Clan Cooper People
Thomas Mackay Cooper, 1st Baron Cooper of Culross (24 September 1892 – 15 July 1955)
Thomas Mackay Cooper, 1st Baron Cooper of Culross
by Walter Stoneman 1937 in the National Portrait Gallery, London
Thomas Cooper was a lawyer, politician, judge, and historian. He was born in 1892 to John Cooper (1843-1901), a civil engineer, and Margaret Mackay. Thomas was educated in Edinburgh, initially at George Watson’s College, before going on to earn a degree in Law from the University of Edinburgh.
Cooper became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1915, and by 1927 was made a King’s Counsel. Between 1935 and 1941 he served as Conservative MP for the Edinburgh West constituency, and during that period he was Solicitor General for Scotland, then later Lord Advocate, as well as a Privy Counsellor. By 1941 Cooper was appointed as Lord Justice Clerk, the second most senior judge in Scotland, and took the judicial title of Lord Cooper. Six years later, in 1947, Thomas Cooper was made Lord President of the Court of Session, becoming the most senior judge in Scotland. He held this position for several years before resigning in 1954. After leaving the position Cooper was made a peer, the Baron Cooper of Culross. The title became extinct only the following year with the death of Lord Cooper in 1955 at the age of 62.