Joseph Cook was a keen amateur photographer and collector of photographs. He was born in Inverness on 14 October 1880. After leaving Inverness Royal Academy, he joined the family firm of timber merchants, James Walker & Sons, located on Shore Street. During World War I, he was a captain in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. On the death of his father in 1921, Cook became manager of the sawmill, a post he held for 41 years.
Cook was also a founder member of the Inverness Rotary Club, a manager of the Inverness Trustee Savings Bank and a deacon in the Free Church, but he was probably best known for the lectures he gave on the history of Inverness using lantern slides made from his collection of photographs and prints. He died on 12 April 1973, aged 92. His collection of lantern slides was gifted to Inverness Museum and Art Gallery in 1999 by Rev. R.B. Henderson. The donation also included some of Cook's notebooks.
Most of the Joseph Cook Collection can be viewed on the Am Baile website. The lantern slides can be view by appointment at the museum, please contact us for further information.
