He was Member of Parliament for Llandaff and Barry from 1918 to 1929, was made a baronet in 1928 and elevated to the peerage as Baron Cope in July 1945.

He was born in Roath, Cardiff, in 1870, the son of Matthew Cope from St Mellons and Margaret Harrison.

[6] With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Cope joined the Glamorgan Yeomanry, rising to the rank of major.

From 1891 through to 1895 Cope turned out for his home club of Cardiff,[9] and after leaving university he also represented first class English team Blackheath.

[10] Four years later, Cope was selected to represent Wales as part of the 1896 Home Nations Championship in a match against Scotland.

Cope was brought in to a much changed team after a disastrous opening match of the tournament against England; the selectors reacting to a 25–0 scoreline by selecting five new caps in the pack.

Despite the victory, this was Cope's only international game, being replaced by a returning Arthur Boucher in the next match of the Championship.

[15] The daughter, Helen Margaret Letitia, married in 1940 Stephen John Valentine Simpson of Spitchwick.