Frederick Henry Cooper

Who was Frederick Henry Cooper?

Frederick Henry Cooper was a civilian official of the East India Company, who served as Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, Punjab during the Indian rebellion of 1857. Along with James Neill, John Nicholson and William Hodson, he is noted for his ruthlessness and indiscriminate killings of Indian rebels and civilians during the 1857 uprising. His killing of about 500 sepoys of the 26th Native Infantry and civilians at Ajnala were gleefully described in his memoirs. After throwing 257 sepoy bodies into a well, he remarks:

This well is known as Shaheedan Wala Khu at Ajnala in district Amritsar.

His acts were condemned by the Liberal MP and Quaker Charles Gilpin in the British parliament on 14 March 1859:

"as an Englishman he felt himself called upon to blush for the shame which had been brought upon the character of his country."