George Cooper (23 June 1793 – 7 April 1867) was a customs official and government administrator in Ireland, England, Australia and New Zealand.

[5] He emigrated to New South Wales, arriving Sydney on 12 October 1836 aboard the Hoogley with his wife and children.

[9][10] Later that month he moved to the Bay of Islands in the north of New Zealand, arriving aboard HMS Herald with William Hobson and other officials (including Willoughby Shortland and Felton Mathew).

[4][17][18] His son, George Sisson Cooper, had a long career in the New Zealand civil service; from 1870 to 1892, he was Under-Secretary for the colony.

Fellow beekeeper, William Cotton, noted that Cooper arrived in Auckland in October 1842 with a hive of bees "seemingly dead" after a stormy ten-day passage from Sydney.