Grey Cooper (c. 1726 – 30 July 1801) was an English 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. T ...

between 1765 and 1790 and was Secretary to the Treasury under various administrations.

Life

Cooper was the son of William Cooper MD of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was educated at

Durham School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

where he was scholar in 1745 and was awarded BA in 1747 and MA in 1750. He was admitted at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

on 17 July 1747 and was called to the bar. He became a Fellow of Trinity College in 1749. He was a

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 o ...

(MP) for

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

from 1765 to 1768. He was an MP for

Grampound Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...

, Cornwall from 1768 to 1774. He was an MP for

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

from 1774 to 1784 and MP for

Richmond, Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is from the county town of Northallerton and situated on t ...

from 1786 to 1790. For much of his career he was Secretary of the Treasury under various administrations. He claimed to have inherited the baronetcy of Cooper of Gogan from 1775 on, thus calling himself Sir Grey Cooper, Bart.; whether that baronetcy ever existed and whether Cooper was heir to it are doubtful. In 1799 he acquired the manor of Worlington, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk and lived at Worlington Hall, the 16th century manor house. Grey died suddenly in 1801 at his home and was buried at All Saints Church, Worlington.''The Gentleman's magazine'', Volume 90
/ref> He had married twice; firstly in 1753 Margaret, the daughter of

Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

, of Howick, Northumberland and secondly, in 1762, Elizabeth Kennedy of Newcastle upon Tyne, with whom he had 2 sons and 2 daughters. He was succeeded to his "title" and estate by his son, Sir Frederic Grey-Cooper, Bt.

References

1720s births 1801 deaths People educated at Durham School Politicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Grampound British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Worlington, Suffolk Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Saltash {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub