Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/75

 Wrangler and second-class in the Classical Tripos) in 1832; Fellow of St. John's College from 1834 to 1836; M.A. in 1835; B.D. in 1845; D.D. in 1850. Dr. Bromby was ordained deacon in 1834, priest in 1835, and was Vice-principal of Bristol College and Principal of Elizabeth College, Guernsey, from 1847 to 1855, and senior Curate of Holy Trinity, Hall, from 1855 to 1857. He was subsequently appointed headmaster of the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, and arrived in Melbourne in Feb. 1858. This post Dr. Bromby held until 1875, when he retired amidst universal regret and respect on the part of his old pupils and the public generally. In 1877 he was appointed incumbent of St. Paul's, Melbourne. He married in 1836 a daughter of Alderman LilleyLilly [sic] of Bristol, and died on March 94 [sic]th, 1889.

Brooke, Gustavus Vaughan, the well-known actor, was the son of Gustavus Vaughan Brooke of Dublin, was born on April 25th, 1818, at Hardwick Place, Dublin, and was educated at a school conducted by the brother of Maria Edgeworth. When about fifteen he applied to Calcraft of the Theatre Royal, Dublin, for an engagement; and owing to the sudden indisposition of Edmund Kean he was allowed to appear as William Tell on Easter Monday (April 9th) 1833. Permanent employment followed. He subsequently made his first appearance in London as Virginius at the Victoria Theatre, and in 1840 he entered into an engagement with Macready to appear at Drury Lane, but threw it up through dissatisfaction with his part. His real début in London took place on Jan. 3rd, 1848, when he appeared as Othello at the Olympic, and scored a great success with the public as well as with critics of judgment. Later on he went to America, and played Othello at the Broadway Theatre, New York, on Dec. 15th, 1851. His success in the States led him to take the Astor Place Opera House in New York, which he opened in May 1852. The venture was a disastrous failure, and after a fresh tour in the States he reappeared at Drury Lane, then under the management of E. T. Smith, the father of the of Victoria (q.v.). Mr. visited England in 1854 with the view of engaging "stars" for Australia, and amongst others secured G. V. Brooke who from 1855 to 1857 received as much as £100 a night for playing in Australia and New Zealand. He went into partnership with Coppin in the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, and the Melbourne Cremorne, with results so disastrous that both were beggared, and dissolved partnership in Feb. 1859, when Brooke returned to England to find his prospects far from bright. His reappearance at Drury Lane as Othello was a failure, habits of dissipation having left their deteriorating traces on his once fine presence and splendid voice. Brooke married Miss Avonia Jones, an actress of no great merit. Disgusted by his ill success in London, Brooke decided to return to Australia, and took his passage in the ill-fated ship London, which foundered in the Bay of Biscay on Jan. 11th, 1866. Brooke was amongst those who perished, his manly and even heroic conduct during the long agony which preceded the final sinking of the vessel being such as to shed lustre over a career which, in its later phases, had been clouded by a deplorable absence of self-control.

Brooke, Hon. John Henry, who was Commissioner of Crown Lands in Victoria under the administration from Nov. 1860 to Nov. 1861, will long be remembered in connection with the land system of that colony. In 1857, as a member of the Assembly, he was prominent in opposition to the Land Bill, which proposed giving annual licences to the squatters. On his own accession to office he, in conjunction with his colleagues Mr. and Mr., the Attorney-General, brought into operation the famous licences to occupy the waste lands of the Crown, which formed the basis of popular settlement for cultivation purposes on the public lands of Victoria. The scheme was formulated by a mere Gazette notice, the issue of which was formally censured by the Legislative Council. As the result of a dissolution of the Assembly Mr. Brooke's policy was approved by the country, and formed the subject of express eulogy in the Governor's opening speech to the new Parliament in August 1861. The occupation licences were approved by the new Assembly and again condemned by the Council, who denounced the introduction of the new departure by 59