Person

Cooper, Eva Irene

• Eva Irene Herron
• Eva I. Cooper

1890-1976

Eva Irene Herron was born in Toronto in 1890, and married W.B. (Barney) Cooper in 1916. She was in Britain for the duration of her husband’s military service in First World War, and returned with him to Canada after the war. They lived in Lethbridge, Alberta and Regina, Saskatchewan before moving to Winnipeg in 1926 or earlier. They adopted a daughter, Phyllis Mairi Cooper, who was born in Edmonton in 1926. Beginning also in 1926, Barney and Eva Cooper participated in psychical research experiments at the home of Dr. T. Glen Hamilton (1873-1935) and Lillian May Hamilton (1880-1956). The Coopers also held their own séances at their Winnipeg home in late 1931; the majority of purported spirit communicators were also present in the Hamilton experiments. The group’s participants were Eva Cooper, Barney Cooper (referred to as Victor in the proceedings), Eva's mother Catharine Herron (d. 1936), Wilfrid Ernest (Bill) Hobbs (1887-1982), and, occasionally, their young daughter, Phyllis Cooper. The Coopers continued to attend the Hamilton sittings until about 1933, after which they moved to Toronto for employment. Eva worked as a sales clerk and later manager of the china department at Birks. The Coopers maintained ties with the Hamilton family, periodically meeting Dr. Hamilton’s daughter, Margaret Hamilton Bach (1909-1986). After moving to Markham, Ontario to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren, Eva died there in 1976.

Winnipeg, Manitoba; Toronto, Ontario

UMASC

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Created by Samantha Booth, July 2015

• English

Walter Meyer zu Erpen, personal resaearch