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Claude Cooper (1890 - 1960)

BUSINESSMAN and SPORTSMAN

The Obituary for Claude Cooper in the Mercury on the 1 June 1960, lists the wonderful achievements that Claude accomplished during his 69 years. But Claude was my grandfather and to write about him by merely listing the buildings, does not seem to tell the whole story.

So let me begin. Claude was born at 19 Goulburn St. on the 2 October 1890. He was the son of William and Mary Ann Cooper. Two of his siblings, William and Elsie had died in infancy so there was Mabel, Harry, Daphne and Roy for him to play with and annoy.

He went to Tommy Mitchell’s School on the corner of Patrick and Harrington St, and according to family stories was very good and very quick at arithmetic. I found a photo of Claude with several players of the St Mary’s Football Club (SMFC) in 1904. He was 14 then.

At this stage the family lived on the Glebe in Shoobridge Street which was near the Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA) ground. He soon became interested in cricket and loved to score the game. In fact he became so competent that he was chosen to score the Test match between Tasmania and England in 1908, the youngest in the Commonwealth. He was 18.

Claude played cricket with ‘Break O Day’ Cricket Club and the South Hobart Cricket Club. William his father was the President of the South Hobart District Cricket Club until 1912 when the family moved to West Hobart. Apparently the Break O Day club was so called because the players had to get up at the ‘break of day’ to train before they went to work. (The ABC Friday 11 July 2003, presenter Peter Newlinds.)

By 1911 Claude was working with his father as a builder. A notice in the Mercury of Thursday 10 August 1911 says,

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I have much pleasure in intimating to the Public that I have taken my sons Harry Cooper and Claude Cooper into partnership and that the business of a Builder and Contractor hitherto carried on by me will in the future be conducted under the style or firm of W. Cooper and Sons. Dated this 10th day of August 1911. William Cooper.

Claude belonged to the Mercantile Rowing club. According to his Obituary he was a member of several successful crews with his brother Harry. He was made a life member of the club in recognition of his services to the sport. I noticed in the list of

representatives of various clubs and organizations in the tribute in the Mercury, Mr C Bucirde represented the Mercantile Rowing Club. He was also the Inspector of Public Buildings in the 1920s, so Claude would have known him well. I find it interesting that these men and according to the Obituary, many others, played sport, administered clubs and worked professionally with one another.

The TCA was also the home of the Cananore Football Club. I’d imagine that during the cricket off season, Claude climbed the hill again to join in the training for football. The Obituary says that ‘for more than half a century Claude had been a Cananore player and President and later President of the Old Players and Officials Association.’

From 1931 to 1932, Leeter Collier was Captain Coach of Cananore. Leeter Collier was a wonderful footballer for Collingwood and was enticed to come to Cananore at the instigation of Claude who wanted more than anything that Cananore be the Premiers.

And of course they were. There is the story that when Claude was President of the Cananore Football club he invited some of the players to lunch at Frederick Street before the match on a Saturday. Gertrude, Claude’s wife served them tripe and onions to give them plenty of intestinal fortitude for the game.

There was a photo in the Mercury on the 8 November 1947 of Claude, Horrie Gorringe, Duke Featherstone, Fred Contencin and Keith Bailey all members of the Cananore Old Players Association. Claude was President at that time.

Now back to Claude’s earlier years. On the 9 August 1916 he married Gertrude Mary Donovan at St Joseph’s Church Hobart. He built the family home at 21 Frederick Street West Hobart in 1916 for his new bride. They lived there for over forty years. Their first child Margery was born in 1917 and my father, Vern in 1918. Other children then followed, Douglas in 1921, Maxwell in 1925, who only lived for 18 days, Roderick in 1928, Barry in 1933 and Donald in 1935. At one stage Claude bought the house at1 Elboden Street South Hobart, designed by Henry Hunter in 1873, for Gertrude but she preferred to stay at Frederick Street so he divided the beautiful large home into five flats.

Claude became President of the Master Builders’ Association of Tasmania in 1926-27 and again in 1927-28. Then he became President of the Master Builders’ Federation of Australia in 1929-30.

Claude moved into the administration side of rowing and football. He loved yachting. The Vanity, an ‘A’ Class yacht was built by Charles Lucas in 1911 at Battery Point. Claude, Francis Harris and George Flynn, his bricklayer, bought the boat in 1927 and raced it on the Derwent until 1943 when Claude sold his share.

As an aside, a couple of years ago, our son Rob who worked at the Archives received a call from a man in Queensland who had just bought a yacht in bad repair. He wanted to know if the Archives had any photos of the yacht in its prime condition so he could repair it to its original condition. The name of the yacht was the Vanity. Rob told him he was the great grandson of one of the owners. What a small world. Yes, they did have a photo of the Vanity. It has since been restored and is often found at the Wooden Boat Festival held every two years in Hobart

Claude also became part of the racing industry and at one time owned a horse named Multudo which won in Sydney in 1934. He owned some wonderful cars. There is a report in the Mercury1 that a seven seater Buick touring motor car belonging to Mr. Claude Cooper of 21 Frederick Street, West Hobart, was stolen from outside the Royal Yacht Club. I hope he got it back. Another report in the Mercury tells of Claude Cooper before the Court for a traffic infringement. He had pleaded guilty to a charge of sounding a motor horn in Liverpool St on 4 July 1936. Claude was driving along the street among a number of pedestrians about 20miles an hour. He sounded the horn several times, to avoid knocking someone down.

Claude Cooper was a very successful builder and contractor for over fifty years .The buildings are a testament to his workmanship and his ability to employ clever tradesman whether they be carpenters, joiners, plasterers, bricklayers or machinists. The wages book shows his stable work force with many employees working for Claude for over twenty years. He was loyal to them as they to him.

To his family he was very kind and caring. He made sure they had what was needed to live a comfortable life. He was very kind to Meg when Vern became so sick. He filled up the cupboards when the young couple returned from their honeymoon. He delivered ‘a bucket of scallops (in season) and a dozen eggs’ to the families on a Friday. Even a few days before he died he reminded Barry to ‘deliver the eggs’.

There are many more stories about Claude that lots of people could tell but it suffices to say he led a very full life and certainly left his mark on our city, Hobart, and further afield.

His wife, Gertrude, died on the 4 August 1959 and Claude died nine months later on the 31 of May 1960.