Memories of William Cooper, Land Agent of Trengwainton 1911-1926

William Cooper, my great-grandfather, was born in 1860 and lived until 1937. He had a full and active life and served in many land estate positions before retiring to Reading. In his final years when almost an invalid he set down his memories and reminiscences, in pencil, in several exercise books with the help of his wife Caroline.

William starts his memories with the following quote: It has been suggested to me that being an invalid and unable to read and nearly blind, I write some of my reminiscences, some of which may probably be interesting to my descendants in years to come. These have been invaluable in providing a fascinating insight into not only his life and our family but of life in the late Victorian era and through into the early Edwardian period and beyond.

My family and I are greatly indebted to my cousin Christopher Cooper for his painstaking work in deciphering these pencil recollections, editing and processing the scripts into the text. Obviously, we are only extracting his life and times at Trengwainton from 1911 to 1926 during which time he was estate manager and had many associations with the local area, these are read as they were written down in the eyes of someone who bridged the end of the Victorian era and Edwardian times.

 Ben Cooper