William Hemmings Cook

William Hemmings Cook (May 30, 1768 - February 23, 1846) was a Canadian fur trader, settler, and politician.

William Cook was born in London, England to John and Elizabeth Cook and was baptized in the parish of St. Andrew in Holborn.

He came to Rupert's Land in 1786 in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, where he worked as a writer at York Factory. In September 1790 he was sent up the Nelson River to establish a post at Duck Lake. On July 1 1791 he went to to Wintering Lake, where he established Chatham House in opposition to William McKay of the North West Company. Cook went back to England three years later.

He returned to Canada in 1795, and took charge in 1797 of the HBC posts on the upper Nelson, with headquarters at Split Lake. He became second-in-command at York in 1809, and won the approval of Chief Factor John McNab. Cook was appointed chief factor in 1810.

In 1818 he was sent to the Swan River district with headquarters at Fort Hibernia in Saskatchewan. In 1821 Cook was established in the Red River settlement, where he worked as a retailer and freighter.

He was appointed a councillor to the governor of Assiniboia on May 29, 1822. On February 27, 1839, he was appointed to the Council of Assiniboia.