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Author Dame Jilly Cooper, who grew up in Ilkley, has died

Monday, 6 October 2025 at 14:06

Jilly officially opened Darwin Gardens in the year 2000

Dame Jilly Cooper DBE, who grew up in Ilkley, has died at the age of 88. The much-loved author passed away Sunday morning after a fall, her publisher has confirmed.

Jilly moved to Ilkley when she was two, and spent many years of her childhood in the town, educated at Moorfield School.

She returned to Ilkley in 2000 to officially open Darwin Gardens Millennium Green on the edge of Ilkley Moor.

Felix and Emily, her children, said:

“Mum, was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds. Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock.

“We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us.”

[Jilly Cooper passed away on Sunday after a fall (Photo: Curtis Brown)]

Jilly Cooper was born in Hornchurch, Essex in 1937, but she comes from a well-known Yorkshire family. Her great great grandfather founded The Leeds Mercury (which eventually merged with the Yorkshire Post) and was Liberal MP for Leeds. Her maternal grandfather went to St Peter’s, York, and then into the church. As a padre, he won an M.C. in the First World War, and later became Canon of Heaton, Yorkshire.

Her father was in the army and when she was two, they moved back to Ilkley. She went to school at Godolphin in Salisbury where she became known to the staff as “the Unholy Terror”. In the mid-fifties her family moved to London. Her writing career began in 1956 when she got a job as a cub reporter on the Middlesex Independent. She then moved to public relations and was sacked from 22 jobs before ending up in book publishing.

Her steamy novels often portrayed the scandals and sex lives of wealthy country social circles, including Rivals, Riders and Polo, and she sold over 11 million copies of her books in the UK alone.

Jilly was appointed OBE in the 2004 Birthday Honours for services to Literature. She has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Universities of Gloucestershire and Anglia Ruskin and appointed CBE in 2018 for services to Literature and Charity, and more recently DBE in 2024.

Jilly’s agent has said her funeral will be a private family one, in line with her wishes:

“At this very difficult time, the family ask people to respect their privacy and to give them time to grieve. A public service of thanksgiving will be held in the coming months in Southwark Cathedral to provide an opportunity for everyone that knew Jilly to celebrate her extraordinary life. A separate announcement will be made in due course around those arrangements.”

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