That is a curious one. My Coopers from Bilston had a similar naming peculiarity but, so far, I have not been able to find any solid links to anyone else (Tony Cooper is a possible exception). My Cooper tracing begins about 1815 with George and Abigail Cooper. George was into iron and coal as was most of Bilston in those days. After several children, Abigail died then George married Sarah. They had several children. Thru all this time, they were probably living on Church St. in Bilston. But I'm sure of very little. My gggrandfather James Cooper (middle name probably Wright)left England late in 1850 for Victoria, BC (a Colony run by the Hudson Bay Company at that time). Another somewhat unusual event was the family returned to Wolverhampton from about 1857 to 1860. He gave his son Charles the middle name Villiers. And Charles peculiarly named his eldest son Pelham Villiers. If I have it right, Pelham Villiers was a prominent MP from Wolverhampton for a very long time. And he was very liberal wrst Colonies. Please keep in touch and let me know what you find. > -----Original Message----- > From: Pat Hayward [mailto:hayward325@btinternet.com] > Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 12:50 PM > To: ENG-BLACK-COUNTRY-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [B.C.] BARNETT, COOPER, SMITH > > > Are you interested in the name BARNET(T) ? > Have you found a link with the name COOPER? > > I have Charles & Elizabeth BARNETT (brassworker) > who had a daughter Jane born 1810. > It puzzled me when I found the name COOPER as a second name for their > daughter Elizabeth Cooper Barnett bapt 1 Jan 1815 West Bromwich.. > > It also puzzled me when Jane Barnett married Samuel SMITH (gunborer) and > named their son William COOPER SMITH. > There must be some reason for the Cooper name but I have not > found the answer yet. Any suggestions > Regards > Pat. > new Email address > > > > > > > > > ==== ENG-BLACK-COUNTRY Mailing List ==== > The B.C. List Admin is Dave Ogden :- > d.ogden@blueyonder.co.uk >

On 10 Mar, Bob Cooper <sierrasnow@cox.net> wrote: > He gave his son Charles the middle name Villiers. And Charles > peculiarly named his eldest son Pelham Villiers. If I have it right, > Pelham Villiers was a prominent MP from Wolverhampton for a very long > time. And he was very liberal wrst Colonies. The MP for Wolverhampton was indeed Charles Pelham Villiers, who was the longest standing MP until Edward Heath passed the milestone. Cheers -- Chris Ramsbottom researching: BARRATT, DANCER, FELLOWS, GOODES, ROBINSON, TUCKLEY, WHEWAY MAHER all in and around Birmingham/Smethwick, 1850 to present day