Background
Cooch was born in Ireland and was one of four children of Captain William Cooch of the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Cooch was born in Ireland and was one of four children of Captain William Cooch of the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Cooch trained as an architect in London and on 18 October 1922 married Mary Amelia Devanney. Cooch settled in Wellington and gained employment as a government architect. One of the projects he worked on was Government House in Wellington.
In his spare time Cooch created prints working in woodcuts and linocuts.
Cooch was also a fine calligrapher and was involved in producing certificates for the refurbishment of the Waitangi Treaty House in the 1930s and also for the Disabled Servicemen"s Training Centre in Riccarton, Christchurch in 1947. Cooch also designed and etched designs for New Zealand stamps, notably the 1935 5d Swordfish in ultramarine as well as the Hygeia Goddess of Health, health stamp of 1932.