 Robert Oke was born 23 September 1794 in England to John Whitehead Oke (1751–1805) and his second wife, Edith Cogan (1766–1842) of Taunton, Somerset.The Oke family were well established in Sherborne, England, residing there for at least three centuries, primarily in The Green (upper end of Cheap Street), at Barton Farm (Kitt Hill, aka Kithill), at Newland House (now "The Manor House" and current location of the Town Council), along Westbury Street at Primsley Manor in the vicinity of Knapped Hall (Knappid Hall) and by 1630 they were also well-settled in near-by Sturminster Newton.Several Okes served as governors and wardens of the Sherborne School, masters and submasters of The Almshouse of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist (which is still in use), and subwardens of Foster's School a Bluecoat school.