Sir Alfred Cooper (28 January 1838 – 3 March 1908) was a fashionable

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

surgeon and clubman of the late 19th century whose patients included Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Cooper was born in

Bracondale Bracondale was a provincial electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 to 1967. The constituency got its name from an old Toronto suburb called Bracondale, that was annexed b ...

, Norfolk, England, the son of William Cooper, barrister, by his wife Anna, née Marsh. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School. As a doctor and surgeon, his speciality was in

venereal disease Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, especi ...

, which gave him an unusual degree of access to, and perspective on, late Victorian aristocrats and their notions of morality. He was appointed a Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel to the

Loyal Suffolk Hussars The Duke of York's Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. Originally formed as a volunteer cavalry force in 1793, it fought in the Second Boer war as part of the Imperial Yeomanry. In the World War I the regiment f ...

on 17 May 1899. The Hussars was a

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

regiment, which was embodied for active service in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

(1899–1902). Cooper was the senior medical officer to the regiment until he resigned his commission on 8 November 1902. He was knighted for services to medicine in the

1902 Coronation Honours The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

, receiving the accolade from King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

at Buckingham Palace on 24 October that year.

Marriage and issue

Cooper became the third husband of Lady Agnes Duff, and was devoted to her all his life. Lady Agnes Duff's first husband, Viscount Dupplin, was the eldest son of the 12th Earl of Kinnoull (issue one daughter), and her second husband had been a certain Herbert Flower (no issue). Lady Agnes Duff was the youngest daughter of

James Duff, 5th Earl Fife James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, (6 July 1814 – 7 August 1879) was a Scottish nobleman. Early life Duff was the son of Sir Alexander Duff, younger brother of James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, and Anne Stein, the daughter of James Stein of Kilbagie and K ...

by his wife, Lady Agnes Hay, herself the daughter of

William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll William George Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, KT, GCH, PC (21 February 1801 – 19 April 1846), styled Lord Hay between 1815 and 1819, was a Scottish peer and politician. Early life Erroll was the son of William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll, and h ...

and granddaughter of

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

by his mistress, the actress Dorothy Jordan. Lady Agnes Duff's brother, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, was the husband of

Louise, Princess Royal Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar; 20 February 1867 – 4 January 1931) was the third child and eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom; she was a younger sister o ...

, the eldest daughter of King

. Cooper and his wife had four children together.

Death

Cooper died in

Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, in 1908.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Alfred 1838 births 1908 deaths People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood British surgeons Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Knights Bachelor