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Nan Ino Cooper, 10th Baroness Lucas and 6th Lady Dingwall (13 June 1880 – 1958) was a British nurse and educator.

Early life and education

Born in Blandford, Dorset, Nan Ino Herbert Cooper was the daughter of Auberon Edward William Molyneux Herbert and Florence Amabell (Cowper) Herbert. Cooper was interested in mystical and occult religions (an 'ardent theosophist').

Work

She gave away a house in the New Forest that she had inherited to the 'Purple Lotus Mother' of the 'Universal Brotherhood' for a theosophist school. She was a director of the Cuba Raja Yoga School in the early 1900s in Cuba where she lived.

Lady Lucas ran the family home, Wrest Park during her brother Auberon Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas's lifetime.

Before World War I broke out in 1914, Lady Lucas had trained as a nurse and then went on to take over setting up and running her family home, Wrest Park, as a hospital for wounded soldiers.

Donations of family collections

Lady Lucas inherited a collection of over 3,000 prints and drawings collected by Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess de Grey and her nephew Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey. She donated this collection to the British Museum in memory of her brother, who had died of wounds suffered as a fighter pilot during World War I. She kept another collection including items on the history of printmaking, mezzotints and stipples, which (along with the contents of Wrest Park) was later sold at auction.

In the early 1920s, Lady Lucas also donated a significant collection of fossils, largely from the Isle of Wight, to the Natural History Museum.

Personal life

She succeeded to the titles of her brother, Auberon Thomas Herbert, becoming 10th Baroness Lucas and 6th Lady Dingwall, in 1916, and, on 30 April 1917, she married Lt-Col Howard Lister Cooper. They had two children, Anne Rosemary Cooper and Rachel Cooper. Lady Lucas died on 3 November 1958. Her elder daughter inherited her titles.

References

1. ^ "Nan Ino Cooper, Baroness Lucas of Crudwell and Lady Dingwall (Biographical details)". British Museum. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
2. Lucas of Crudwell, Who's Who and Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U240031
3. "The Barons and Baronesses Lucas of Crudwell". bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk. Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
4. "The Cooper Family". Bellhouse.co.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
5. "Engravings Given To The Nation: Lady Lucas's Selection". The Times. 20 December 1917.
6. Lucas, Baroness Nan Ino Cooper (1917). A Catalogue of the Valuable Remaining Contents of the Mansion: Comprising Decorative Furniture ... Pictures and Water-colour Drawings ... : which Will be Sold by Auction, by Messrs. Foster (of 54, Pall Mall, London), in Conjunction with Messrs. Daniel Smith, Oakley & Garrard ... on the Premises ... on ... 10th of September, 1917, and Four Following Days. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
7. "Natural History Museum: Recent Acquisitions". The Times. 2 March 1925.

• 1880 births
• 1958 deaths
• Herbert family
• Lords of Parliament
• Hereditary women peers
• Barons Lucas
• 20th-century English nobility
• English nurses
• British women in World War I