Fred Cooper

Frederick Cooper (13 March 1852 – 21 July 1935) was an English professional racing cyclist and subsequently partner in a bicycle manufacturing business. Cooper was born in 1852 in London. The family had moved to Birmingham by 1861 and subsequently, at some date between 1866 and 1870, they made a further move to Sheffield where his father was the landlord of the White Bear, a public house in the centre of the town. Professional racing career Bicycle racing as a spectator sport is generally regarded as having started in France in 1868. It was introduced into England in 1869. Cooper was among the first professional cyclists who made a living from travelling from place to place to compete for what were then substantial sums of money. Typically a prize of £50 might be offered (in terms of labour value, the equivalent of about £28,000 in 2017 values) but in a major championship race this amount could often be doubled. It is not known what led Cooper to take up professional cycling but his first recorded appearance in this capacity was in a velocipede race at Chesterfield in June 1870. From that date on he made frequent appearances on the racing circuit until his retirement from professional cycling in 1879. He was essentially a sprinter rather than a long-distance rider. His favoured distance was one mile and he made frequent bids for the title of all-England one-mile champion. His first attempt was in November 1870 at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton where he won his initial heat but appears to have been defeated in the final. However, between 1872 and 1879 he secured the title on at least six occasions. His great rival for this accolade was John Keen: the title alternated between the two over a number of years and they are said to have competed against each other for the title on 17 or 18 occasions with Cooper winning eight times and Keen nine. But whilst Keen and Cooper were professional rivals, they seem to have been on friendly terms: in later life they lived in the same village in Surrey, Long Ditton, Cooper took part in a benefit race for Keen in 1885 and was actively involved in 1900 as member of a committee formed to raise funds to support Keen who was said to have fallen on hard times.