Cook relatives from both sides of the Tasman are amazed and delighted a bible belonging to an ancestor who died 93 years ago in World War 1 has been cared for in England since.
Soldier Herbert Hodgson picked up the bible in a muddy shell hole in Belgium in 1918 and took it home with him. He died in 1974.
His son Bernard used the internet to research the service number written across its pages and confirm the original owner as Otago Regiment soldier Private Richard Cook.
Pte Cook, from Colac Bay, in Southland, died after the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. He was not married and had no children, but a nephew and a great nephew are among several relatives who have responded to Mr Hodgson's appeal for information.
Sydney stock market analyst Richard Cook, whose grandfather Bert was Pte Cook's brother and who was named after Pte Cook, contacted the Otago Daily Times yesterday to say he was "delighted" the bible had turned up.
"It is exciting. It is another connection with the past and makes the connection seem more real."
Mr Cook was raised at Tapanui and graduated from the University of Otago. He said visiting Pte Cook's grave in Etaples Military Cemetery, France, about 10 years ago was a moving experience.
"It was particularly moving, as I share the same name as [the one] on the grave."
Mr Cook said the home at Colac Bay, which was owned by his great grandparents, Reuben and May Jane Cook, was kept in the family for many years and he remembered holidaying there as a child.
Jim Matheson, of Paraparaumu, whose mother, Ruby, was another of Pte Cook's 12 siblings, said he was given the middle name Richard after Pte Cook.
"His death must have made an impact on the family for two of us to be named after him," he said yesterday.
Many years ago, his mother had given him a letter Pte Cook dictated to a hospital chaplain after he was wounded at Passchendaele and taken to hospital.
The letter said he had taken "two smacks" (bullets), one in the hip and the other in his right shoulder, but was progressing favourably. However, he died a few hours later.
The chaplain posted the letter to Pte Cook's parents and included a letter of his own which said Pte Cook's last hours were "painless and peaceful".
Mr Matheson said he had thought over the years about throwing the letters out but was now glad he had kept them.
Both he and Mr Cook said they had emailed Mr Hodgson and had received pleasant replies, photographs of the bible and invitations to visit if they were ever in England.
Mr Cook said he had also informed cousins about the find and they planned to contact Mr Hodgson, too.
