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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Lincolnshire => England => Lincolnshire Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Jayson on Monday 29 April 24 15:08 BST (UK)
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I wonder if anyone could find the burial of John Cooper who was said to have died at Sutton?
John was a shoemaker/baptist minister, and was, presumably, born in Nantwich, Cheshire where he was established as the first baptist minister of a new chapel purchased for that purpose in the town in around 1808.
In his book on the history of Nantwich James Hall (who was himself born in Lincolnshire in the 1840s) wrote “Mr Cooper, who was still minister in 1820, removed to Coseley, in Staffordshire, and afterwards to Wisbeach, and then to Sutton, in Lincolnshire, where he died...”. Unfortunately no date of death is given.
In the Crewe Chronicle (dated 1929) the death of his niece, Martha Adams, at the age of 91, is reported. It states that John Cooper was the brother of her grandfather Rev William Cooper, and that John left for Lincoln after some dispute in Nantwich and took the keys to the chapel with him. The chapel it was said remained closed for 40 years before being reopened. The obituary also states that the keys were returned so presumably this is when John Cooper died but I’m not sure on dates. It states that Martha was baptised in the chapel 60 years ago which would mean 1869 but then she would have been born 1838ish so it was a very late baptism if i’m Understanding it correctly.
Many thanks
Jay
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In 1851 and 1861, born 1784 in Nantwich, he was in Sutton St Nicholas with his wife, Rebecca, and grandson, Henry Beardmore.
There is a death notice in the Lincolnshire Chronicle on 27th May 1865 of a John Cooper, 82, Unitarian Minister, in Lutton, which might be a printing error.
David
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Cheers David! That’s brilliant! Thank you so much! Didn’t even know he was married.
Jay :)
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26 May 1865: Stamford Mercury has an obit, similar, but says ‘at Lutton, near Long Sutton”
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Lutton is an alternative name for Sutton St Nicholas (or vice versa):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutton,_Lincolnshire
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Just checked on a map, there is a Lutton just to the north of Long Sutton.
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He was married twice (at least).
10 September 1853: Lynn Advertiser
Deaths
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On the 2nd inst., after a long illness, aged 69, Rebecca, wife of the Rev. John Cooper, Unitarian minister of Chapel Bridge, Long sutton.
8 September 1854: Lincolnshire Chronicle
Marriages
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On Monday last, the Rev. John Cooper, Unitarian Minister of Sutton, near Long Sutton, to Mrs. John Shearcroft, of the latter place.
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Thanks for the extra info, Alan. He didn’t waste any time remarrying did he? :o
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Do you think John would have been buried in a Church of England burial ground if he was a non-conformist?
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The burial record gives the date as 10 December 1865, denomination Anglian, at Sutton St Nicholas (Lutton)
There is an image on FindMyPast, but his age is recorded as 52. Badly written?
The church and cemetery can be seen on these maps:-
https://maps.nls.uk/view/114654078
https://maps.nls.uk/view/114654081
There is a Methodist Chapel on the adjoining map to the east.
COOPER John.
Effects under £100
7th October.
The will of John Cooper in the Hamlet of Sutton St Nicholas otherwise Lutton in the County of Lincoln Dissenting Minister deceased who died 21st May 1865 at Chapel Bridge aforesaid was proved at the Principal Registry by the oath of Edward Featherstone Cole of Long Sutton in the County aforesaid Auctioneer of the Executors.
David
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Thank you very much for this information, David.
Where would I obtain a copy of his will? Would it be from the Lincolnshire Record Office?
Many thanks, Jayson
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Possibly. See: https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/history-heritage/lincolnshire-archives/2
There is a marriage record and bond of John Cooper, cordwainer, to Rebecca Thompson on 26th January 1815 in Nantwich.
Witnesses: Richard and Thomas Cooper.
The bond states that John was a widower
Three non-conformist baptisms at Nantwich, Barker Street (Baptist):-
Isaac: 29th November 1817, born on 13th
Robert Thompson: 15th April 1821, born 29th March
Eliza Thompson: (day obscure) April 1823, born 17th March 1823
John recorded as minister in each case
Henry Rowley Beardmore born Oct-Dec 1843, mmn Cooper, in Dudley District, Staffordshire.
Born in Bilston on 1861 census. The person on the 51-61 censuses?
In 1841, John and Rebecca were in Fleet, Lincolnshire, with daughter Eliza.
David
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WOW :o :o :o I never would have expected so much information. Thank you so much very, David :)
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COOPER John.
Effects under £100
7th October.
The will of John Cooper in the Hamlet of Sutton St Nicholas otherwise Lutton in the County of Lincoln Dissenting Minister deceased who died 21st May 1865 at Chapel Bridge aforesaid was proved at the Principal Registry by the oath of Edward Featherstone Cole of Long Sutton in the County aforesaid Auctioneer of the Executors.
Thank you very much for this information, David.
Where would I obtain a copy of his will? Would it be from the Lincolnshire Record Office?
No - as with all post-1858 wills for England and Wales, you need to order a copy (pdf) from the Probate Search website, for the princely sum of £1.50 - https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
I believe local/county record offices do sometimes have copies of post-1858 wills that have been transferred from district probate registries, but that won't be the case with this one as it was proved at the Principal Registry (= London).
If you do place an order, note that there is a handwritten folio number (621) in the right hand margin. For Principal Registry wills this must be quoted as part of the order.
(Other sites might claim to provide copies of these wills, but it will almost invariably be more expensive and slower than ordering direct for yourself.)
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Thanks for that, arthurk.
Jay ;)
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In case you haven't seen it, there is a bit more information about John here:
http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/Coseley/religion.htm
David
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I’m astonished by the information that you have found and keep finding, David. Thank you so much!
John seems to have been quite a character. I found a document at the Cheshire Record Office where one James Hodgson calls for the removal of John Cooper and describes him as ‘a man morally unfit to sustain the office of a Minister of the Gospel’. Well I was imagining all sots of things as you can imagine.
All this means I can now research my Cooper family line once again as I had hit a brick wall with Thomas Cooper (John’s nephew and my direct ancestor) as couldn’t identify his parents. But knowing what I now know means I can order up John’s marriage certificate to Susannah Shearcroft which will reveal the identity of his father. I am pretty sure it is William as I found a christening entry at Nantwich in 1783.
I wonder how John’s family could afford to have him educated? He obviously received some education as he could read and write.
Thanks once again, Jay
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Lincolnshire Chronicle 8th September 1854
At the General Baptist Chapel, Fleet, on 4th ins., the Rev. John Cooper, of Lutton, to Susannah Shearcroft, widow, of Long Sutton.
John Shearcroft, widower, married Susanna Wilkinson in Sutton St. Mary (Long Sutton), on 22nd April 1812.
Witnesses: John Wilkinson, James Wilkinson and Elizabeth Swingler.
Susanna, born in Long Sutton, and possibly buried there on 21st December 1867, aged 82.
I have Wilkinson ancestors from the same area but I can't find a baptism for Susanna. According to the censuses, she was born c1786 in Long Sutton.
David
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John seems to have been quite a character. I found a document at the Cheshire Record Office where one James Hodgson calls for the removal of John Cooper and describes him as ‘a man morally unfit to sustain the office of a Minister of the Gospel’. Well I was imagining all sots of things as you can imagine.
You didn't give a date, but on reading this I wondered if it might have something to do with what David wrote earlier:
Three non-conformist baptisms at Nantwich, Barker Street (Baptist):-
Isaac: 29th November 1817, born on 13th
Robert Thompson: 15th April 1821, born 29th March
Eliza Thompson: (day obscure) April 1823, born 17th March 1823
John recorded as minister in each case
Baptists don't baptise children, so I wondered if he was being censured for what look like infant baptisms. However, this wasn't the case. I've had a look at the images of the original registers, and they do record the births of these children, but the later dates are actually of registration, ie being written up in the registers. So there would be no grounds for complaint there.
My next thought related to this:There is a death notice in the Lincolnshire Chronicle on 27th May 1865 of a John Cooper, 82, Unitarian Minister, in Lutton, which might be a printing error.
Baptists and Unitarians are not the same, and I can well imagine Baptists being shocked if one of their ministers were to become a Unitarian. Again, though, this might not be the case. The General Baptist Chapel in Fleet, where he married in 1854, was long established, but according to the National Index of Parish Registers there was also a Unitarian chapel, which at some date in the 19th century (not stated) became Baptist. It might be worth looking into the history of both chapels to see where he was the minister, and whether this had anything to do with the outrage.
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Thanks for the extra, arthurk.
The date of the document at the Cheshire Record Office is 17 July 1822, and was a notice addressed to the inhabitants of Nantwich by James Hodgson, Deputy for the Association of General Baptists.
David provided a interesting link to a site which gave some additional information about John Cooper’s time at Coseley in Staffordshire where it is said that he was ‘an enthusiastic supporter of the Reform Bill of 1832’ and that ‘he antagonised many members of the congregation by his outspoken views’. He lost his position at that church (I’m guessing this living was also of the Baptist persuasion), and took legal action but this ultimately failed and he relocated to Lincolnshire.
I’m a bit confused as to when he actually died. In the Sutton St Nicholas parish register it says John Cooper of Lutton aged 52 buried on 10 Dec. However, both John’s will and the Newspaper obituaries say he died in May 1865 so the Lutton burial surely cannot be the same John Cooper as the age and date of death don’t match.
Thanks for the marriage extract, David. We might share a family connection through the Wilkinsons.
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There were two John Coopers registered, so the burial is a different person.
COOPER, JOHN 82
GRO Reference: 1865 J Quarter in HOLBEACH Volume 07A Page 201
COOPER, JOHN 52
GRO Reference: 1865 D Quarter in OF HOLBEACH Volume 07A Page 230
The newspapers have the correct John on 21st May and the other on 6th December.
David
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Whilst looking for the deaths of John, I found some interesting things about his daughter.
Stamford Mercury 13th Jul 1860
At Plumstead, Essex, on the 10th inst., (by the Rev. H. Brown, M.A., Rector of Woolwich,) the Rev. Jas. Stack, sen., late of the New Zealand Church Mission, East Cape, to Eliza Thompson youngest daughter of the Rev. John Cooper, of Long Sutton, in this county.
She is not with her husband on the censuses and there is a notice in the Surrey Comet on 16th February 1861, and in 1864, that James Stack would not be responsible for debts contracted by his wife, Eliza Thompson Stack.
1861 Census
St Johns Villas, 3, Kew Road, Richmond, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey
Eliza Thompson Stack Head Married Female 38 1823 Governess Nantwich, Cheshire
1871 Census
Chippenham Terrace, Paddington, Kensington, London & Middlesex
Eliza T Stack - - Female 48 1823 Governess Wanlinch (Nantwich), Cheshire
David
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I was a bit thrown by John Cooper's marriage at Fleet Baptist Chapel, forgetting that he was actually in Lutton. So I've looked in a couple of directories for the period, found at https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4
In both 1856 and 1861 he is listed as a Unitarian minister there:
https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/228588/rec/2
https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/192930/rec/2
That would almost certainly lead to, or be evidence of, a rift with the Baptists.
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In census returns he seems to be ‘Unitarian Baptist Minister’. Does that have any significance?
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1851 census
Eliza Thompson Cooper, 28, U, born Nantwich
is at 1 Apsley Terrace, Great Yarmouth
this is a small school with six resident pupils ages 7-14
The head is Jemimah Peterson, 35, U, (Glasgow?).
Both women are teachers, Eliza's relationship to head is 'partner'
RD Yarmouth
ED 1O
piece 1806
Folio 730
schedule number 163
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I have collected a set of newspaper snippets pertaining to ‘the Misses Roberston and Cooper’ but I can’t post them because this thread is a lookup request. In summary:
March 1849: No 1 Apsley Terrace for sale. (In fact the whole terrace is for sale so possibly newly-built)
January 1850: the school is open for business
July 1851: A lady from Paris is on the staff and available for private French lessons
March 1855: Miss Cooper offers singing lessons
October 1855: an auction of the house contents ‘lately occupied by Misses Robertson and Cooper’
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In census returns he seems to be ‘Unitarian Baptist Minister’. Does that have any significance?
It might. I hadn't come across the term before now, but a brief search reveals that it was actually a thing. See for example this article on the Unitarian Baptist Church in York:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0005576X.2021.1966198
I've also never delved into Unitarian history, but this page might offer some resources - the congregation at Lutton is mentioned in the A-M list (under Long Sutton):
https://unitarianhistory.org.uk/research/
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There is a photograph of James Stack, with a note about marrying a penniless girl, which may be Eliza or his first wife, Mary West, who died in 1850.
He is on a few trees, but none of them mention Eliza Thompson Cooper.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242366888/james_stack
David
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David, Arthurk and Alan
I never would have imagined so much information coming from one article I chanced upon in the Crewe Chronicle several years ago.
I really appreciate everything everyone has found for me and cannot thank you all enough.
I’m so excited by these latest discoveries and can’t to go to the Cheshire Archives to find out more
Jay :)