Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

William Cooper, the founder of Cooper’s in Berkhamsted, was a young farrier born in the little village of Clunbury, Shropshire. He arrived in Berkhamsted by carrier in about 1842 with very few possessions and his pestle and mortar. By the time of his death in 1885 he was a wealthy man with a flourishing business, which was to continue to expand until its final demise at the end of the twentieth century. The names of those remembered on the monument trace the history of the firm. William was one of the first to qualify as a vet at the newly-formed Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and gradually became accepted by the local farming community. His real interest, however, was in developing an effective powder–based cure for sheep scab, the principal ingredient of which was arsenic. This he began to produce at his chemical works in Ravens Lane in the mid 1850s, gradually acquiring more land as his business expanded. He ran his own printing department, the Clunbury Press, built houses for senior workers and members of his family (Sibdon Place and Clunbury House). William and Mary Cooper had no children, so as he grew older William brought three of his nephews into the business and the firm became William Cooper & Nephews.