John Cooper, MP, 1st Bt. of Rockbourne

Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet (died 23 March 1631), was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1628 to 1629. He was father of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury.

Cooper married

• firstly Anne Ashley, the daughter and sole heir of Sir Anthony Ashley, 1st Baronet, of Wimborne St Giles in Dorset. His first wife died soon after her father on 20 July 1628, leaving a
  • daughter, Philippa (who married Sir Adam Brown and died in 1701) and
  • two sons, Anthony-Ashley
  • and George.
• Cooper married secondly Mary, Lady Morrison, the widow of Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet and a daughter and coheir of Baptist Hicks, Viscount Campden (1551–1629). There were no children of the marriage, and Cooper died on 23 March 1630.

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Cooper married firstly Anne Ashley, the daughter and sole heir of Sir Anthony Ashley, 1st Baronet, of Wimborne St Giles in Dorset. His first wife died soon after her father on 20 July 1628, leaving a daughter, Philippa (who married Sir Adam Brown[disambiguation needed] and died in 1701) and two sons, Anthony-Ashley and George.[1] Cooper married secondly Mary, Lady Morrison, the widow of Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet and a daughter and coheir of Baptist Hicks, Viscount Campden (1551–1629). There were no children of the marriage, and Cooper died on 23 March 1630/31.[1]

As a condition of Sir John Cooper's marriage to Anne Ashley, her father (Sir Anthony Ashley) required that John Cooper's heir use the surname of Ashley-Cooper. Furthermore, he required that if an Ashley-Cooper male ever achieved nobility, the title should carry the name of Ashley. In turn, by her marriage to John, Anne Ashley transferred the legal right of ownership of the Ashley estate at Wimborne St Giles to her husband, John Cooper. This agreement was made prior to 1622, when John Cooper, himself, was created a Baronet. John and Anne's first son and heir was born on 22 July 1621 at his grandfather's home at Wimborne St Giles. Accordingly, the oldest son and heir of John Cooper was christened Anthony Ashley-Cooper at birth. All his younger siblings remained Coopers

Knight and Baronet.

Gravesite Details
Buried April 4, 1631.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Cooper,_1st_Baronet
Spouse(s) (1) Anne Ashley (1617–1628)
(2) Mary Hicks (1629–his death)
Children (1) Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621–1683); Philippa (1623–1701); George (born 1625)

His first wife Ann died of smallpox in 1628, shortly after succeeding to the Ashley estate, and Cooper, who was reputedly "very lovely and graceful both in face and person". He married again to another wealthy widow. According to family tradition he kept three houses fully furnished and staffed, and exercised great hospitality at each of them. He died of tuberculosis in 1631 at Cassiobury, his wife's jointure estate, and was buried at Wimborne St. Giles, leaving debts computed at £40,000 or more.

His widow Mary, Lady Morrison, took as her third husband the younger son of Edward Alford, Sir Daniel Norton acted as guardian to his Stepson and heir, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, who sat for Tewkesbury in the Short Parliament, and who, as 1st earl of Shaftesbury, became one of the leading politicians of the Restoration era.

References

• Arthur Collins, Peerage of England, pp. 545-546
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Cooper,_1st_Baronet
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161558879/john-cooper
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYRF-D7Z
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LYRF-D7Z
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/LYRF-D7Z