Sir Pope Alexander Cooper (12 May 184630 August 1923) was an

attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and a

chief judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia.

Early life

Pope Alexander Cooper was born at Willeroo Station,

Lake George, New South Wales Lake George (or Weereewa in the Ngunnawal language) is an endorheic lake in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately north-east of Canberra located adjacent to the Federal Highway en route to and Sydney. Lake George is als ...

, the son of Francis Cooper, a squatter, and his wife Sarah, née Jenkins. Cooper was educated at the Sydney Grammar School and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

, where he won the Cooper and Gilchrist scholarships and graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

and in 1868 a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

He then went to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

where he completed the

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

course, became a student of the

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 ...

, and was called to the English bar in June 1872.

Career

Cooper returned to Australia and began to practise as a barrister at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

in June 1874. He became a crown prosecutor in January 1879 and entered the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

as member for Bowen. On 31 December 1880 he joined the first

Thomas McIlwraith Sir Thomas McIlwraith (17 May 1835 – 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1879 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893. In common with most po ...

ministry as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. He resigned this position on 6 January 1883 when he was appointed as a supreme court judge for the northern district of Queensland. His travelling expenses caused some quarrels. In 1895 he became senior puisne judge at Brisbane, and on 21 October 1903 chief justice. There was animosity between the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government and the judges, playing out through a series of cases challenging government actions and legislation..''In re McCawley'
[1918
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/nowiki>__62_Supreme_Court_of_Queensland.html" ;"title="918
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/nowiki> 62">918">[1918
/nowiki> 62 Supreme Court of Queensland">Supreme Court (Full Court) (Qld). overturned by .''Taylor v Attorney-General (Qld)'
[1918
/nowiki> 194], Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Privy Council. (2006) 30(3) Melbourne University Law Review 605. The parliament List of Australian judges whose security of tenure was challenged, undermined his security of tenure by passing the ''Judges Retirement Act'' 1921 (Qld),. the effect of which was that immediately upon proclamation three out of six judges, Cooper and Justices Patrick Real, Real and Chubb were compulsorily retired, which permitted the government to appoint new judges, including Thomas McCawley as the new Chief Justice. McGarvie ''The Foundations of Judicial Independence in a Modern Democracy'' (1991) 1 Journal of Judicial Administration 3. Cooper died on 30 August 1923. Pope Cooper Headstone

Legacy

In 1873, Cooper married Alice Frener, daughter of James Cooper who died in 1900 leaving a son and two daughters. He was knighted 1904 and was created a KCMG in 1908. He was chancellor of the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

from 1915 to 1922. Cooper had only a short career in parliament but made himself a reputation as a polished speaker. As a judge he was always seeking the essentials of a case and generally adopted a common attitude on legal questions. His summings up were usually brief and to the point. In criminal cases he could be severe though just. In his conduct of the court, though always courteous, he insisted that the dignity of the bench must be upheld, and he was quick to restrain anything in the nature of contempt of court.

References

* at gutenberg.net.au
Cooper, Sir Pope Alexander
— Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Pope Alexander 1848 births 1923 deaths Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian politicians awarded knighthoods Chief Justices of Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Burials at Toowong Cemetery Attorneys-General of Queensland Colony of Queensland judges Colony of Queensland people 19th-century Australian judges 20th-century Australian judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland

Early life

Career

Legacy

See also

References

External links