James Newton Haxton Hume Cook CMG (23 September 1866 – 8 August 1942) was an Australian politician.Hume Cook was born in Kihikihi, New Zealand, son of a failed farmer and he had to leave school at 13 to work selling books. He migrated with his family to Melbourne in 1881. He left home in 1887 to sell real estate and soon became active in the Australian Natives' Association. In 1893, he was elected to Brunswick Town Council and in 1896 became mayor. In 1902, he married Nellie Maine.