Born at Brentford, the son of George Cooper (qv). Educated at Guy's Hospital, he entered the Indian Medical Service in November, 1853. He was promoted to Brigade Surgeon in November, 1879, and retired at the end of 1881 with the honorary rank of Deputy Surgeon General. In 1855 he was sent to Labuan, in Borneo, in the medical charge of troops, and not long afterwards his services were lent by the Indian Government to the Colonial Office. In Labuan, where he spent nearly ten years, he held in succession a variety of offices, as Colonial Surgeon, Coroner, Police Magistrate, Superintendent of Convicts, Colonial Secretary, Judge, and Member of the Legislative Council, receiving the thanks of two Secretaries of State for the Colonies and of the Government of Labuan. Throughout the Mutiny he was serving in Labuan, though he went to India four years before that event. Returning to India in 1864 he held various military posts. In 1874 he was appointed Principal Medical Storekeeper at Madras, and held that post till he retired. In England, after his retirement, he joined the Court of the Society of Apothecaries, and was Master of the Society in 1903-1904. Since the death of Surgeon General Sir Benjamin Simpson in June, 1923, Clarence Cooper had been the senior officer on the retired list of the Indian Medical Service. His successor as the doyen of the Service in 1924 was Deputy Surgeon General Philip Warren Sutherland, who joined the Bengal Service in 1854. Cooper died on December 18th, 1924, at his residence, 3 Warminster Road, South Norwood, SE.