Copper Family

The Copper Family is a multigenerational English folk-singing tradition rooted in Rottingdean, near Brighton, East Sussex. Rather than a conventional commercial brand or incorporated music business, it is a family ensemble and cultural name associated with the transmission, documentation, recording and performance of local traditional songs. Its repertoire and identity have passed through successive generations of the Copper family, whose members have maintained a characteristic unaccompanied, harmonised singing style. The family’s roots in Rottingdean extend back to at least the sixteenth century. Earlier generations worked in a range of local occupations, including farming administration, public-house keeping, policing and military service. Family tradition preserves songs believed to have circulated for many generations. George Copper, born in 1784, was remembered locally as a notable singer and taught songs, including “The Shepherd of the Downs,” to his grandson James “Brasser” Copper. Brasser and his relatives subsequently became central figures in the preservation of the repertoire. The Copper Family first came to the attention of organised folk-song collectors in 1898, when Kate Lee, associated with the Folk Song Society, visited James Copper and his brother Thomas. Brasser wrote down songs that the brothers sang, and several were published in the society’s journal in 1899. This encounter was significant because the family not only retained an oral repertoire but also documented its own songs. The family’s practice of singing together without instrumental accompaniment, often using close harmony, also distinguished it from the solo-singing model commonly associated with English traditional singers. Public exposure expanded in the mid-twentieth century. Jim and Bob Copper appeared on BBC radio in 1950, and the BBC subsequently made further recordings and broadcasts about the family. Jim, Bob, John and Ron Copper performed at the Royal Albert Hall, while the television series “Song Hunter,” presented by Alan Lomax, brought the family’s music to a wider audience. During the folk revival of the 1960s, the Coppers became important reference points for performers and researchers interested in English traditional song. Bob Copper became the most prominent modern advocate for the family’s repertoire. His book “A Song for Every Season,” published in 1971, was accompanied by a four-record set featuring Bob, Ron and younger family members. The project helped establish the Copper Family as both performers and custodians of a living musical inheritance. Later releases included “Come Write Me Down,” a collection of early recordings issued by Topic Records, and a series of recordings documenting the continuation of the tradition. The tradition has continued through Bob’s daughter Jill, his son John, their spouses and later generations. Six of the grandchildren associated with the family have also performed as The Young Coppers, extending the repertoire into a younger ensemble while retaining the family’s core approach. The family has appeared in broadcasts, documentaries and heritage projects, including work connected with The Imagined Village. Its significance lies less in a fixed product catalogue than in the continuity of a regional singing practice, a documented repertoire and a recognizable family performance style. The Copper Family remains active as a cultural and musical tradition. Its recordings, books and performances have influenced English folk singers and have helped preserve songs from Sussex for new audiences. The family is often described as one of the foundational dynasties of English roots music, although the name refers to an evolving group of relatives rather than a conventional company with a single permanent lineup.

The Copper Family’s history is inseparable from the rural community of Rottingdean in Sussex. Family members are recorded as having lived there since the sixteenth century, working in occupations that reflected the life of the village and surrounding countryside. Their songs are believed to have been transmitted across generations, with local memory identifying George Copper, born in 1784, as an accomplished singer. Among the pieces associated with this inheritance is “The Shepherd of the Downs,” which George taught to his grandson James “Brasser” Copper. A decisive moment came in 1898, when Kate Lee, one of the figures connected with the Folk Song Society, encountered Brasser Copper and his brother Thomas. The brothers sang their repertoire for Lee, and Brasser wrote down a number of the songs. Several appeared in the society’s first journal volume in 1899, giving the family an early place in the written record of English folk-song collecting. The Coppers’ documentation was unusual because traditional singers often relied primarily on oral transmission. Their close, unaccompanied family singing was also notable: instead of presenting songs as individual solo performances, they frequently used a distinctive form of natural family harmony. Brasser’s sons John and Jim continued the tradition. Jim’s children Joyce and Bob became important later representatives, while John’s son Walter Ronald, known as Ron, joined another branch of the performing family. In the 1950s, Jim and Bob were recorded by the BBC, including for the programme “Country Magazine.” The broadcaster also produced a feature about James Copper. Subsequent performances by Jim, Bob, John and Ron included an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall. The television series “Song Hunter,” presented by Alan Lomax, further exposed the family’s repertoire to national audiences. The folk revival of the 1960s transformed the Coppers’ status from a regional family of singers into nationally recognised custodians of English traditional music. Their songs were issued on recordings, and Bob Copper became an especially influential writer and interpreter of the family’s history. “A Song for Every Season,” published in 1971 with an accompanying four-LP set, combined autobiography, seasonal observation and song documentation. Later recordings such as “Sweet Rose in June,” “Coppersongs” and “Come Write Me Down” preserved different stages of the family’s singing. Bob Copper’s cultural standing was recognised through the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s Gold Badge in 1978, an honorary degree from the University of Sussex in 2000 and an MBE shortly before his death in 2004. His books and performances helped present the family repertoire as both local history and a continuing artistic practice. A BBC Four programme about the family, filmed during the final months of Bob’s life, was broadcast in 2004 and repeated in 2006. After Ron’s death, Jon, the husband of Jill Copper, became part of the central performing group, and younger descendants began appearing with the family. Six grandchildren associated with Jill and John formed or performed as The Young Coppers, demonstrating that the tradition had not ended with the most famous twentieth-century singers. The repertoire has also entered wider folk culture through reissues, archive projects and collaborations such as The Imagined Village. In 2009, Topic Records included Bob and Ron’s version of “Spencer the Rover” in its anniversary box set “Three Score and Ten.” The Copper Family therefore represents a living chain of transmission rather than a closed historical archive. Its importance rests on the survival of Sussex songs, the family’s willingness to record and write about them, and a vocal style that remains recognisable across generations.

• 2009

  The family appears in Topic Records' anniversary box set

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Bob and Ron Copper’s recording of “Spencer the Rover” was included in Topic Records’ 70th-anniversary collection Three Score and Ten.

• 2004

  Bob Copper dies and a BBC documentary airs

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Bob Copper died in 2004 after receiving an MBE. BBC Four also broadcast a programme about the family, filmed during the final months of his life.

• 2001

  Come Write Me Down is released

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Topic Records issued Come Write Me Down, a substantial collection of early Copper Family recordings and biographical material.

• 1978

  Bob Copper receives the EFDSS Gold Badge

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The English Folk Dance and Song Society recognised Bob Copper with its Gold Badge for his contribution to traditional music.

• 1971

  A Song for Every Season documents the tradition

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Bob Copper published A Song for Every Season, accompanied by a four-LP set featuring several family generations.

• 1963

  Traditional Songs from Rottingdean is issued

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The English Folk Dance and Song Society released a recording devoted to the family’s Sussex repertoire.

• 1951

  BBC broadcasts a James Copper feature

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The BBC broadcast The Life of James Copper, helping document the family’s history and singing tradition for a national audience.

• 1950

  BBC radio exposure begins

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Jim and Bob Copper appeared on BBC radio’s Country Magazine, followed by additional BBC recordings and programming about the family.

• 1899

  Early songs enter the folk-song record

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Songs written down by Brasser Copper appeared in the inaugural volume of the Folk Song Society’s journal, providing an early published record of the family repertoire.

• 1898

  Kate Lee encounters the Copper singers

  [1]Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Kate Lee of the Folk Song Society collected songs from James 'Brasser' Copper and his brother Thomas in Rottingdean, bringing the family to the attention of organised folk-song scholars.

A heritage folk-music ensemble and living family tradition associated with Sussex, English roots music, oral-history preservation and distinctive unaccompanied harmony.

• Album · 1963

  Traditional Songs from Rottingdean

  An early recording devoted to the Copper Family’s traditional Sussex repertoire. Issued by the English Folk Dance and Song Society in 1963, it helped make the family’s local singing tradition available to folk enthusiasts and archival listeners beyond Rottingdean.

• Book and recording set · 1971

  A Song for Every Season

  Bob Copper’s best-known documentation of the family’s life, seasonal customs and song inheritance. The original publication was accompanied by a four-LP set featuring Bob, Ron and younger family members, making it both a written family history and an important recorded statement of the tradition.

• Album · 1977

  Sweet Rose in June

  A later Copper Family recording issued by Topic Records, representing the family’s continuing contribution to recorded English folk music during the period when the traditional-music revival was expanding its audience.

• Album series · 1987

  Coppersongs

  A series of recordings documenting the family’s living repertoire and intergenerational performance practice. The releases presented the Copper tradition not simply as historical material but as music actively maintained and performed by later family members.

• Archival album · 2001

  Come Write Me Down

  A Topic Records collection of early Copper Family performances, supplemented by substantial biographical and contextual material. It is one of the most accessible modern archival introductions to the family’s voices, repertoire and place in English folk-song history.

• Younger-generation ensemble

  The Young Coppers

  A younger-family ensemble comprising descendants from the Copper line. The group performs the same inherited repertoire and demonstrates the continuation of the family’s unaccompanied singing practice into a new generation.

• 2001

  Come Write Me Down consolidates the archival catalogueProduct launch

  Background

  Earlier recordings and historical documentation had become scattered across releases and formats.

  Action taken

  Topic Records issued a curated collection of early recordings with accompanying biographical material.

  Aftermath

  The collection provided a prominent modern entry point into the Copper Family’s recorded legacy.

  Source

• 1971

  A combined book-and-recording presentation is releasedOther

  Background

  The family’s growing reputation created demand for both contextual explanation and recordings of its repertoire.

  Action taken

  Bob Copper published A Song for Every Season alongside a four-LP set featuring multiple generations of singers.

  Aftermath

  The release became a major reference point for listeners, scholars and performers studying English traditional song.

  Source

• 1898

  The family documents its oral repertoire in writingStrategy

  Background

  Most traditional transmission depended heavily on memory and performance, while the Copper family had an established practice of writing down its own songs.

  Action taken

  James 'Brasser' Copper recorded songs performed by himself and Thomas Copper for Kate Lee of the Folk Song Society.

  Aftermath

  The written material entered the published folk-song record in 1899 and helped preserve the family repertoire for later researchers and performers.

  Source

1. 1Copper Familyen.wikipedia.org