Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 12.djvu/199

 fold State of a Christian' [1656?], reprinted at end of 1764 of No. 9. 11. 'Michael opposing the Dragon,' &c., 1659, 4to; reprinted, in weekly numbers, 1763, 4to (reply to Garland).

[Works cited above.]  COPPINGER, EDMUND (d. 1592), fanatic, is described as ‘descended of a good house and linage, and one of her Maiestie's sworne servants, but a yonger brother, having no great livelihood’ (, Conspiracie for Pretended Reformation, 1592). With a Yorkshire gentleman, Henry Arthington, he championed the claims of the notorious religious enthusiast, William Hacket, who had a wild scheme for abolishing bishops and deposing Queen Elizabeth. Hacket proclaimed himself to be the Messiah, and Coppinger joined Arthington in holding a demonstration (in Cheapside) to support the impostor's claim. The three men were thrown into prison. Hacket was hanged on 28 July 1592; Coppinger died eight days afterwards from voluntary starvation; Arthington repented of his errors and was pardoned. The affair caused considerable excitement.



COPPOCK, JAMES (1798–1857), electioneering agent, born at Stockport on 2 Sept. 1798, was the eldest son of William Coppock, mercer, of that town. He was educated at the school of the Rev. Mr. Higginson, unitarian minister of Stockport, and, after serving an apprenticeship to his father's business, was placed as a clerk with a wholesale haberdasher in London. He afterwards ventured a small capital as a partner in a silk firm, but, owing to commercial disasters following on the French revolution of 1830, he lost all. He married in 1829. After careful consideration he resolved to enter the legal profession, and in 1832 articled himself to a solicitor in Furnival's Inn. He was admitted on the roll of attorneys in 1836. He had always been an active politician, and on the occurrence of the first election for Finsbury after the Reform Act of 1832 he took a prominent part in the contest. After the second general election under the act, on the formation of a county registration society by the liberal party, with branches throughout England, Coppock was appointed secretary, with a residence in the society's rooms at 3 Cleveland Row, St. James's. These rooms were the rendezvous of agents and solicitors from all parts of the country, and from his rapid decision and sound judgment Coppock quickly became a power in politics. When, a few years later, the society's operations ceased, he took the lease of the premises in Cleveland Row, and established himself as a solicitor and parliamentary agent. From this time forward there was scarcely a contested return before the House of Commons in which he had not an active interest. The coolness and daring with which he fought his opponents with their own weapons have become proverbial. He helped to establish the London Reform Club, and was elected an honorary life member and appointed solicitor. Although in his day no man was a fiercer partisan, Coppock was respected by friend and foe. In the August before his death he received the appointment of county court treasurer, but business, both private and public, of a harassing nature accumulated, and the strain of overwork was too great. He died at his house in Cleveland Row on 19 Dec. 1857. Well-executed and excellent portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Coppock (lithographs) were published in London in 1850.



COPPOCK or CAPPOCH, THOMAS (1719–1746), Jacobite, a native of Manchester, was educated in the free school there and at Brasenose College, Oxford (B.A. 15 Oct. 1742). Afterwards he took holy orders. He joined the army of Prince Charles Edward at Manchester, and was one of those left behind at Carlisle. Having been tried and condemned for high treason, he was drawn, hanged, and quartered at Carlisle on 18 Oct. 1746. An absurd report was circulated that the Pretender had nominated this young clergyman to the see of Carlisle, and one of the witnesses at the trial, improving the story, stated that Coppock received that appointment from Hamilton, the governor of the town for the prince. In contemporary journals Coppock is seriously spoken of as ‘the titular bishop of Carlisle.’ It has been said that Coppock led a very irregular and immoral life; but no reliance can be placed on these statements. They emanated from his political enemies, and are to be found in the following pamphlets: ‘An Authentic History of the Life and Character of Thomas Cappoch, the rebel-bishop of Carlisle,’ London, 1746, 8vo, reprinted in the ‘Carlisle Tracts,’ 1839; ‘The Genuine Dying Speech of the Rev. Parson Coppock, pretended Bishop of Carlisle,’ Carlisle [1746], 8vo. This pretended speech is an obvious fabrication. What is probably a correct version of Coppock's last words is given in ‘True Copies of the Dying Declarations of Arthur, lord Balmerino,