Donald Soper

Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper (31 January 1903 – 22 December 1998) was a British Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist. He served as President of the Methodist Conference in 1953–54. After May 1965 he was a peer in the House of Lords. Historian Martin Wellings states: Early life Soper was born at 36 Knoll Road, Wandsworth, London, the first of the three children of Ernest Frankham Soper (1871–1962), an average adjuster in marine insurance, the son of a tailor, and his wife, Caroline Amelia, née Pilcher (b. 1877), a headmistress and daughter of a builder. He was educated at Aske's School in south London, at St. Catharine's College and Wesley House in the University of Cambridge, and at the London School of Economics, where he took his PhD. He was an exceptional sportsman who captained his school at football, cricket, and boxing, but he withdrew from cricket after he accidentally killed an opposing batsman with a fast delivery when bowling.