Cooper

Clan Crest: Cooper, Scotland, a dexter arm embowed, holding in the hand a battle-axe ppr. Pour ma patrie

Clan Motto: Pour Ma Patrie (For my Country)

Origin of Name: Occupational, also territorial

Region: Lowlands

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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Cooper Clan History

The Scottish surname Cooper is derived not only from the occupation of a 'cooper,' who made kegs and barrels, but also from Cupar, a burgh in Fife. The professional term was derived from Anglo-Saxon origins - couper, cowper - and was used to describe someone who repaired barrels, buckets, and casks. This was a highly skilled job in the Middle Ages; they were able to keep these containers waterproof. The widespread adoption of this surname attests to the fact that Cooper was a highly valued specialist trade throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. Before 1400, this name was given to those in this occupation, and it was most likely spelled with the Middle English spelling of "Couper." There has also been speculation that the surname derives from the Dutch word kuiper or coper, which means buyer or merchant.

Because of its geographical origins, the surname Cooper is commonly associated with Clan MacDuff and is considered one of their septs. Cooper - also spelled Coupar/Couper/Coupir - has been recorded in the Fife region since the thirteenth century. In 1245, a Selomone de Coupir is recorded as witnessing a charter.

Coupar, Couper, Cowper, and Cooper are all variations on this surname found throughout Scotland. It is a common surname in the Highlands (including Caithness, Inverness-shire, Nairnshire, Ross and Cromarty,Sutherland, and lesser parts of Argyllshire and Moray), Orkney, and Aberdeenshire (including all of the historic counties of Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, and parts of Banffshire).

CUPAR AND FIFE

Fife's Cupar. The town was home to the MacDuff Earls of Fife, whose castle dates back to the 12th century.

ABERDEEN CUPAR'S - 13TH CENTURY

In Scotland, the surname Cooper is most common in the northeast, particularly in Aberdeenshire. In the late 13th century, a John Cupar held lands here, and in 1296, a Symon Coupare of Berwickshire paid homage to Edward I of England. In 1406 Thomas de Cupro was Canon of St Andrews, and in 1618 Finla Couper of Belnakeill, Atholl, was fined for providing sanctuary to outlawed Clan Gregor members. One Clatt family history dates back to 1690, while another in Old Deer dates back to 1799.

COUPERS IN THE 17TH CENTURY AT CASTLE GOGAR

Edinburgh Castle Gogar. An A-listed Scottish Baronial L-plan mansion designed by William Ayton in 1625 for John Couper, whose father purchased the estate from the Logans of Restalrig in 1601. The Setons and the Halyburtons had previously held the lands of Gogar. John Couper was made a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1638. During the Covenanting period known as the 'Bishops' Wars,' he was killed in the explosion that destroyed Douglas Castle in 1640.

Sir John's son settled in Dumbartonshire, and the Coupers of Banheath in Dumbartonshire, Failford and Smeithston in Ayrshire, and Ballindalloch in West Stirlingshire descend from him.

Clan Cooper Places & People

Clan Cooper Individuals

Thomas Mackay Cooper, 1st Baron Cooper of Culross (24 September 1892 – 15 July 1955) was a Scottish politician.

1st Baron Cooper of Culross, Thomas Mackay Cooper

Walter Stoneman's London's National Portrait Gallery, 1937

Thomas Cooper was a politician, lawyer, judge, and historian. He was born in 1892 to civil engineer John Cooper (1843-1901) and Margaret Mackay. Thomas was educated in Edinburgh, first at George Watson's College and then at the University of Edinburgh, where he earned a law degree.

Cooper joined the Faculty of Advocates in 1915 and was appointed a King's Counsel by 1927. Between 1935 and 1941, he was the Conservative MP for the Edinburgh West constituency, as well as the Solicitor General for Scotland, Lord Advocate, and Privy Counsellor. Cooper was appointed Lord Justice Clerk, Scotland's second most senior judge, in 1941, and assumed the judicial title of Lord Cooper. Six years later, in 1947, Thomas Cooper was appointed Lord President of the Court of Session, becoming Scotland's most senior judge. He served in this capacity for a number of years before resigning in 1954. Cooper was made a peer after leaving the position, becoming the Baron Cooper of Culross. The title was only abolished the following year, when Lord Cooper died at the age of 62.