Cooper, Henry L

93 Bishopsgate St Within, London; cabinet maker, upholder, carver and gilder, estate agent and undertaker (fl.1828–30)

An ambitious maker whose advertisements in the local press matched his claim to wait upon families ‘in any part of the United Kingdom’. His advertisements have been recorded in London, Brighton, Chester, Southampton, Carmarthen and Liverpool newspapers. His stock and skills appear to have embraced every field of house furnishing and other fields as well. His upholstery department featured ‘the improved Elastic Steel Stuffing for Carriage Cushions, Chairs, Sofas, Mattresses &c. in addition to a handsome assortment of Bedstead Furniture, Window Cornices, Curtains &c.’. Cabinet goods were produced of ‘the first quality and Materials’ and ‘Solid Furniture’ supplied ‘for Foreign Climates’. Cabins of ships were fitted up ‘with Elegance and Despatch’. Carpets, looking-glasses, carving and gilding, paper hanging and painting all came within Henry Cooper's sphere. Services offered included funerals, a house agency, sales and appraisements, the collection of rents and the warehousing of furniture. He claimed the patronage of ‘some of the first Families in the Kingdom’ and stated that ‘for style and price’ his stock ‘challenges competition with any respectable establishment’. The short duration of the business might however suggest that it was not the great success that its proprietor assumed.

Sources: DEFM; Millar, ‘The Notebook of John Davies, Cabinet Maker, Carmarthen 1844-55’, Regional Furniture (1996).