National Council of Priests summary: "Departed Van Diemens Land on 8 December 1825, travelled to Sydney, and from there to Mauritius. He died in London."

Chaplain who wasn’t allowed to function Fr T.J. Linane, From Abel to Zundolovich, Vol. 2, 1980, pp 78-79:
(Footprints, Vol. 2, No. 10)

Reference to Samuel Coote in the article on Fr Philip Conolly (Vol. 2, No. 9) has elicited timely correspondence and items from two Carmelites, Fr Gordon Carter of Winston Hills and Rev. Brian Pitman of Donvale (Vic). The former has helped consistently by giving details of the Carmelites who came in the 1880s to Gawler, South Aus., and to Port Melbourne. He has now graciously co-opted the help of the latter in sorting out many vexing problems about Samuel Coote, some of which -- but not all -- are touched on in this short biography. The first document sent along by Brian Pitman carried the heading: The Elusive Father Cook - An Historical Note. This tells the story of a hunt over many years by three Carmelites and others consulted for a Fr Cook, a Carmelite and "convert who joined the Order at the latter end of the 18th century ... " The magazine, Zelo, (issued by the Irish Province), and from which the trio of researchers were quoting also claims that "he was the first Carmelite to go to Australia, and died in his home in London ... " The record of the name of this elusive quarry was sought in many books and newspapers, without result. As late as 1965 Fr Clery O.Carm. an Australian Provincial when leaving the General Chapter was asked to make further inquiries from the Irish Province. It was a chance remark to Clery that changed the direction of the hunt: perhaps a Dubliner in saying Coote would make it sound like Cook. So Coote became the quarry. Was he a Carmelite? Documents, in the nature of Wills he'd witnessed etc., were forthcoming -- but never did S.C. describe himself as a Carmelite. As the document sent by Brian Pitman recounts: "Every history of the Church in Australia was scrutinized; the reference file of the Mitchell Library and the archives of the Archdiocese of Sydney yielded nothing ... " The aforesaid document (apparently written some years ago) seems to end on a note of despair: there is still no indication that the Rev. Samuel Coote who was in Van Dieman 's Land and Sydney from 1824-9 is the first Carmelite who came to Australia.

The present writer cannot share this pessimism, for before me is the list of Maynooth students 1795-1895 (from A to L) published in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record and edited by Canon Hamill. February 1968 issue lists: Samuel Coote O.Carm., ordained 15 May 1818. Unfortunately the I.C.R. ceased publication at the end of 1968, so further inquiry through Maynooth sources may prove difficult. But the fact that a Samuel Coote figures in five profession documents and two Wills between 13 Nov. 1821 and 10 April 1823 (as the document, quoting Zelo, sent by Brian Pitman admits) seems to allow for the inference that this is the same man who was at Maynooth. The document admits "that the absence of any reference to Fr Coote's status as a Carmelite is not surprising. Civil Law forbade ownership in common, and the Wills of Carmelites at this time, which were necessitated by the prevailing law, make no mention of the Carmelite status of the executors of these wills ... " A good explanation! Summarising, it seems reasonable to infer that Samuel Coote was a Londoner, a convert to the Church, and that he studied at Maynooth, being ordained on the date as given above. When he states in his own Will, 10.5.1819, that he "of the city of Kilkenny" he is probably referring to where he was working or resident.

Coote sailed from Dublin on 13 November 1823 aboard the 'Ardent' -- a go-slow vessel chartered by Roderic O'Connor and which arrived in Hobart on 7 May 1824. A second lot of notes from Brian Pitman O.Carm., and which were discovered by Sister Margaret Press, historian of the Black Josephites, among a Fr. Southall's (?) notes, appear to give an accurate account of what transpired (taking into account what Cardinal Moran and others have written):-- "Did the London authorities forget that a Catholic Chaplain had been appointed to Derwent? Whatever the case, Coote had a letter of introduction to the Vicar Apostolic of Mauritius, and to Governor Sir George Arthur he presented a document which said: 'Mr Coote's object in proceeding to Van Dieman's Land is to minister to such of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects as reside there'. In reply to a note from the Governor, Fr Conolly said: 'I have given the visitor permission to offer Mass in the district where he resides'. Probably Sorell was the district. Fr Conolly explained that he could not give Rev. S. Coote permission to hear Confessions -- 'a most important part of a Priest's ministry'. Such faculties, he said, must come from Dr. Slater OSB, of Mauritius. Probably Coote got in touch with Slater. At any rate he asked Sir George Arthur for permission to publish a notice of his appointment as Chaplain. On 7 February 1825 the Governor replied: 'I could not consent to your appointment without dismissing the Rev. P. Conolly, a gentleman about whom I have never heard a complaint until one arose with you'. (Here the writer interpolates to ask: against whom was the complaint, Conolly or Coote?). The visitor took his departure ... "

The document sent by Brian Pitman continues the sequel: "Coote went to Sydney, or spent a great deal of time there trying to establish his credentials ... " The evidence that he went to Sydney, remaining until 1829, and then went to Africa and England, is something the present writer is unaware of. Presuming that Cook O.Carm. was confused with Coote O.Carm., may we lay the subject to rest somewhere in London. But when? The hunt for this detail may not take as long as reaching the conclusion that Samuel Coote was really a Carmelite. The poor man has been laid to rest, but not the many mysteries that surround his life and his coming to V.D.L.

Ref:
MDHC File, Torquay, per Revs. Gordon Carter, Brian Pitman O.Carms, and others.

---

Ship News, Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser, Hobart, 9 Dec 1825, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2446746:
Sailed yesterday morning, the Sydney Packet, Captain Thompkins. ... Passengers, ... and the Rev. Mr. Coote.