James Thorpe Cooke

James Thorpe Cooke (18105 September 1869) was an English showman and circus proprietor.

Early life James Thorpe Cooke was born in England in 1810. Born into a celebrated English equestrian family, James was the third son of Thomas Taplin Cooke and part of Cooke's Royal Circus. He had two brothers: William (1808-1886) and Alfred (1821-1854).

Circus life James Thorpe Cooke established himself as a top horse rider within his father's company of equestrians.

During the early 1830s, he performed with his father's company as permanent venues were established in Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, and Hull. His first known appearance in Hull took place on May 20, 1833. Cooke performed in Hull on June 14, 1833, as "A Chinese Enchanter, Flying From The Fiends of Vengeance, On Three Desert Steeds." He followed with an equestrian performance titled The Reaper, or Love & Labour.

At Cooke's permanent venue on Great Windmill Street, Haymarket, James Cooke performed a daring equestrian act in October 1834. His act included leaping from horseback over two 7-foot canvases, through four balloons, across an 8-foot lighted platform, and through a mail coach.

He toured Ireland with Cooke's Royal Circus in December 1834, performing in Dublin through early 1835 and appearing in Belfast for the first time on April 20.

His father, Thomas T. Cooke, established the first circus in Edinburgh in 1835. On May 12, 1836, he made an appearance in Perth, Scotland, under the banner of Cooke's New Royal Circus.

Shortly after 1836, James Cooke became proprietor of his own circus.

He also performed in hippodramas, taking on various Shakespearean characters including Falstaff, Shylock, and Richard III.

From January 1847 to November 1848, he made appearances in Edinburgh, Leith, Arbroath, Stirling, Falkirk, Greenock, Glasgow, and Dundee. He briefly retired from the profession in 1849 and, in April, auctioned his trained horses, ponies, carriages, wardrobe, and other circus property. Retiring with a modest fortune, he purchased a rural property near Dalkeith. Though he lived there for a year, his active disposition and deep affection for circus life led him to collect and train a new stable of horses. In 1850, he resumed work as a circus manager and continued a successful career for the next six years. Afterward, he completed a successful season in Newcastle upon Tyne. His tenting season began in May 1852. He toured from Aberdeen in December 1852 to Dundee in February 1853, arriving in Glasgow that May. Around this time, his brother William began leasing Astley's Amphitheatre in London. He had a daughter named Eliza Ann Cooke who also engaged in circus performances.

Death James Thorpe Cooke died at 59 years old on 5 September 1869 in Portobello, Edinburgh. He succumbed to apoplexy.

Legacy The young James Cooke, by Andrew Ducrow's own admission, exceeded him in various equestrian performances and was seen as his only legitimate rival in the art.