Cooper Vault

Location

Plot number (FHS)	364
Row	10
Section	170
Date	1885

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Cooper Vault

Plot number:
10,170
Family name:
Cooper
Burial date:
1885

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Who is buried here?

Read about the lives of the 16 people buried here — click on a name to view a biography.

William Cooper

26/12/1813 –20/05/1885

Farrier and vet from Shropshire. Founder of business developing effective cure for sheep scab.

26/12/1813 –20/05/1885

Farrier and vet from Shropshire. Founder of business developing effective cure for sheep scab.

Relatives

Mary Cooper (364) — wife

William Farmer Cooper — other

Research:

Jenny Sherwood

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.

William Farmer Cooper

02/03/1845 –21/10/1882

Relatives

Richard Powell Cooper — brother

Herbert Henry Cooper — brother

William Cooper — other

Richard Ashmole Cooper — son

Research:

Jenny Sherwood

William Farmer Cooper was one of the nephews of William Cooper, founder of Cooper’s chemical works in Berkhamsted.

Both William Farmer and his brother Richard graduated from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and then joined the family firm. William Farmer worked at Coopers for 16 years, developing the overseas market and increasing sales from about 7,000 dozen packets a year to about 30,000 dozen

William Farmer and Herbert Henry Cooper were both benefactors of Sunnyside Church.

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Family name	Cooper
Burial date	1885
Burial capacity	4 (1 used)
Burial depth	Not known
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Burial visible (2019)?
Burial visible (1991)?

The Cooper Family Vault is situated among eclectic cluster of headstones in the centre of the cemetery, close to the Memorial Arch. It is the largest memorial in the cemetery, consisting of a tall square pillar on two plinths, surmounted by a stone cross inscribed with the Sacred Monogram IHS.

16 members of the Cooper family are recorded on the four faces of the pillar. Among the names is William Cooper, a noted industrialist who developed the world’s first sheep-dip at Cooper’s chemical works, the large family firm that was once located nearby.

Sir Richard Powell Cooper was created a baronet by King Edward VII in 1905 for services to Agriculture, and three Cooper Baronets are interred here. In its heyday the firm was the largest employer of the town.

The Cooper family played a prominent part in the affairs of the town for most of the twentieth century. The family, the firm and Clunbury Press are still remembered fondly by the people of Berkhamsted.

Inscriptions
North	East	South	West
William Henry Cooper (son of W. F. & M. Cooper) Born February 26th 1873 Died February 6th 1876	Sacred to the memory of Mary Cooper of this parish Born December 2, 1809 Died August 28, 1874	Richard Powell Cooper (First Baronet) Born September 21 1847 Died July 30 1913	Sarah Cooper (sister of William Cooper) Born September 25th 1816 Died April 16th 1891
William Farmer Cooper Born March 2nd 1845 Died October 21st 1882	William Cooper Born December 26th 1813 Died May 20th 1885	Also his wife Elizabeth Anne Cooper Born July 3rd 1843 Died January 30th 1915	Herbert Henry Cooper Born September 10th 1850 Died August 2, 1891
Marian Cooper Wife of William Farmer Cooper Born November 17th 1850 Died July 10th 1935	Richard Philip Cooper Born July 26th 1902 Died August 22th 1966	Richard Ashmole Cooper (Second Baronet) Born August 11 1874 Died March 5 1946
Florence Mary Daughter of the above Born 17–11–18 71 Died 16–1–1969	Also his wife Kathleen Duncan Cooper Born June 25th 1902 Died November 14th 1996	Also his wife Alice Elizabeth Cooper Born April 18th 1879 Died January 12th 1963
		William Herbert Cooper (Third Baronet) Born March 7th 1901 Died June 8th 1970
		Also his wife Eileen Dolores Patricia Cooper Born September 26th 1900 Died January 28th 1980