Captain “Bob” Cook Dies
p. 23 · Read in the full issue
Suddenly
MANY people in New Guinea will be sorry to learn of the sudden death in Sydney on April 16 of Mr. Roland Rasell Cook (better known as Captain Bob Cook), owner of Kilinwata planta tion, in the Bainings district. He was 61 years old.
He came to Sydney early in the year and went to reside with friends, in Bal main; but he was not well, and steadily became worse, and he died in mid-April from a variety of internal troubles.
Little is known of Mr. Cook’s earlier life; but he is believed to have been a man of good family and University edu cation, and he was conversant with several languages. It is known that, as a young man, he was a member of the British Secret Service, and that he had a career of extraordinary adventure during the war. He was very reticent about himself, however.
As “Captain Cook,” he was well known as a trader and recruiter in New Guinea, where he arrived some 15 years ago. He subsequently owned plantations at Rano and Buka, and he bought Kilinwata, in the Bainings, some three years ago. It is believed that he was unmarried, and has relations in London.