Richard Plunkett Cooke was born on October 12, 1824, in Parsonstown, Ireland.
He studied engineering at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1852, he came to Canada and obtained a position as assistant engineer on the Toronto and Guelph Railway that subsequently became part of the Grand Trunk Railway. Cooke became a divisional engineer in charge of the line west of Toronto. In 1858, he was transferred to the central division and had charge of the Grand Trunk line between Montreal and Toronto. In 1861, he became General Manager of the Brockville and Ottawa Railway. About 1869, he participated in the successful completion of the Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad in Massachusetts. He spent the last three years of his life working on many important projects in Vancouver, B.C. He served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Columbia and President of St. Patrick's Society in Vancouver. In 1888, he was elected a member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers.
In 1853, he married Anna Maria Plunkett (1827-1893). He died on January 27, 1892, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Alfred Cookman was a distinguished biologist, ornithologist, and educator who headed the Biology Department at Los Angeles Polytechnic High School. During the 1920s, he taught courses in general biology, ornithology, and bacteriology, earning recognition for his leadership within the school. In 1924, he was unanimously re-elected as chairman of the biology department, reflecting the high regard in which he was held by his colleagues.
Beyond his work in education, Cookman played a prominent role in Southern California’s scientific community. In September 1926, he was elected president of the Nature Club of Southern California, a position he retained for several years. Holding both B.A. and M.S. degrees, he frequently delivered public lectures throughout the region on subjects such as The Romance of Bird Life in California and Native Birds of California. He was also known for organizing and leading scientific field expeditions. One notable example occurred in September 1928, when he guided a group of 60 Nature Club members on a research and filming trip to Santa Cruz Island to investigate marine life and observe sea lion populations.
