Frederick Augustus Cooper (8 August 1834 – 12 November 1908) was an Australian politician who was a Member of both the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

, and the

Queensland Legislative Assembly 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 Assembly h ...

Personal

Cooper was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and Sarah May Cooper. He married Margaret Dalton Watson in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia on 16 April 1883, the daughter of mining magnate

John Boyd Watson John Boyd Watson (September 1828 – 4 June 1889), was a Scottish-born Australian mining magnate and investor. Career He initially worked as a currier at Watson, New South Wales, leaving for Sydney in 1850 and then to the Californian Gol ...

, with whom he had six daughters.

Career

Cooper was 24 when he was elected to the

as the member for Braidwood at the 1859 election, but served for only one year before resigning, to accept an appointment as a sub-commissioner of goldfields. He was initially at

Kiandra Kiandra is an abandoned gold mining town and the birthplace of Australian skiing. The town is situated in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council inside the Kosciuszko National Park. Its name i ...

, however an inquiry had found he had committed errors, including illegal acts, as a result of his inexperience and he was transferred to Araluen. In the Legislative Assembly

Bowie Wilson John Bowie Wilson (17 June 1820 – 30 April 1883), often referred to as J. Bowie Wilson, was a politician, gold miner and hydropath in colonial New South Wales, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for more than 12 years. Pers ...

, the member for Goldfields South, criticised the then Secretary for Lands, John Robertson for not dismissing Cooper. Cooper resigned as sub-commissioner shortly after Wilson had been appointed Secretary for Lands. Cooper opposed Wilson at the Goldfields South by-election in November 1863, but received less than 10% of the vote. He was called to the bar in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in 1864. He was admitted to the bar in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in 1883 and also practised in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He was a practicing barrister in

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

in North Queensland from 1874 and on 5 March 1878 was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

, which included Cooktown. He served until 4 March 1884 when his re-election in October 1863 was overturned by the Committee of Elections and Qualifications, following allegations of "ballot stuffing", as there were too many votes cast at the California Gully and Halpin's Creek polling stations given the number of electors.

Death

Cooper died in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 12 November 1908.Robert “Black Bob” Cooper 1777-1857
AustralianRoyalty.net.au

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Frederick Augustus 1834 births 1908 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Politicians from Sydney Lawyers from Sydney