George Cooper

COOPER, George. b. London, 7 July 1820; d. London, 2 October 1876. The son of the assistant organist at St Paul's Cathedral, he learned the (pedal) harpsichord and piano and, from time to time, deputised for his father at St Paul's from the age of eleven. Thomas Attwood*, then organist at the cathedral, was most impressed by the boy's gifts and allowed him to extemporise at services. This gift also drew the attention of Mendelssohn*. At the age of thirteen, he became organist at St Benet's, Paul's Wharf, and, three years later, at the church of St Anne and St Agnes, Gresham Street. On Attwood's death in 1838, he became assistant to John Goss*, in the place of his father, who, having also...