Tuesday 20 July 2010

Robert Cocks, music publisher and local benefactor







Serendipity is wonderful
Today, Tuesday 20 July 2010, it is exactly 150 years since the cornerstone was laid for the almshouses in Old Buckenham. So although the weather was a bit overcast, it seemed a good time for the editor of the village newsletter and village blog to go and take a few photographs of the building as it is today.
Unaware of the significance of the date, John Wagstaff, the Head of Music and Performing Arts Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was staying in Norwich and decided to pay a visit to Old Buckenham to follow up his interest in Robert Cocks. John had earlier written a paper entitled “Type and Hype: Robert Cocks and London Music Publishing” so the opportunity to visit the village where Robert Cocks was born seemed too good to miss. After taking the train to Attleborough he had walked the four miles to the almshouses, arriving by the building to take his photos just as the editor was taking his.
Robert Cocks was a great benefactor to the village of Old Buckenham. Apart from founding the almshouses he was also involved in the building of the infant school on the Green (now a private house) and provided the large stained glass window behind the altar in All Saints Church.
Robert Cocks & Co was one of the principal London music publishing firms of its time. The business was established in 1827 by Robert Cocks and was carried out in Hanover Square for about 21 years before moving to 6 New Burlington Street. In 1868 Robert Cocks took his two sons, Arthur Lincoln Cocks and Stroud Lincoln Cocks into partnership with him. During its existence some 16,000 publications were issued including many worthy works. Robert Cocks did not hide his light under a bushel claiming his firm to be “By Special Appointment Music Publishers to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and the late Emperor Napoleon III”.
Do you know more about Robert Cocks? Where was he born? Are there any members of his family still living in the area? John Wagstaff would be very interested to find out and is intending to provide the editor with more information that will be published later. Just click on ‘post a Comment’ below and you can leave any details that you have. Or just email oldbuckhistory@aol.com to tell us what you know. Thank you.

2 comments:

Dr Selby Whittingham said...

Robert Cocks appears in "The Danbys", my account of the family of John Danby and its connection with J.M.W.Turner. www.jmwturner.org

Anonymous said...

Stroud Lincoln's daughter Agnes Mary married Francis Henry Milsom of Bath - a pianoforte dealer who is part of the original Milsom family after which the street was named. I'm very interested in this link as wonder if this is how they met - FHM was buying music from SLC perhaps? If you have any more on the Cocks business I'd be very interested to share. My email is lawsathome [at]yahoo[dot]com thank you ;)