Robert was the son of John COOKE, a labourer and Mary the daughter of Peter HIGGINSON, also a labourer.
Robert and Mary were married 18 October 1851 at St Mark Armagh (CofI), both of full age, his address was Loughgall, hers Armagh.

Robert was a labourer at the time of his marriage and when his younger daughter Ellen Jane married the second time in 1885, but when daughter Margaret married (in Co Sligo) he was described as a farmer, so probably an agricultural labourer working on a farm.

The family were protestant Church of Ireland so it is likely, but I am a long way from proving, that they were planters from northern England or southern Scotland who were given land in Ireland as part of 16th and 17th century efforts to supress Roman Catholicism in Ireland.

It is from Mary Higginson,my great great grandmother that I get my mitochondrial DNA which is haplogroup W; found in low numbers across Europe as far west as Ireland, but not one of the commoner Seven Daughters of Eve haplogroups. As yet I seem to be unique in the databases for my exact HVR1 values and so not (yet) worth having the HVR2 or HVR3 regions tested.