Pope Alexander Cooper

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = The Honourable

|name = Sir Pope Cooper

|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|KCMG}}

|image = Sir Pope Alexander Cooper.jpg

|caption =

| constituency_AM1 = Bowen

| assembly1 = Queensland Legislative

| term_start1 = 24 January 1881

| term_end1 = 5 January 1883

| predecessor1 = Henry Beor

| successor1 = Charles Chubb

|order2 = 4th

|office2 = Chief Justice of Queensland

|term_start2 = 21 October 1903

|term_end2 = 31 March 1922

|predecessor2 = Samuel Griffith

|successor2 = Thomas McCawley

|governor2 =

|appointer2 =

|nominator2 =

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1846|5|12|df=y}}

|birth_place = Lake George, New South Wales, Australia

|death_date = {{death date and age|1923|8|30|1846|5|12|df=y}}

|death_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

|restingplace = Toowong Cemetery

|birthname = Pope Alexander Cooper

|nationality = Australian

|party =

|otherparty =

|spouse = Alice Frener Cooper (m.1873 d.1900)

| alma_mater = University of Sydney, University of London

| occupation = Barrister, prosecutor, judge

| relations =

}}

Sir Pope Alexander Cooper {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCMG}} (12 May 1846{{spaced ndash}}30 August 1923) was an attorney-general and a chief judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia.

Early life

Pope Alexander Cooper was born at Willeroo Station, Lake George, New South Wales, the son of Francis Cooper, a squatter, and his wife Sarah, née Jenkins. Cooper was educated at the Sydney Grammar School and the University of Sydney, where he won the Cooper and Gilchrist scholarships and graduated with a B.A. and in 1868 a M.A. He then went to London where he completed the LL.B. course, became a student of the Middle Temple, and was called to the English bar in June 1872.

Career

Cooper returned to Australia and began to practise as a barrister at Brisbane in June 1874. He became a crown prosecutor in January 1879 and entered the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as member for Bowen. On 31 December 1880 he joined the first Thomas McIlwraith ministry as Attorney-General.{{cite web|title=Former Members|publisher=Parliament of Queensland|year=2015| url=http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=931005932|access-date= 1 February 2015}} He resigned this position on 6 January 1883 when he was appointed as a supreme court judge for the northern district of Queensland. His travelling expenses caused some quarrels. In 1895 he became senior puisne judge at Brisbane, and on 21 October 1903 chief justice. There was animosity between the Labor government and the judges, playing out through a series of cases challenging government actions and legislation.{{cite BAILII|litigants=Theodore v Duncan |year=1919 |court=UKPC |num=34 |format=1 |parallelcite=[1919] AC 696; (1919) 26 CLR 276 |courtname=auto |juris=Australia}}.In re McCawley [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=1918+St+R+Qd+62 [1918] {{abbr|St R Qd|State Reports Queensland}} 62], Supreme Court (Full Court) (Qld). overturned by {{cite BAILII|litigants=McCawley v The King |year=1920 |court=UKPC |num=22 |format=1 |parallelcite=[1920] AC 691; (1920) 28 CLR 106 |courtname=auto |juris=Australia}}.Taylor v Attorney-General (Qld) [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=1918+St+R+Qd+194 [1918] {{abbr|St R Qd|State Reports Queensland}} 194], Privy Council.{{cite journal |author=Aroney, N |title=Politics, Law and the Constitution in McCawley's Case |journal=Melbourne University Law Review |date=2006 |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/2006/21.html}} (2006) 30(3) Melbourne University Law Review 605. The parliament undermined his security of tenure by passing the Judges Retirement Act 1921 (Qld),{{cite Legislation AU|Qld|hist_act|jrao192112gvn14289|Judges Retirement Act 1921}}. the effect of which was that immediately upon proclamation three out of six judges, Cooper and Justices Real and Chubb were compulsorily retired, which permitted the government to appoint new judges, including Thomas McCawley as the new Chief Justice.McGarvie The Foundations of Judicial Independence in a Modern Democracy (1991) 1 Journal of Judicial Administration 3.{{cite book |last1=McPherson |first1=BH |title=The Supreme Court of Queensland 1859-1960 |year=1989 |publisher=Butterworths |pages=287–291 & 299–305 |isbn=0409494445}} Cooper died on 30 August 1923.{{cite AuDB |title=Cooper, Sir Pope Alexander (1846 - 1923) |last=Gill |first=J.C.H. |id2=cooper-sir-pope-alexander-5771 |volume=8 |year=1981}}

File:Pope Cooper Headstone.JPG.]]

Legacy

In 1873, Cooper married Alice Frener, daughter of James Cooper who died in 1900 leaving a son and two daughters.

He was knighted 1904 and was created a KCMG in 1908.

In 1903 he was elected president of Brisbane's Johnsonian Club.{{cite news |date=24 October 1903 |title=SOCIETY COLUMN. |page=4 |newspaper=The Telegraph |issue=9,650 |location=Queensland, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174844279 |accessdate=15 April 2023 |via=National Library of Australia}} He was chancellor of the University of Queensland from 1915 to 1922.

Cooper had only a short career in parliament but made himself a reputation as a polished speaker. As a judge he was always seeking the essentials of a case and generally adopted a common attitude on legal questions. His summings up were usually brief and to the point. In criminal cases he could be severe though just. In his conduct of the court, though always courteous, he insisted that the dignity of the bench must be upheld, and he was quick to restrain anything in the nature of contempt of court.

References

{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Pope Alexander|Last=Cooper|shortlink=0-dict-biogCl-Cu.html#cooper3}} at gutenberg.net.au
[https://web.archive.org/web/20120601222321/https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=141641 Cooper, Sir Pope Alexander ] — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search