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Name: COOPER, Archibald Samuel CB, CMG (Brig.-General)

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Nee: bro of Philip Ward and Henry Douglas Cooper, cousin of Samuel Edward Cooper

Birth Date: 13 Sep 1871 Marlborough, bapt 11 Oct 1871

Death Date: 15 Oct 1942 Surbiton, London, buried 24 Oct

Nationality: British

First Date: 1896

Last Date: 1908

Profession: Appointed Asst. Chief Accountant & Storekeeper of Uganda Railway. Based at Mombasa until moving to Nairobi when the rail head reached there. 1906 Sec. of the Agric. & Hortic. Soc. of EA and at one time Hon. Sec. of the Turf Club

Area: Mombasa, Nairobi

Married: In Surbiton, Surrey 12 Feb 1897 Jessie 'Fanny' Maud Cooper [sic] b. 7 May 1869 Ealing, d. 10 Sep 1955, buried at St Mary's Kabete (sister of Samuel Edward Cooper)

Children: Geoffrey Rowsell (16 July 1898 Kilindini-1916); Jack Rowland (17 Apr 1900 Nairobi-1986); Teresa Oriana (Tetley) (1902 Nairobi-1964); Horace Hamilton (1904 Nairobi-1922); Nina Doreen (Carr) (5 Mar 1916 Surbiton-2002)

Author: Diaries, RH

Book Reference: Gillett, J. P. Cooper, Ainsworth, Permanent Way, Debrett, White Man, Land 1903, EAHB 1905, EAS, Hut, North, Playne, EA Diary 1903, Drumkey, Advertiser, Pioneers, EAHB 1906, Harmony, Gazette, EA Diary 1902, EAHB 1904, EAHB 1907

School: Marlborough College

General Information:

Chief Acct. of Uganda Railway until 1908 when he was transferred to Lagos and had a distinguished career both there and in London and S. America.  (Gillett). In BEA until 1909 when he became Manager Nigerian Railways. After WW1 appointed Representative Peruvian Corporation in Peru, British owners of Peruvian Railways. He was first Hon. Secretary Jockey Club of Kenya. Source J.P. Cooper  
Permanent Way - Assistant Chief Accountant of the Railway, was the prime mover and first Honorary Secretary of the Turf Club. He had joined the construction staff in 1897, and he remained in the railway's service until he was transferred to the Lagos Railway in 1908.  
Debrett - entered Colonial Civil Service 1897, became Ch. Accountant S. Nigeria Railway  1908, Acting Financial Commr. Nigeria 1912, General Manager Nigerian Railways 1912,  Director of Inland Waterways and Docks (War Office) 1917, and representative in Peru, Peruvian Corporation 1919; is an Hon. Brig.-Gen.  
White Man - Racing ....... had been started by the assistant chief accountant of the Uganda Railway (now Brig.-Gen. A.S. Cooper) in 1900. The EA Turf Club held its first meeting in July 1900 on a piece of waste ground between the railway quarters and the mohammedan mosque. There were 5 races and a mule race, almost a dozen ponies taking part. ........... First race won by G.H. Gailey's 'Diablo' ridden by Gen. Cooper.  
Land Grant 1903 - A.S. Cooper - Cultivation etc., 6 acres - Nairobi - Sept. 7 - Leasehold  
EAHB 1905 - Senior Assistant Chief Accountant, Uganda Railway, March 13th 1897
The African Standard - 26-2-1903 - Invited to the wedding of H.R. Phelips & Miss Jacquette Edith Lambe in Mombasa (Mr & Mrs A.S. Cooper)
Playne - Mr Cooper, the Assistant Accountant of the Uganda Railway, was educated at Marlborough College. His appointment dates from March 15, 1897. He was Acting Chief Accountant (construction and open line) on several occasions from 1900 to 1906. He was appointed Chief Accountant of the S. Nigeria Railway in 1908 (August) ' ....... In the early days the railway officials were the pioneers of racing in EA, and for several years Mr A.S. Cooper as honorary secretary, and Mr B.G. Eastwood as honorary treasurer, were mainly responsible for the success of the meetings. About a year ago the Club lost the services of Mr Cooper, when he left the country on receiving promotion, but his services will always be remembered by those who have followed the fortunes of the Turf Club since its inception.
Drumkey 1909 - Railway Dept. - Accounts Dept. - Assistant Chief Accountant
Drumkey 1909 - Steward, East Africa Turf Club - A.F. Cooper
EAS - 15/1/1903 - A.S. Cooper, Hon. Sec. - Nairobi Races - Christmas meeting postponed to Jan 23 due to heavy rains and damage to Race Course.
EAS - 29/1/1903 - Nairobi Races - …….. Repairing course. A.S. Cooper greatly helped by A.H. Beale
Advertiser - 21/8/1908 - Mr A.S. Cooper - popular late Secretary of the Turf Club is proceeding to an appointment on the West Coast.
Advertiser - 28/8/1908 - Norfolk Hotel Dinner for A.S. Cooper - going to S. Nigeria - came to EA in 1897 - accountant in railway offices - because he could not hold land [rules] he introduced his brother to farming who was now one of the most successful farmers in the country. Took over management of Nairobi Race Fund in 1901 and in 1903 the EA Turf Club was brought into being. He is a very popular man
Pioneers - The Coopers of Kirawa - Jim Cooper - My uncle Archie Cooper, went to BEA in 1896 as assistant accountant to the Uganda Railway. In 1904 he suggested to my father, Douglas Cooper, that he should take up land in partnership with himself, two Harrison cousins and J.H. Gailey. The immediate object was to grow potatoes for the South African market. Their capital was £500 and a lot of hope. Archie had spent his younger days in South America, and after the First War became General Manager of the Peruvian Railways.
North - One of 8 officials named by the 'Railway Strike Committee' as treating their subordinates with 'extreme discourtesy & tyranny' (CO573)
Member of Lodge Harmony - Initiated 3/7/05, age 33, Accountant, Nairobi
Gazette - 17/12/1902 - Plague compensation after bubonic plague in March 1902 - A.S. Cooper - Rs 170
North - son Jeffery [sic] enrolled at Uganda Railway School, Nairobi 11-6-1904; recommended for permanent position after reorganisation of Railway staff - 'nasty temper' (Currie FO2) 12-11-1904; son Jack joined Uganda Railway School, Nairobi 10-4-1905; member of the jury in the Max Wehner trial Nairobi May 1905; Member of Nairobi Masonic Lodge Harmony 1905 Gazette - 15/1/1906 - Member of Nairobi Township Committee - 1906
1939 England and Wales Register living with wife in Esher - gives his birth year as 1871

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