Everything tagged: Marjorie Cook

Daphne Cook was born to Marjorie Cook (née Warnes) and John Turnbull Cook in Hong Kong in April 1934. She was one of the great-grandchildren of the Swedish tavern owner, John Olson. As her parents separated when she was a baby, she was brought up by her aunt, Iris Gaby and her husband Cyril, who worked for the Chinese customs. When WW2 broke out the Gaby family were at first interned at the American Club in Shanghai and then included in a POW swap via Lourenco Marques. They settled in Australia.

Engagement announced of Marjorie Cook, schoolteacher of 42 Kennedy Road to Cyril Henry Newell Savage, Inspector of shipwrights of HM Naval Dockyard. SCMP, June 26, 1949.

Cyril Gaby represents a long-standing tranche of the Hong Kong community - that is of seamen who would acquire a Chinese mistress in the city and set her up in an apartment. It was a convenient arrangement for men who came and went. In his autobiography, Gaby has described how he acquired his mistress through the time honoured "viewing" procedure at a tea shop in Ladder Street and recorded the price negotiated with the madam, which in his case in the early 1930s was a down payment of $500 and the purchase of a $2000 apartment in Wanchai.

Elizabeth Warnes was the second daughter of John Olson snr. and half sister to Hannah Warren. Her mother was Ching Ah-Fung. Her other siblings were John Olson jnr., Charles W. Olson and Ellen Melcher née Olson. She married Charles Aspinell Warnes at St John's Cathedral in 1905. Their children were Iris, Marjorie and Cyril. Iris's and Marjorie's descendants now live in Australia. They lost touch with their brother, Cyril, who is thought to have emigrated to Canada. Elizabeth is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Happy Valley near her parents.

Iris was the eldest child of Charles and Elizabeth Warnes (née Olson) and grandchild of John Olson snr. Iris, Marjorie and Cyril Warnes were the half-cousins of my father, Reg Warren.