Grey Cooper (c. 1726 – 30 July 1801) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1765 and 1790 and was Secretary to the Treasury under various administrations.

Life

Cooper was the son of William Cooper MD of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was educated at

Durham School Durham School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located in Durham, England, Durham, North East England. Since 2021 it has been part of th ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

where he was scholar in 1745 and was awarded BA in 1747 and MA in 1750. He was admitted at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

on 17 July 1747 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

. He became a Fellow of Trinity College in 1749. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester from 1765 to 1768. He was an MP for

Grampound Grampound () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Grampound with Creed, in the Cornwall (district), Cornwall district, in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and ...

, Cornwall from 1768 to 1774. He was an MP for

Saltash Saltash () is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks ...

from 1774 to 1784 and MP for Richmond, Yorkshire from 1786 to 1790. For much of his career he was Secretary of the Treasury under various administrations. He claimed to have inherited the baronetcy of Cooper of Gogan from 1775 on, thus calling himself Sir Grey Cooper, Bart.; whether that baronetcy ever existed and whether Cooper was heir to it are doubtful. In 1799 he acquired the manor of Worlington, near

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

, Suffolk and lived at Worlington Hall, the 16th century manor house. Grey died suddenly in 1801 at his home and was buried at All Saints Church, Worlington.''The Gentleman's magazine'', Volume 90
/ref> He had married twice; firstly in 1753 Margaret, the daughter of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet, of Howick, Northumberland and secondly, in 1762, Elizabeth Kennedy of Newcastle upon Tyne, with whom he had 2 sons and 2 daughters. He was succeeded by his son, Sir Frederic Grey-Cooper, who married Josepha Newton, daughter of

Francis Milner Newton Francis Milner Newton (1720 in London – 14 August 1794 in Corfe) was an English portrait painter and first secretary of the Royal Academy. Life Newton was a pupil of Marcus Tuscher, a German artist living in England, and also studied at ...

References

1720s births 1801 deaths People educated at Durham School Politicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Grampound British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Worlington, Suffolk Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Saltash {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub