Sir Francis D'Arcy Cooper, 1st Baronet (17 November 1882 – 18 December 1941) was a British businessman and accountant. He was chairman of

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...

and

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

Early life and education

Cooper was born in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in North London. It was originally a medieval Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the are ...

, the son of chartered accountant Francis Cooper and Ada Frances Power. He was educated privately and at Wellington College.

Career

After a year abroad in Paris, Cooper returned home in 1899 to join the family accounting firm, Cooper Brothers and Co. The firm served as auditors of

from the company's founding in 1885. In 1910, Cooper was made a partner in the family firm. After the start of the First World War, Cooper enlisted in the Yeomanry in early 1915, and within three months was gazetted to a commission in the

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

. He was wounded in August 1916 during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

and spent a year recovering in the hospital. He spent the remainder of the war employed by the War Office. In January 1919, he returned to the family firm. In 1923, he was elected to the board of Lever Brothers as joint vice-chairman. He succeeded company founder William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme as chairman on 15 May 1925 after his death. Cooper served as a member of the Prime Minister's Industrial Advisory Panel on Rearmament prior to the Second World War. Since the beginning of the war to his death, he served on the Board of Trade. In the 1941 Birthday Honours, he was created a baronet, of Singleton. Through his international business dealings, he was also a Commander of the Order of the Crown of Belgium and a Knight of the First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

of Norway.

Personal life

In 1913, he married Evelyn Hilda Mary Radford. In 1939, he suffered from a serious illness and never recovered his former health, though he continued to work. He died aged 59 in West Ridge,

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. With no sons, the baronetcy became extinct upon his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Darcy 1882 births 1941 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire British accountants Order of Saint Olav Knights of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)