COOPER, THOMAS

born March 20, 1805, Leicester, Leicestershire, Eng. died July 15, 1892, Lincoln, Lincolnshire English writer whose political epic The Purgatory of Suicides promulgated in verse the principles of Chartism, Britain's first specifically working-class national movement, for which Cooper worked and suffered imprisonment. While working as a shoemaker Cooper read widely and in 1827 became a schoolmaster and in 1829 a Methodist lay preacher. He worked for the Leicestershire Mercury newspaper until his conversion to Chartism led to his dismissal in 1841, and he then began to edit various Chartist weeklies. In 1842 he toured the potteries to urge support for the general strike. In 1843 he was convicted of sedition and spent two years in jail, where he wrote his verse epic. After 1856 most of his writings were in defense of Christianity, as his political enthusiasm declined after quarrelling with Feargus O'Connor, a Chartist leader. born c. 1517, , Oxford died April 29, 1594, Winchester, Hampshire, Eng. Cooper also spelled Couper English bishop and author of a famous dictionary. Educated at the University of Oxford, Cooper became master of Magdalen College school and afterward practiced as a physician in Oxford. In 1565 appeared the first edition of his most notable work, Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae. Three other editions followed in 1573, 1578, and 1584. Queen Elizabeth I was greatly pleased with the Thesaurus, which became known as Cooper's Dictionary. Cooper, who had been ordained about 1559, was made dean of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1567. Two years later he became dean of Gloucester, in 1571 bishop of Lincoln, and in 1584 bishop of Winchester. Cooper defended the practice and precept of the Church of England against the Roman Catholics on the one hand and against the Martin Marprelate writings and the Puritans on the other.