Toxopholite in the family? Did he pass the name on to subsequent generations? And what did they call him for short?

“Come in Toxopholite, your tea’s ready” is a bit of a mouthful to shout down the street.

Toxopholite and Amy Cooke

The man with such an unusual name had a complicated family background. Family historians suspect he was born illegitimately and that he amplified his details with an elaborate backstory – he would later declare that he was born in India on September 23, 1861.

He was baptised Toxophilite John Penery at St Andrew’s Church, Plymouth on January 4, 1860 when his birthdate was given as September 23, 1859 and his parents named as Edwin and Mary Jane Penery. His mother later married William Butterworth Cooke, an officer in the Royal Artillery, in Plymouth in 1867. Perhaps Toxopholite was never told the truth about his birth and was supplied with this story by his mother.

Toxopholite married Amy Kate Lavallin in 1883 and entered the employment of the GWR as a clerk the following year. By 1891 the family had moved to Swindon where they lived at 28 Havelock Street. They later moved to a house in Maidstone Road and by 1911 they were living at 13 Kent Road. The couple had five children, according to the details they submitted at the time of the 1911 census.

Toxopholite’s last home was 133 Kingshill Road where he died on February 22, 1940. He was buried in grave plot C1042.

The meaning of the name Toxopholite (or Toxophilite) is a student or lover of archery. It is derived from ‘Toxophilus – the schole or partitions of shooting’ a book about longbow archery dedicated to Henry VIII and written by Roger Ascham, a 16^th century scholar and tutor to Elizabeth I.

Many thanks to Diana for her help.