Matthew Cooper
Matthew Cooper (c1846-1899)
1900 Obituary [1]
MATTHEW COOPER. By the death of Mr. Matthew Cooper the Institution has lost one of its earlier members. The deceased gentleman was found dead in a train at Finsbury Park station on his way to the City on the morning of Thursday, March 8th.
He originally entered the service of the Electric and International Telegraph Company in 1861, and was transferred to the Postal Telegraph Service in 1870, when the various Telegraph Companies in the United Kingdom were acquired by the State. From that time until 1878, Mr. Cooper was engaged in a branch which was organised to deal with special events arising throughout the country, and in that capacity he took charge of the telegraphs at Sandringham when the Prince of Wales was in residence.
Subsequent to the year 1878, Mr. Cooper was attached to the staff of the Engineer-in-chief, and at the time of his death he held the position of Principal Technical Officer. He was associated with the development of the various systems of telegraphy which have been brought into use in the Post Office during the past twenty years.
He took an active share in improving duplex telegraphy, and subsequently the successful working of the quadruplex and multiplex systems was largely due to the untiring energy with which he devoted his extensive knowledge of details and his mechanical skill to their development.
Since the introduction of the telephone, Mr. Cooper has been associated with its extension in the Postal Service, and for some time past he had been engaged in working out details for the equipment of the telephone exchanges which are to be installed in connection with the proposed Government scheme for the telephoning of London. Mr. Cooper served as an Associate Member of Council of the Institution in the year 1892. His untimely death occurred at the comparatively early age of fifty-three.
His resourceful tact and the geniality of his disposition endeared him to all with whom he had business relations, and his loss has been much felt.
He was elected an Associate of this Institution on the 14th of April, 1880.