Thomas Lazenby Cock was the sixth son of a Monmouthshire squire who had fallen on hard times. Up to 27% of officers in The Royal Navy at this time came from a similar social class as Cock, but his family did not enjoy the connections or the prosperity usually associated with such a background.Cock joined his first ship, H.M.A.V The Earl of Sandwich, at the age of 14. He joined Stokes on H.M.S Dreadful some two years later. Cocks' career then seemed to stutter, and he was no further up the hierarchy at the time of the mutiny. There is nothing worthy of note regarding his career up until the time of the mutiny.
Writing after his return from Dahomey Capt. Stokes described Cock thus:
A singularly disagreeable fellow and the chief scoundrel amongst them all...He is of average size, some 5 feet 8 inches. His countenance is languid and effeminate. Marks: Star tatowed on the left breast and Tatowed on the backside. Left ear- one gold hoop.
Despite his youth Cock emerged as a strong figurehead following the demise of Lieutenant Summers. According to Bould's account Cock was not particularly vociferous at the time of the mutiny itself and we have no clues as to where he acquired his libertarian ideas. Neither Bould nor Stokes recalled him as being a reader of books.
However, he commanded enough respect to orchestrate the formation of the first Council when he was still only 19 years old.
Despite the anarcho- syndicalist nature of the running of the early settlement , it is clear that Cock was regarded as the ultimate decision maker.
Cock ( a non-swimmer like many seamen of the day) drowned in a fishing accident in 1791, and his remains were never recovered.
His descendants are on the island still, and Cox (the name mutated during the Imperial era) is the foremost surname on the island.
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