Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper 

Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, seventh Earl of Shaftesbury (1801—1885) was a philanthropist and politician. He was born in London to Cropley Ashley-Cooper (1768—1851) and Lady Anne Spenser-Churchill (1773—1865). He completed a degree in the classics from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1822, obtained his MA in 1832, and the title of DLC in 1841. He was first elected to parliament in 1826 as MP for Woodstock and, in two years’ time, he was offered a commissionership at the India board of control where he sought to promote humanitarian reform. In 1828 he would also be appointed to the metropolitan commission of lunacy where he sought to protect lunatics. In 1830 he married Lady Emily Cowper (1810-1872) with whom he had six sons and four daughters. During his time as a politician he advocated for labor reform for women and children, opposed parliamentary reform, and sought to protect the mentally disturbed. Throughout most of his adult life he held a deep sense of religious commitment and, in 1835, took on an Evangelical role as he became convinced of an imminent second advent of Christ. In 1836 he became the president of the Church Pastoral Aid Society, a role that he would hold for the rest of his life. This religious devotion lead him to be involved with many aspects of government that he saw as counter to his spiritual principals such as the opium trade, child labor, overseas policy, and general oppression of lower classes. He was well known for his part in passing the Mines Act, which prohibited all children under the age of ten from working in mines.  His sympathies with the oppressed frequently put him at odds with those who supported him as well as with his father. Because of this he eventually resigned from his position at Dorset in 1846, a county that he represented since 1831. He subsequently worked with an large number of philanthropic societies such as the Irish Church Mission, the Foreign Bible Society, and the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes. He would continue to fight for the causes of the oppressed and would even be appointed the commissioner of the newly formed Board of Health. In 1851, after the death of his father, he succeeded to the title, as seventh Earl of Shaftesbury. He used his position to further his political and religious objectives and even obtained a role as an advisor on ecclesiastic appointments. Even in his later years, Shaftesbury continued to push his objectives, despite the insecurity of his estate and the death of his wife in 1872. Shaftesbury died in 1885 due to an inflammation of the lungs. A stature of him resides in Westminster Abby.