Thomas Cooper (poet)

Thomas Cooper
Thomas Cooper Engraving by John Cochran
Born	(1805-03-20)20 March 1805 Leicester, England
Died	12 July 1892(1892-07-12) (aged 87) Lincoln, England
Language	English
Nationality	British
Genre	Poetry
Literary movement	Chartism

Thomas Cooper (20 March 1805 – 15 July 1892) was an English poet and a leading Chartist. His prison rhyme the Purgatory of Suicides (1845) runs to 944 stanzas. He also wrote novels and in later life religious texts. He was self-educated and worked as a shoemaker, then a preacher, a schoolmaster and a journalist, before taking up Chartism in 1840. He was seen as a passionate, determined and fiery man.