Sir Henry Cooper

1807-1891

Vol IV

Pg 127

b.1807 d.21 May 1891

MB Lond(1840) MD MRCS LSA FRCP(1860)

This biography is part of a series of historical obituaries, originally published in print. As products of their time periods, some biographies contain language which is inappropriate and offensive and present biased accounts of physicians’ lives and work that do not disclose unethical and discriminatory behaviour. As an establishment organisation, the RCP, its members, and the way they are written about, have often reflected societal power structures that favour dominant groups. We aim to redress these biases through ongoing work.

Below is the biography as originally published in 1955.

Henry Cooper was born at Hull, the son of Samuel Cooper, a merchant engaged in the whaling industry. Through his mother, he was related to Joseph Priestley, the famous chemist. After being educated at private schools, he became the pupil of a local doctor and then entered University College, London, where he qualified in 1830. He spent short periods in Edinburgh and Paris before starting general practice at Hull. In 1840 he graduated as M.B. at London and, after further study at home and abroad, returned to Hull to become physician to the Infirmary. He interested himself in the sanitary condition of the town and was mayor from 1854 to 1855, receiving his knighthood during a visit of Queen Victoria. For six years, he was chairman of the School Board and, when he retired in 1877, the town recognised his public services by the foundation of a Henry Cooper scholarship.

G H Brown

[B.M.J., 1891]

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