John Cooper - MBE?

[strawberrymivvy]

My great grandfather, John Cooper (1887 - 1953) was a colliery manager at a number of mines in the Durham area.

I had always heard the family say that he was fairly well known, and had written a number of books/articles on mining, though I've never been able to prove/disprove that.

His last child, my great uncle, died recently, and when his wife was sorting out some papers she discovered a note which suggested that John Cooper had in fact received the MBE. I don't know why, though given the talk of his reputation in the mining industry, I would perhaps assume for "services to mining".

My question is, where would I go about finding out if/when he was awarded the MBE and what it was awarded for?

I can find John Cooper on the excellent Durham Mining Museum website, though it doesn't seem to refer to an honour or any publications.

Any other ideas gratefully received...

[Geoffers]

You might try a search of the London Gazette in which awards of MBEs appear. If you have no idea of a date at all then you may have a long search with a name such as John Cooper.

[strawberrymivvy]

I did try a quick search of the London Gazette but must admit I gave up pretty quickly, just because of his name!

Oh well, if there's no "central list" then I will keep ploughing on...

[Peter Goodey]

In the London Gazette you only need search the Supplements which will cut it down a bit.

[strawberrymivvy]

Thanks Peter, that's worth knowing

[keith.robinson]

As a possible long shot, did he ever go to Canada/Newfoundland. The reason I ask is that there is a pamphlet? entitled "Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources-Geological Section: Bulletin 9 Geology and mineral deposits of the Hare Bay area. Written by Sir John Hope Simpson, A K Snelgrove, R B Ewbank and John R Cooper. Dated 1937. This is to be found on www dot abebooks dot com. Do a search for Author: John Cooper and Keyword: mining.

Keith

[strawberrymivvy]

Thanks for the suggestion Keith, but when I looked into it further it seems this John R Cooper was from Arkansas...

I will keep looking and maybe spend my Sunday going through Gazette records.

[strawberrymivvy]

I've now found out that my ancestor received the MBE in 1946, but not sure if I'm being totally thick, I can't find any reference to it in the London Gazette. I must admit I don't find their search engine in any way user friendly - am I missing something really obvious?

I've typed in his name (John Cooper), with and without the term MBE, in 1946, with no luck.

Any hints gratefully received

[Jellylegs]

Was he John Sephton Cooper?

[strawberrymivvy]

Hi Jellylegs

No, I don't believe he had a middle name at all - makes it all the more difficult, as if the name "John Cooper" wasn't bad enough