He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he was a contemporary of Richard Bethell, and in 1814 he attained double first-class honours, and graduated B.A.
[1] His enthusiasm for the cause of legal reform attracted the attention of Henry Brougham, by whom he was introduced to the Holland House circle and the heads of the Whig party.
Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland recommended him for the post of Solicitor General when Robert Monsey Rolfe was appointed, in 1835.
[1] Cooper played an active part in public affairs in Kent, where he resided at Denton Court, near Canterbury.
He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and corresponding member of the royal academies of Lisbon, Munich, Berlin, and Brussels.