Hi John,
Workhouses went out with the Victorian Era.May be your informant meant something else.Withington library might be able to shed some light on it.There were a few Coopers around where i was born in Bradford Manchester
A Mr Cooper ran the corner shop,on the side he was a comedian appearing in pubs and clubs.Kids would take any injured birds to him and he would put them [the birds] to sleep.And young Tommy Cooper could jump accross the canal locks.Coopers were highly skilled craftsmen probably had their own Guild
before the arrival of trade unions.