Thompson Cooper (8 January 1837 – 5 March 1904) was an English journalist, man of letters, and compiler of reference works. He became a specialist in biographical information, and is noted as the most prolific contributor to the Victorian era ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', for which he wrote 1,423 entriesOxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> (other sources say 1,422)

Life

Thompson Cooper was the son of Charles Henry Cooper, a Cambridge solicitor and antiquarian. Educated privately in Cambridge, Cooper was nominally articled to his father, and joined him in his antiquarian pursuits.A. A. Brodribb
‘Cooper, Thompson (1837–1904)’
rev. G. Martin Murphy, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 11 October 2008 He became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries aged 23, and at some point converted to Roman Catholicism. As a young man, he was a parliamentary reporter, and developed an interest in shorthand. His ''Parliamentary Short-Hand'' was published in 1858. Cooper became sub-editor on the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' in 1861, and the paper's parliamentary reporter in 1862. In 1866 he began a long connection with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'': he was the paper's parliamentary reporter 1866–1886, its summary-writer for 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 ...

1886–98, and from 1898 its summary-writer for the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Reference works

With his father Charles Henry Cooper he compiled ''Athenae Cantabrigienses'', a biographical work covering alumni of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. The ''Register and Magazine of Biography'' (1869) was a short-lived periodical venture for John Gough Nichols, covering contemporary biography only, and lasting six months. ''A New Biographical Dictionary'' appeared in 1873, and was subsequently developed under various titles. ''Men of Mark: A Gallery of Contemporary Portraits'' was a series of photographic portraits, accompanied by short biographies from Cooper. It was published from 1876 to 1883. Cooper therefore brought considerable experience to the ''DNB'' when it launched in the 1880s. He played a general editorial role as "compiler of the lists of names to be treated under B and future letters", but his speciality as a contributor was "Roman Catholic divines and writers". He was also a prolific contributor to the '' Catholic Encyclopaedia''. He was buried in Norwood Cemetery.

Notes

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Thompson 1837 births 1904 deaths English male journalists English biographers English Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London English male biographers