William Bourke Cockran

William Bourke Cockran (February 28, 1854March 1, 1923), commonly known as Bourke Cockran or Burke Cochran in contemporary reports, was an Irish-American politician and orator. He served as a United States representative from the East Side of Manhattan for seven terms. He was a leading orator of the late 19th and early 20th century. Through his personal relationship with the Churchill family, he was an important, early influence on British statesman Winston Churchill. Early life and education William Bourke Cockran was born in Carrowkeel in County Sligo, Ireland on February 28, 1854. He was educated in France and in his native Ireland. He emigrated to Westchester County, New York at seventeen years of age. There, he taught in a private academy and became principal of a public school.