Peter Harper Cooper – Royal Garrison Artillery

Peter Harper (variously called Harper or Peter Harper) was born on 28 Jun 1890 at Dumkins. The family had lived at Barleyford until 1888 when his father filed for bankruptcy.  His father died in 1897 but Peter Harper stayed with his mother Emily at Dumkins until he enlisted, probably in early 1916. Like others in the village he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery, as Bombardier no. 63910 in 10th Siege Battalion. By the end of the war he had become a corporal.

Harper married Nellie Poyser from Wildboarclough in 1919 and lived at Pingle. (Nellie was a sister of Alice Ann Poyser who married Joseph Belfield who also appears on the WW1 memorial.) He was landlord of The Ship between 1929 and 1942, even being prosecuted on two occasions for supplying alcohol after hours. They had moved to Summer Hill in Rushton by 1939 and then into Macclesfield. Peter Harper died in November 1951.

Peter Harper Cooper was the landlord at the Ship Inn during the 1930s

Peter Harper Cooper fined £5 at the Ship – report in the Staffordshire Advertiser of 17 Aug 1935

Credits
Derek Riley