Help Us Complete the Puzzle
This is ongoing research. Your contribution could be the missing piece!
We know she was alive January 1605 (estate administration granted). No death record found in Romford registers 1605-1624. Some sources mention "buried 5 Oct 1642" but this is unverified with a question mark. If alive in 1624, she would be ~79-84 years old—plausible but elderly.
If proven alive 1620-1624, she's definitively present during the English Secretary Hand annotation period. This would solidify the Gidea Hall theory's explanation for English annotations.
Where to Look: Romford parish registers, Essex archdeaconry probate records, Bishop's Transcripts, PCC administrations 1605-1645.
Sir Robert Cecil died 1612. A c.1614 inventory of Hatfield House exists. Mildred Cooke Cecil's books are traceable there (17 with ownership marks). Did this inventory list any botanical or cipher manuscripts? Any items matching the Voynich description?
Could show the manuscript was NOT at Hatfield (strengthening Gidea Hall theory) OR could show it moved Gidea Hall → Cecil → back to Gidea Hall. Either way, clarifies the chain.
Where to Look: Hatfield House Archives, Cecil Papers at The National Archives.
We infer 1911 sale based on conversion timing. But is there any Hollebone-Voynich correspondence? Any receipts? Any letters mentioning the manuscript? Voynich kept extensive business records—might something exist in the Beinecke collection or Voynich family papers?
Would provide direct proof of the transaction. Even a letter saying "regarding the cipher manuscript from the Essex estate" would be definitive.
Where to Look: Yale Beinecke Library Voynich collection, private Voynich family archives, Hollebone family papers (if they exist).
Anthony Holborne (composer, c.1545-1602, in Cecil service 1590s) and Henry Hollebone (bookseller, 1845-1917) are separated by 310 years. Is there a family connection? The name similarity and both being connected to the Cecil-Cooke network seems unlikely to be coincidence.
If family connection exists, strengthens the theory that knowledge of Cooke manuscripts passed through generations. Would explain why a bookseller took a lease specifically at Gidea Hall.
Where to Look: Genealogical records, parish registers, will connections 1602-1845.
VCH Essex says Gidea Hall was sold to a "London merchant" in 1657. Who was this merchant? Who owned it 1657-1885? Any estate inventories from this period that might list books?
Would fill the 228-year gap. If inventories exist showing "old manuscripts" in storage, would strengthen the forgotten storage narrative.
Where to Look: National Archives property deeds, VCH Essex detailed ownership records, Essex Record Office estate papers.
Clifford Hollebone emigrated to Boston in 1912—the same year Voynich announced the manuscript. Did he have any connection to book dealing? Any contact with American collectors? Did he return to England?
Clarifies whether the 1912 emigration was related to the manuscript sale (proceeds? avoiding scrutiny?) or just coincidental timing.
Where to Look: Boston immigration records, Massachusetts directories, US census 1920.
If ANY of these documents exist, they would dramatically advance this research:
Burial or probate 1605-1642, any name variant (Avis/Anne/Alice Cooke/Cook)
Cecil manuscript inventory c.1614, especially botanical or cipher items
Any Hollebone-Voynich correspondence, receipts, or business records
Estate inventory when last male Cooke at Gidea Hall died
Property transfer Cooke family → London merchant
Any genealogical link 1602-1845 between the families
This is collaborative research. We welcome contributions from researchers, historians, genealogists, archivists, and curious individuals.
If you've located any of the wishlist documents, or found relevant records we haven't seen, please share!
Contact form coming soon
If you have access to Essex Record Office, Hatfield House, or Beinecke Library archives, you could check specific records.
Research tasks available
Help trace the Holborne-Hollebone family connection or fill gaps in the Cooke family tree.
Family trees needed
If you've found factual errors, citation mistakes, or logical problems, corrections are welcome!
Peer review appreciated
Whether you have documents to share, questions to ask, or corrections to make:
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All contributors will be acknowledged. Major discoveries will be announced on this site and credited appropriately.