Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper, 2nd Baronet (11 August 1874 – 5 March 1946) was a British politician and a member of the Cooper Baronets, of Shenstone Court.

Biography

Cooper was educated at Clifton College, and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1913. He was Chairman of the chemical manufacturing firm Cooper, McDougall & Robertson. He served in the

Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a unit of the British Army. Raised in 1794 following Prime Minister William Pitt's order to raise volunteer bodies of men to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion, the Staffordshir ...

, where he was appointed a lieutenant 26 March 1902. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall in

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

, a seat he would hold until

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

. He founded the National Party with Sir

Henry Page Croft Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft (22 June 1881 – 7 December 1947) was a decorated British soldier and Conservative Party politician. Early life and family He was born at Fanhams Hall in Ware, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Ric ...

in 1917 but stood at the 1918 election as an Independent Conservative. He was prominent, along with Croft, in the campaign against the Prime Minister David Lloyd George in July 1922 for selling honours. Between 1896 and 1911, Cooper resided at Ashlyns Hall in Berkhamsted, leased from the Smith-Dorrien family. He married Alice Priestland on 18 April 1900: the couple had three sons, including the 3rd and 4th Baronets. Cooper died in 1946 and is interred in the family vault in Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted.

Family

Cooper married Alice Priestland in 1900.

References

* *
Catalogue
of Cooper's papers a

*Maurice Cowling, ''The Impact of Labour. 1920–1924'' (Cambridge University Press, 1971).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Richard 1874 births People educated at Clifton College 1946 deaths Cooper, Richard Ashmole, 2nd Baronet Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Staffordshire Yeomanry officers