Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/436

 Anthony Weldon, who describes Cobham as a fool, tells the same story in his 'Court of King James,' 1651.

Cobham married after 1597 the widow of Henry, twelfth earl of Kildare, and daughter, of the Earl of Nottingham. She abandoned her second husband after his disgrace, and, although very rich, 'would not,' says Weldon, 'give him the crumbs that fell from her table' She acted for a few years as governess to the Princess Elizabeth. The crown apparently allowed her to occupy Cobham Hall, and the king visited her there in 1622. Cobham had no children, and his next heir was William, son of his brother George. William was 'restored in blood' in 1610 but not allowed to assume his uncle's title. Charles I, however, in 1645, conferred the barony on a royalist supporter, Sir John Brooke, grandson of George, sixth Lord Cobham, and second cousin of Henry, the eighth lord.' Sir John died without issue in 1651.



BROOKE, HENRY (1694–1757), schoolmaster and divine, was a son of William Brooke, merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Holbrook, who were married at Manchester Church in 1678-9. He was educated at Manchester grammar school, and gained an exhibition 1715-18. He proceeded to Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. on 30 April 1720. He was D.C.L. in 1727. Brooke, then a fellow of Oriel, was made headmaster of Manchester grammar school in September 1727. He obtained a mandamus from the crown to elect him a fellow of the collegiate church, and was elected in 1728, in spite of tory opposition. He appears to have been on good terms with John Byrom, a tory Jacobite, but he was unsuccessful as a master, and the feoffees of the school reduced his salary from 200l. to 10l. In order to put himself into better relations, he published 'The Usefulness and Necessity of studying the Classicks, a speech spoken at the breaking-up of the Free Grammar School in Manchester, Thursday, 13 Dec. 1744. By Hen. Brooke, A.M., High Master of the said School. Manchester, printed by R. Whitworth, Bookseller, ,' (a misprint for 1744). This tract, now exceedingly rare, is reprinted by Whatton. Howley, the father of the archbishop, and one of his pupils says that Brooke was 'an accurate and accomplished scholar, though lenient as a disciplinarian.' Another of his works, 'The Quack Doctor,' published in 1745, is described as very poor doggerel, with ironically laudatory notes, probably written by Robert Thyer or the Rev. John Clayton. A Latin tract, 'Medicus Circumfaraneus,' is perhaps a translation of the preceding. In 1730 he received the Oriel College living of Tortworth in Gloucestershire. Here he lived, after resigning the Mastership of the Manchester grammar school in 1749, until his death on 21 Aug. 1757. Watt attributes to him two sermons 1746, and a sermon 1747. His best known book is 'A Practical Essay concerning Christian Peaceableness,' which went through three editions in the year 1741. The third edition contains some additional matter. He was married, and had one daughter. Brooke left his library for the use of his successors at Tortworth. A portrait of him, as late as 1830, was 'at at Mr. Hulton's, of Blackley.'



BROOKE, HENRY (1703?–1783), author, was son of the Rev. William Brooke, a protestant clergyman, by his wife, whose name was Digby. William Brooke, who appears to have been related to the family of Sir Basil Brooke, an 'undertaker' in the plantation of Ulster, possessed lands at Rantavan in Cavan, and was rector of Killinkere and Mullagh in that county. He married Lettice, second daughter of Simon Digby, bishop of Elphin. Henry Brooke, the elder of two sons, was born about 1703, and is said to have been educated by Swift's friend, Sheridan. The register of Trinity College, Dublin, shows that he was entered 7 Feb. 1720, 'in his seventeenth year,' from the school of Dr. Jones. He afterwards entered the Temple, London. On his return to Ireland Brooke married a youthful cousin, Catherine Meares of Meares Court, Westmeath, whose guardianship had been entrusted to him. In 1735 he published at London a poem entitled 'Universal Beauty,' which is stated to have been revised and approved of by Pope. This production was supposed to have furnished the foundation for the 'Botanic Garden' by Darwin. Swift is said to have entertained a favourable opinion of Brooke's talents, but to have counselled him against devoting himself solely to literature. In 