Small image of a man handing a book to a women across a counter.

At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: John Cookson Fife-Cookson

Author: John Cookson Fife-Cookson (1844–1911)

Biography: John Cookson Fife-Cookson was born in 1844 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the son of William Henry Fife of Lee Hall and Lucy Cookson. He attended Sandhurst before joining the army. He served in New Zealand in 1865 and the Russo-Turkish War. The latter experiences he recounted in With the Armies of the Balkans (1886). He retired with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1878, he took by royal license the name and arms of Cookson under the will of his grandfather. He only wrote a single novel Baylerby (1886) which is set in Turkey. In addition, he wrote several poetic works. Fife-Cookson lived in Northumberland where he indulged in field sports including salmon fishing. He never married and died in 1911.

Author Tags:

References: Allibone; British Census (1881); Times (18 July 1911)

Fiction Titles:

  1. Baylerbay: or, Strangers in Turkey. A Novel.  2 vol.  London: Chapman and Hall, 1886.