[1] In 1849 he resigned as borough coroner when he was elected to the post of town clerk, which he retained till his death.
The Annals of Cambridge followed (1842–1853), being a chronological history of the university and town from the earliest period to 1853.
[1] Cooper's other works are The Memorials of Cambridge, (1858–1866) and a Memoir of Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby (1874).
He was a frequent contributor to Notes and Queries, The Gentleman's Magazine, and other antiquarian publications, and left an immense collection of manuscript materials for a biographical history of Great Britain and Ireland.
[1] His eldest son, Thompson Cooper (1837-1904), was a journalist and Dictionary of National Biography contributor.