Thomas Cooper (abt. 1626 - bef. 1709)

Born about 1626 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, , England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Unknown) Cooper — married about 1649 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England

Died before 27 May 1709 before about age 83 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England

Biography

Henlow parish register is deficient for the period 1624-30, so his baptism is not recorded, but his probable birth falls within this timescale.

His marriage similarly has not been found, and would have been before 1650. Some people think it was on 19 May 1646 at Elstow, Bedfordshire, to Susan Choath, but we know from the burial in Henlow in 1705 that she was Mary. To surmount this problem some people have given her the name Susan Mary Choath. Thomas and Susan didn't baptise any children in Elstow, so presumably Thomas was from another parish. But the marriage should be regarded with suspicion.

Three daughters of Thomas Cooper were baptised in Henlow Bedfordshire, but their mother wasn't named in the baptism register - Ann 1650, Elizabeth 1654 and Mary 1656.^[1]

Thomas appeared in the Hearth Tax Return, 1671 living in Henlow, as having one hearth,^[2] but did not appear in the 1675 return.

He appears to have moved to Norton, Hertfordshire, 5 miles from Henlow, at some stage, possibly between 1671 and 1675, as on his burial in Henlow on 27 May 1709 he was described as "Thomas Cooper of Norton, husbandman" (yeoman on BT)^[3]

Research Notes

There's a burial of Susan Cooper widow at Marston Moretaine on 5 Oct 1658 and also a burial of Thomas Cooper labourer in 1654; Marston Moretaine is less than 5 miles from Elstow, where the only Cooper- Susan marriage took place in Beds other than one in Bedford in 1631 Luke and Susan Britten. Marston Moretaine parish register/BT is missing 1641-51 so we can't tell if Thomas and Susan had children in MM following the marriage in Elstow. But if they were older they may not have had children.

Sources

1. ↑ "The Parish Register of Henlow, 1558-1812", vol 26, transcript by Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service, publisher Bedfordshire County Council
2. ↑ "The Hearth Tax Return 1671", compiler Lydia M Marshall, published by Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, 1934
3. ↑ "The Parish Register of Henlow, 1558-1812"

• WikiTree profile Cooper-2346 created through the import of Gedcom ONE for WikiTree.ged on Aug 7, 2011 by Dolores M. Pringle Pringle. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Dolores M. Pringle and others.