On this day 24 August 1904
Sally Sellers
Photo courtesy of the V&A
24th August 1904 – On this day Ida Cook, resident of 24 Morella Road SW12 for 60 years, was born. She and her sister Louise, both spinsters and civil servants, lived seemingly unremarkable lives. Secretly, they worked to rescue and support Jewish refugees from Nazism in the 1930’s. Using the cover of trips to see European opera, they brought out jewels and furs for refugees and found sponsors, assembled papers and bought a flat in Dolphin Square as a safe haven. They were honoured by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre as “righteous among the nations”.
Under a pseudonym, Ida also became the successful and prolific author of Mills & Boon romances.
Read more about Ida and Louise’s extraordinary lives in Jeanne Rathbone’s book ‘Inspiring Women of Battersea’ available at batterseasociety.org.uk.