Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841), 1st Baronet, English surgeon and anatomist. Cooper was born at Brooke, Norfolk, to a clergyman's family. At 16 he was sent to London to work for a surgeon at St.Thomas' Hospital. He studied there and worked as an anatomy demostrator until being appointed surgeon in 1800. He made many advances in medicine, notably the use of ligation of blood vessels to treat aneurysm. In 1804-07 he published his two-volume work on hernias. The remainder of his research time was spent on studying the breast and the testes, having several anatomical structures and diseases named after him. He served as sergeant surgeon to King George IV, King Willam IV and Queen Victoria and was elected president of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1827 and 1836. As Coopper had no children at the time of his death, his baronetcy passed to his nephew, also named Astley Cooper.