Peter Cook (antiques)


Peter Joseph Cook was an Australian Army officer, antique dealer and writer, and ABC Television panelist on For Love or Money.

Family

Cook was born in Melbourne, the only child of Elsie, née Sheppard, and Major George Sydney "Syd" Cook. His second given name, Joseph, was in honour of his grandfather, Sir Joseph Cook GCMG, the sixth Prime Minister of Australia. Elsie, a Red Cross nurse, and Syd, an architect, had served abroad during World War I and were both mentioned in despatches. In the six-part Australian television drama series ANZAC Girls, on ABC1, Laura Brent plays Elsie Cook and Todd Lasance plays Syd Cook.

Education

Syd Cook was appointed Director of the Commonwealth Department of Housing and Construction in Western Australia and Peter Cook was educated at Wesley College, in Perth, from 1936 until 1939. After his father's transfer to Sydney, Cook attended Newington College from 1940 until 1942. He was the second of four generations of his family to be educated at Newington – his uncles, including The Hon. Mr Justice Cecil Cook, were amongst the first generation and his grandsons were amongst the fourth. His grandmother, Dame Mary Cook DBE, was the foundation president of the Newington College Parents' and Friends' Association.

Military service

After graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1944, Cook served in the Australian Army in World War II and the Korean War. At the time of his retirement in 1960 he had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Antiques

On retirement from the regular army Cook became proprietor of Grafton Galleries, in Double Bay, New South Wales, an antique business founded by his mother in 1945. Cook was the consultant editor of The Antique Buyer's Handbook for Australia from 1979 until 1993. He wrote a column, Collector's Corner, for The Australian Women's Weekly from 1975 until 1982. In 1987, Cook became a panelist on the television series For Love or Money. The show ran for three years and The Sydney Morning Herald described him as "the viewers favourite antiques expert" whilst The Canberra Times saw him as being the show's "most cerebral panellist".