Beatrice Cooke was born in Nanaimo in 1901. She taught school for several years before marrying. She raised six children before returning to teaching in the 1950's. Cooke received her B.A. from the University of British Columbia in 1959 and a B.S.W. in 1960. She worked as a social worker until 1965. Cooke was widowed in 1960 and married Albert C. Cooke in 1963. In addition to her careers as social worker and mother, Cooke wrote short stories and poetry. She died in 1997.
Albert C. Cooke was born in 1895 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He received his B.A. from the University of Manitoba in 1917, a B.A. (1923) and an M.A. (1926) from Oxford. Cooke served in the army during World War I. After his discharge from the army, Cooke embarked on a lengthy teaching career at several institutions including Wesley College, Winnipeg (1919-1921, 1924-1929), Brandon Collegiate Institute (1923-1924), and the University of Manitoba (1928-1929). Cooke taught in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia between 1929 and 1963. Albert Cooke died in 1986.