CFHS code : AL142
Parish : St Andrew the Less
Inscription : In Loving Memory of HARRY COOPER the only and beloved son of MARK & FANNY COOPER b April 9 1872 d Oct 5 1882 also of the above named MARK COOPER d Sept 18 1907 aged [61] also of FANNY COOPER d Dec [26] [1908] aged [63]
Monument : Headstone
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
The stone details on this monument, in the parish area of St Andrew the Less, are still clear but the inscription has suffered some erosion.
Inscription
In Loving Memory of HARRY COOPERe
the only and beloved son of MARK & FANNY COOPER
born April 9 1872 died Oct 5 1882
Also of the above named MARK COOPER died Sept 18 1907 aged 61
Also of FANNY COOPER died Dec [26] 1908 aged 63
Harry Cooper (9 April 1872- 5 October 1882)
Harry was born in Cambridge and baptised in Ely. He died at Mill Road aged 10 years and was buried on 9 October.
Mark Cooper (1846 – 20 September 1907)
Mark was born in Ely to James (1821-1859) and Mary Ann (née Benton)(1826-1896) Cooper. His father was a bricklayer and the family lived on Back Hill, Ely. He was baptised at Holy Trinity, Ely on 11 January. After James Cooper died Mary Ann married for a second time to William Bailey. In 1871 Mark was living with his mother and stepfather at Back Hill and was working as a stonemason. He married Fanny Doncaster on June 29th, 1871, and they had one son. Fanny was hospitalised from 1880 onwards, and Mark lived with his son at Carlton House, 223 Mill Road (1881). In 1891 he was living at Carlton House with his housekeeper Sarah Hills and her three children. He was still living with Sarah at 223 Mill Road in 1901. Mark was a member of the Salisbury Working Men’s Conservative Club and served as Vice President in 1901. He worked as a stonemason for Mr Day of Regent Street. Mark died as the result of an accident in September 1907. He had been working in Toft, erecting a gravestone in the churchyard, and was walking to the train station to return to Cambridge, but was found dead on the road near the church. An inquest was held, where it was established that ‘death was due to valvular disease of the heart’ and a verdict was returned accordingly. He was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 23 September. [His probate records show that he died on 20 September, his grave monument shows 18 September].
Fanny Cooper (née Doncaster) (1845 – 26 December 1908)
Fanny was born in March, Cambridgeshire the fourth daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Doncaster. She grew up on Wisbech Road, March where her father was a shoemaker. Aged 15 she was working as a nursemaid for farmer Nathaniel Hutchinson and his wife Sarah in March. Just before her marriage to Mark Cooper she was working as a housemaid for Rev. William Dickson, who was precentor of Ely Cathedral. Fanny was admitted to Fulbourn Asylum on 15 October 1880 and remained there until her death in 1908.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen and Mary Naylor
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]