Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

Sir Patrick Ashley Cooper (18 November 1887 – 22 March 1961) was a British businessman who for more than two decades was governor of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

and director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...

. He served as

High Sheriff of the County of London Below is a list of sheriffs of the County of London, from the creation of the county in 1889 to its abolition in 1965: *1889–1890: Alfred de Rothschild, of Senmore Place *1890–1891: Sir James Whitehead, Bart, of Highlield House, Cat ...

and as High Sheriff of Hertfordshire.

Early life and education

Ashley Cooper was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

, the eldest son of Patrick Cooper, and Mary Cook of Ashley, Aberdeenshire. He was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

in Edinburgh before attending

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, and

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, studying law.

Career

War service

In 1906, Ashley Cooper joined the Volunteer Corps. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Aberdeenshire division, 2nd Highland Brigade, of the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...

. In 1913, he joined the 7th London Brigade as a lieutenant. During the First World War, Ashley Cooper served in France with the Royal Field Artillery. He was wounded in 1915 and twice

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

, and was promoted to Major. He later served as Assistant Deputy Director-General of the Trench Warfare Department and Assistant Controller for Gun Ammunition. During the Second World War, Ashley Cooper served on the Supply Council and as Director-General of Finance and Contracts at the Ministry of Supply from 1939 to 1942. According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', he put his experience to great use during the war: He was knighted in the

1944 New Year Honours The 1944 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1944 for the Britis ...

for his wartime service.

Business career

After the First World War, he was engaged in financial and industrial reorganisation for some years, and, in 1931, he was appointed a member of the National Economy Committee. From 1931 to 1952, Cooper was Governor (Company Chairman) of the

, North America's oldest company (established by

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 ...

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

in 1670). The company was struggling when he took over, and his obituary in ''

'' explains: Ashley Cooper held a number of other positions at various organisations. He was a director of the

(1932–55), a member of the famed May Committee on National Expenditure (1931), a governor of

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

(1926–53), was a member of the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

(1933–47), and a member of the Rhodesia-Nyasaland Royal Commission (1938). Ashley Cooper was

(1944 and 1957) and of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

in 1946.

Personal life

He married Kathleen Spickett of

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

, Glamorgan, and they adopted the surname of Ashley Cooper. They had one son and two daughters. They resided at Hexton Manor in Hexton, Hertfordshire. One of his daughters, Cynthia, married Conservative MP Paul Bryan. He died at sea in 1961, aged 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley Cooper, Patrick 1887 births 1961 deaths People educated at Fettes College Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I People associated with the Bank of England Governors of the Hudson's Bay Company People from Aberdeen Royal Field Artillery officers High Sheriffs of the County of London High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire People who died at sea 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from Aberdeen Civil servants in the Ministry of Supply