Frederick Augustus Cooper Explained

Frederick Cooper
Constituency Am1:Braidwood
Assembly1:New South Wales Legislative
Term Start1:20 June 1859
Term End1:14 July 1860
Predecessor1:New seat
Successor1:Merion Moriarty
Constituency Am2:Cook
Assembly2:Queensland Legislative
Term Start2:5 December 1878
Term End2:4 March 1884
Predecessor2:New seat
Successor2:Thomas Campbell
Alongside2:John Walsh, John Hamilton
Birth Date:8 August 1834
Birth Place:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Death Place:Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Restingplace:Boroondara General Cemetery
Birthname:Frederick Augustus Cooper
Nationality:Australian
Spouse:Margaret Dalton Watson
Occupation:Barrister

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, and the Queensland Legislative Assembly.[1]

Personal

Cooper was born in Sydney to Robert 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,[2] [3] with whom he had six daughters.

Career

Cooper was 24 when he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Braidwood at the 1859 election,[4] but served for only one year before resigning, to accept an appointment as a sub-commissioner of goldfields.[5] He was initially at Kiandra, 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, the member for Goldfields South, criticised the then Secretary for Lands, John Robertson for not dismissing Cooper.[6] Cooper resigned as sub-commissioner shortly after Wilson had been appointed Secretary for Lands.[7] Cooper opposed Wilson at the Goldfields South by-election in November 1863, but received less than 10% of the vote.[8]

He was called to the bar in New South Wales and Queensland in 1864. He was admitted to the bar in Victoria in 1883 and also practised in New Zealand.

He was a practicing barrister in Cooktown in North Queensland from 1874 and on 5 March 1878 was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for Cook, 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,[9] 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.[10]

Death

Cooper died in Melbourne on 12 November 1908.[11] [12] [13] [14]

References

 

Notes and References

  1. 13 December 2015.
  2. News: Family Notices . . 21 April 1883 . 31 May 2016 . 2 . Trove.
  3. watson-john-boyd-4812 . Watson, John Boyd (1828–1889) . Cusack . Frank . 2020-09-24.
  4. 1859 . Braidwood . 1 May 2020.
  5. News: Appointment: Sub-Commissioners of Gold Fields . . 148 . 14 August 1860 . 17 June 2021 . 1510 . Trove.
  6. News: Legislative Assembly: Mr Commissioner Cooper . . 13 December 1862 . 17 June 2021 . 8 . Trove.
  7. News: Nomination for the Southern Gold-Fields . . 13 November 1863 . 17 June 2021 . 8 . Trove.
  8. 1863 Goldfields South by-election . 1860 . GoldfieldsSouth_1 . 16 September 2020.
  9. Web site: Cooper, Frederick Augustus . . 2020-09-24.
  10. News: Herberton . . 6 November 1883 . 13 January 2015 . 2 . Trove.
  11. Mr Frederick Augustus Cooper (1834-1908) . 675 . Yes . 22 May 2019 .
  12. Web site: Death of Mr. Frederick Augustus Cooper . . 13 Nov 1908 . Trove . 2016-03-17.
  13. News: Death of Mr F A Cooper . . 12 November 1908 . 2020-09-24 . Trove.
  14. http://australianroyalty.net.au/individual.php?pid=I45121&ged=purnellmccord.ged Robert “Black Bob” Cooper 1777-1857