The Cooper Family
The family business originally known as "Coopers" was founded by William Cooper, a veterinary surgeon, circa 1843 in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire. Legend has it that he arrived in town with nothing but a bag with containing the tools of his trade. In the 1851 census he is recorded as a resident of the High Street in Berkhamstead.
As a veterinary surgeon he was frequently confronted by the horrendous condition of farm animals caused by various parasitic insects, in particular a skin disease which afflicted sheep known as "sheep scab" - at the time treated very ineffectually by only ointments composed of tobacco stalk and brimstone emulsified in animal fats. Cooper began to conduct his own experiments with preparations of arsenic and sulphur. By 1852 his experiments were conclusive enough for him to market the first truly effective sheep dip known as "Cooper's dip" it was sold in a powdered form which was easily transportable.
From 1852 throughout the remainder of the 19th century the Berkhamstead based business expanded at considerable speed, the newly built factory taking every advantage of the new mechanical innovations of the day. In the 1860s the horses powered mills were replace with steam powerd machinery. The factory had its own printing press producing labels of a complicated design in order to prevent the sheep dip being faked by the unsrcupulous.
Cooper died in 1885 - he had been joined in the business by two nephews Henry Herbert Cooper who died in 1891 and Richard Powell Cooper. Richard Cooper on the death of his brother Henry became the sole proprietor of the business by now known as "Cooper & Nephews". It is from Richard Powell Cooper that the Cooper baronets are descended.
Read more about this topic: Cooper Baronets, Of Shenstone Court
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