Edward Hooper, FRS, (c. 1701–1795) of Worthy Park, Hampshire was a British lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1734 to 1748. Hooper was the eldest son of Edward Hooper of Heron (or Hurn) Court, Christchurch, Hampshire and his wife Lady Dorothy Ashley Cooper, daughter of

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury Bt (16 January 1652 – 2 November 1699), known as Lord Ashley from 1672 to 1683, was an English peer and Member of Parliament. Shaftesbury was the son of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftes ...

. He was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1717 and matriculated at

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

on 5 May 1720, aged 18. He was called to the bar in 1724. Hooper stood unsuccessfully for

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in a contest at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

. He was returned unopposed as a Whig

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Christchurch at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

. In Parliament he attached himself to William Pulteney, and spoke on 16 November 1739 supporting Pulteney's bill to encourage seamen by giving them the Government's share in the prize money. He became involved with the affairs of Georgia, through his cousin, the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, who was a common councillor of the Georgia Society. He seconded a motion for an inquiry into its advantages on 28 January 1740. On 21 January 1741, he presented the Society's petition for further support, and on the 28th moved that £10,000 be given towards this. He was returned unopposed as NP for Christchurch at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. After the fall of Walpole in 1742, Hooper was elected to the secret committee set up by the House of Commons in April 1742 to investigate the last ten years of Walpole's Administration. He was rewarded by Pulteney, now Lord Bath, with a place as

Paymaster of Pensions In 18th century Britain, the Paymaster of Pensions was the official in charge of payments of Crown pensions and bounties. The first paymaster was Edward Nicholas in 1703, and the post was abolished in 1782 by the Civil List and Secret Service Money ...

, worth £900 a year, on 13 July 1742. He lost this place on 22 December 1744 when most members of the Bath-Granville group were turned out on Granville's fall in 1744. He was returned for Christchurch at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

and was considered a government supporter. In December 1748, he was appointed a commissioner of customs and vacated his seat in the House of Commons as a result. Hooper continued to be involved in political life at Christchurch. From 1754 he controlled both seats, returning his cousin James Harris, for one, and putting the other at the Government's disposal. In 1759 he succeeded his father to his estate including Heron Court. He became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

on 31 May 1759 and was also a vice president of the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. He died unmarried on 6 September 1795, and left all his property to Lord Malmesbury.

External links

The Royal Society – Portrait Edward HooperNational Gallery of Scotland – Portrait of Edward Hooper by William Evans

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Edward 1700s births 1795 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754