Person

1801-1885 Anthony Ashley-Cooper was born on 28 April 1801 in London, the son of Cropley Ashley-Cooper, sixth earl of Shaftesbury. He was educated at Manor House, Chiswick, 1809-1813; Harrow School, 1813-1816; and Christ Church Oxford, 1816-1819. He gained a first-class degree in classics in 1822, took his MA in 1832, and was made DCL in 1841. He was elected to parliament in 1826 as the MP for Woodstock. In 1828 he became a commissioner at the Indian Board of Control. He was later appointed to the metropolitan commission in lunacy and became its chairman in 1833. In 1830 he became the MP for Dorchester, and was the MP for Dorset in 1831-1846. From the 1830s he came to take a prominent role in relation to distinctively religious matters and after he resigned his parliamentary seat in 1846 he moved into philanthropic activity mainly regarding religious issues and the plight of the poor and was actively involved in the Ragged School Union. In 1851 he succeeded to the earldom of Shaftesbury and actively took part in the House of Lords. He objected to the advance of Catholicism in England and continued to improve social conditions in Britain. Though he agreed with the 1870 Education Act, he was disappointed that it had superseded the work of the ragged schools. He died on 1 October 1885. GB/366/601 John Wolffe, ‘Cooper, Anthony Ashley-, seventh earl of Shaftesbury (1801–1885)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6210, accessed 23 Sept 2008] 23/09/2008 Mkklibyz 23/09/2008 Mkklibyz Cooper; Anthony Ashley- (1801-1885); 7th Earl of Shaftesbury Cooper Anthony Ashley- Male International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes 14a92f51-66a0-447a-adea-8f7e6a028f96