He received his education at a private school in Reading. In 1826 he fixed his residence at Cambridge, and in 1836 was elected coroner of the borough. Four years later he was admitted a solicitor, and in course of time he acquired an extensive practice, but his taste and inclination ultimately led him to devote almost the whole of his time to literary research, and especially the elucidation of the history of the university of Cambridge.
In 1849 he resigned the office of borough coroner on being elected to the town-clerkship, which he retained till his death. His earliest production, A New Guide to the University and Town of Cambridge,was published anonymously in 1831. The Annals of Cambridge followed (1842-1853) containing a chronological history of the university and town from the earliest period to 1853. His most important work, the Athenae Cantabrigienses (1858, 1861), a companion work to the famous Athenae Oxonienses of Anthony ą Wood, contains biographical memoirs of the authors and other men of eminence who were educated at the university of Cambridge from 1500 to 1609.
Cooper's other works are The Memorials of Cambridge, (1858-1866) and a Memoir of Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby (1874). He was a constant contributor to Notes and Queries, the Gentleman's Magazine and other antiquarian publications, and left an immense collection of manuscript materials for a biographical history of Great Britain and Ireland.
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