“Thomas [Cook] got heavily involved… he became secretary of the local society and it was in connection with the temperance movement that he organised his first excursion.”

“Everything he did later on, everything to do with travel for him was inspired by the temperance movement. In other words, how can travel… be used to improve society.”

More trips soon followed. Five years later Cook decided to head north of the border.

“It’s in Scotland really that Thomas Cook transformed himself from being just an organiser of cheap day excursions by rail into a fully fledged tour manager combining trips by train, steamship and by stagecoach.”

Cook gradually went further afield taking in Paris, Rome and Geneva, and by the end of the 1860s he was taking people to Egypt and the Holy Land.

Fleet Street premises
The first office appeared in 1865 on London’s Fleet Street, and it was at this point that Cook brought in additional staff. Son John Mason Cook had joined the business a year earlier, with Smith crediting him with bringing onboard a “more commercially minded” approach.

“Some of the practices that John established in the late 19th century are still around today,” he says.

Descendants of the founder were involved with the business until 1928, when it was sold to a French firm. From then it passed through various owners – including the British state and Midland Bank – before it merged with MyTravel and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007.

Smith has the daunting job of maintaining and documenting this vast archive of the past 175 years, with anyone from academics to people looking into their ancestry getting in touch.

“The history of Thomas Cook and the history of travel are so intertwined that anybody researching the [latter] will tend to come and see me at some point,” he adds.

Key dates

1841: Thomas Cook organises his first trip

1872: Organises first round-the-world tour

1879: John Mason Cook takes over from his father

1928: Children of John Mason Cook sell company to La Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands Express Europeens

1965: Profits exceed £1 million for the first time

1972: The formerly nationalised company is bought by a consortium including Midland Bank

1984: Famous slogan “Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it” launched

1996: Buys Sunworld, which was then the UK and Ireland’s fourth largest short-haul operator

2001: Bought by German travel company Condor and Neckermann

2007: Merges with MyTravel Group and is listed on the London Stock Exchange

2011: Forms retail joint venture with the Co-operative Group

• thomascook.com/thomas-cook-archives