Elisha Cooke, Sr.

Elisha Cooke was a wealthy Massachusetts physician, politician, and businessman who was elected Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1683. He was the leader of the popular party, a faction in the Massachusetts House that resisted encroachment by royal officials on colonial rights embodied in the Massachusetts Charter. This role was taken up by his son, Elisha Cooke, Jr.

Cooke was born in Boston, the son of Richard and Elizabeth Cook, from Gloucestershire, England. He graduated from Harvard College in 1657 at age 20, in a class of seven students. Cooke was trained and practiced as a physician, but he also became a politician. He was made freeman in 1673. He was elected to the colonial assembly representing Boston in 1681, serving until 1683. Cooke was elected to the commission of counsellors in May 1693 however, Governor Sir William Phips refused to ratify the choice, to exact revenge on Cookes having opposed his appointment as chief magistrate. In 1695 Cooke was appointed Judge of the Superior Court, taking the place of John Richards, who had died, and in 1701 he became Judge of Probate.

Source: Wikipedia