thumb|right|Cooper

Thomas Mackay Cooper, 1st Baron Cooper of Culross (24 September 1892 – 15 July 1956) was a Scottish Unionist Party politician, a judge and a historian, who had been appointed Lord Advocate of Scotland.

Background and education

thumb|The grave of Thomas Cooper, Baron Cooper, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh

Cooper was the son of John Cooper, of Edinburgh, a civil engineer, and Margaret, daughter of John Mackay, of Dunnet, Caithness. In 1902 he was admitted to George Watson's College, Edinburgh, and afterwards studied at the University of Edinburgh where he completed an MA in 1912 and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB).

Cooper was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1915 and created a King's Counsel in 1927. He was the Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh West from a by-election in 1935 to 1941. In 1935 he was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland He also became a Privy Counsellor in 1935.

Personal life

Cooper was married to Margaret Mackay.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1936, his proposers being John Alexander Inglis, Thomas Henry Holland, Thomas Hudson Beare and Ernest Wedderburn. He served as the society's vice president from 1945 to 1948.

Death

Lord Cooper of Culross died in July 1956, aged 62, at which point the barony became extinct.

<!-- end of refs -->