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John Brooke, 1873 - 1963:
Box Public Servant Alan Payne March 2019 Some people are born to be administrators, they are good at the role and enjoy it. But it takes a rare person to give as much to his community as John Brooke of 2 Mead Villas, Box, one of the best -known and most highly respected men in the public life of Wiltshire.[1] Right: John and Virginia Brooke (The Wiltshire Times, 20 May 1944 |
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Born in 1873 as the son of a self-employed master carpenter from Old Sodbury, John married Virginia Aish, also of Old Sodbury. They were committed Baptists, attending the Manvers Street Baptist Church, Bath, and later the Methodist Church in Box. During the Great War John frequently preached in the local area. Not to be outdone, Virginia Brooke was a member of the District Nursing Association. In 1944 they celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary.
Postmaster at Kingsdown
Locally, John was well-known because he was the sub-postmaster and owner of the general stores at Kingsdown from 1900 to 1927. He added a bakery and became a corn factor selling seed to local farmers. In 1908 the post office suffered a break-in by two London youths whilst John and his family were out one Sunday afternoon. They stole £13 in money, stamps and postal orders.[2] The local community gathered to support him. George Ford, Kingsdown quarryman, saw the robbers enter the premises, and Herbert John Hale, GWR clerk, remembered selling them rail tickets out of Box which they paid for in coppers (½p to 5p pieces, stolen from the Post Office till).
Postmaster at Kingsdown
Locally, John was well-known because he was the sub-postmaster and owner of the general stores at Kingsdown from 1900 to 1927. He added a bakery and became a corn factor selling seed to local farmers. In 1908 the post office suffered a break-in by two London youths whilst John and his family were out one Sunday afternoon. They stole £13 in money, stamps and postal orders.[2] The local community gathered to support him. George Ford, Kingsdown quarryman, saw the robbers enter the premises, and Herbert John Hale, GWR clerk, remembered selling them rail tickets out of Box which they paid for in coppers (½p to 5p pieces, stolen from the Post Office till).
Kingsdown Post Office seen left (courtesy Eric Callaway)
This wasn't the only theft that John suffered. In 1922 the solicitor acting for his mother's estate misappropriated £202.17s.9d (worth over £9,000 in today's money) plus two cottages in Old Sodbury.[3] The case was taken over by the Director of Public Prosecutions from the criminal trial. John gave evidence citing his address as 1 The Firs, Kingsdown, and the case was referred to the Court of Assize. There are no details of the outcome.
Generosity to Others
Always known for his administrative ability, during the depression years of the early 1930s John volunteered to organise the Schools annual sports and made a donation for prizes.[4] Typical of the man, he offered when no-one else came forward.
As well as public service, John was gracious and generous in his dealings with others. Writing from 2 Mead Villas, at the depths of the unemployment in Box in 1932, he lent his support to the Bath Gas Company who were installing the mains gas pipe from the centre of the village to Chippenham.[5] Instead of using mechanical excavators, the company agreed to revert entirely to hand labour, despite the additional cost incurred. As far as is possible unemployed men from the places through which the main is being laid are being engaged on the work, most of it unskilled labour. John praised their public-spirited action ... providing employment for sixty extra men for three months ... Honour to whom honour is due; hats off the Bath Gas Company.
In 1939 John and Virginia were supporting Emma G Fry, a 74-year-old widow who was incapacitated who shared their house at 2 Mead Villas. It wasn’t his only contribution to the war effort. As an experienced administrator, he lent his efforts to establishing a dump for scrap metal (iron, steel, brass, and copper) at the main entrance of the Recreation Field. He requested articles of aluminium urgently needed for aircraft production should be deposited at his house.[6]
Parish Councillor
For many years John was chairman of Chippenham and Calne Rural District Council, twenty-five years on Box Parish Council and chairman from 1937 to 1944, following on from Dr JP Martin. His commitment was such that he missed only two meetings of the District Council and was appointed to the National Rural District Councils' Executive. He also served as a magistrate, on the Joint Isolation Hospital Board (trying to restrict the spread of tuberculosis), on the Appeal Board for National Service (this was, after all, written during wartime in 1944), and a manager of the new Box Highlands School.
John was a long-serving member of the council and its chairman from 1937 to 1944, virtually the whole period of the Second World War. He resigned in November 1944 ostensibly because of Virginia's ill-health but we might imagine that he was worn out by village issues throughout the war period.[9] In August 1940 there was the issue of the Air Raid Siren which sounded in the centre of the village whenever busloads of workmen were travelling from Bath and Bristol to the underground quarry works. The village was split between disruption and safety and 600 people who attended a meeting were not slow in in indicating their feeling.[10] Eventually it was sorted. In 1943 the dispute over the alteration of footpaths at Hazelbury Manor, requested by Mr GJ Kidston the donor of Mead Fields (the Rec), had put him in an unviable position and John took the decision to bring his public service to an end a year later.
Recognising his Work
Despite his high-profile work, John's reputation has diminished, partly because of the modesty of the man himself. In 1935 he was awarded the George V Jubilee medal for his public service.[7] It was amongst the local community that he was mostly known. Because of his eminence, he was a frequent representative at the funerals of local notables from Kingsdown and Box, including Mr Edwin Bow, the eminent Box Methodist, himself a preacher for over 50 years.[8]
He and Virginia had seven children. Their son, Arthur, was well-known in the village because he was a leading figure in Box's Toc H society, before his wartime service in the Merchant Navy, providing Christian assistance to the disadvantaged, often ex-servicemen. Young men sometimes recalled Arthur as the teller of ghost stories to Box Scouts on camp.[11] John Brooke died in 1963 and was buried in Box Cemetery on 3 March. In his own words of 1932: Honour to whom honour is due.
We apologise for the poor quality of the headline photo of John and Virginia Brooke. Does anyone have a better quality photo of John or his family please?
Generosity to Others
Always known for his administrative ability, during the depression years of the early 1930s John volunteered to organise the Schools annual sports and made a donation for prizes.[4] Typical of the man, he offered when no-one else came forward.
As well as public service, John was gracious and generous in his dealings with others. Writing from 2 Mead Villas, at the depths of the unemployment in Box in 1932, he lent his support to the Bath Gas Company who were installing the mains gas pipe from the centre of the village to Chippenham.[5] Instead of using mechanical excavators, the company agreed to revert entirely to hand labour, despite the additional cost incurred. As far as is possible unemployed men from the places through which the main is being laid are being engaged on the work, most of it unskilled labour. John praised their public-spirited action ... providing employment for sixty extra men for three months ... Honour to whom honour is due; hats off the Bath Gas Company.
In 1939 John and Virginia were supporting Emma G Fry, a 74-year-old widow who was incapacitated who shared their house at 2 Mead Villas. It wasn’t his only contribution to the war effort. As an experienced administrator, he lent his efforts to establishing a dump for scrap metal (iron, steel, brass, and copper) at the main entrance of the Recreation Field. He requested articles of aluminium urgently needed for aircraft production should be deposited at his house.[6]
Parish Councillor
For many years John was chairman of Chippenham and Calne Rural District Council, twenty-five years on Box Parish Council and chairman from 1937 to 1944, following on from Dr JP Martin. His commitment was such that he missed only two meetings of the District Council and was appointed to the National Rural District Councils' Executive. He also served as a magistrate, on the Joint Isolation Hospital Board (trying to restrict the spread of tuberculosis), on the Appeal Board for National Service (this was, after all, written during wartime in 1944), and a manager of the new Box Highlands School.
John was a long-serving member of the council and its chairman from 1937 to 1944, virtually the whole period of the Second World War. He resigned in November 1944 ostensibly because of Virginia's ill-health but we might imagine that he was worn out by village issues throughout the war period.[9] In August 1940 there was the issue of the Air Raid Siren which sounded in the centre of the village whenever busloads of workmen were travelling from Bath and Bristol to the underground quarry works. The village was split between disruption and safety and 600 people who attended a meeting were not slow in in indicating their feeling.[10] Eventually it was sorted. In 1943 the dispute over the alteration of footpaths at Hazelbury Manor, requested by Mr GJ Kidston the donor of Mead Fields (the Rec), had put him in an unviable position and John took the decision to bring his public service to an end a year later.
Recognising his Work
Despite his high-profile work, John's reputation has diminished, partly because of the modesty of the man himself. In 1935 he was awarded the George V Jubilee medal for his public service.[7] It was amongst the local community that he was mostly known. Because of his eminence, he was a frequent representative at the funerals of local notables from Kingsdown and Box, including Mr Edwin Bow, the eminent Box Methodist, himself a preacher for over 50 years.[8]
He and Virginia had seven children. Their son, Arthur, was well-known in the village because he was a leading figure in Box's Toc H society, before his wartime service in the Merchant Navy, providing Christian assistance to the disadvantaged, often ex-servicemen. Young men sometimes recalled Arthur as the teller of ghost stories to Box Scouts on camp.[11] John Brooke died in 1963 and was buried in Box Cemetery on 3 March. In his own words of 1932: Honour to whom honour is due.
We apologise for the poor quality of the headline photo of John and Virginia Brooke. Does anyone have a better quality photo of John or his family please?
Family Tree
Parents Paul Philip Brooke (b 1829) and Susannah Neale Stinchcombe (1838 - 1919). Children:
Henry (b 1862)
Emma (b 1866)
Albert William (1868 - 1912), baker from Bathford;
Francis Thomas (b 1871)
Arthur Paul (b 1876)
Reginald Gerald, who managed a drapery store in Lambeth, London, and was chairman of his local Liberal party;
John (24 May 1873 - 1963);
Walter, pastor in Croydon, Surrey;
Percy Gerald (b 1872).
John Brooke (25 May 1873 - 1963) married Virginia Aish (b 10 November 1871) on 14 May 1894. Children:
Arthur Philip John (1895 - 1969), radio officer Merchant Navy, married Gertrude Lydia Butt in 1947
Douglas R (b 1900)
Cecil Francis (b 1904), who worked for ICI, Birmingham
Gerald W (b 1906)
Eric Henry
Winifred (b 1902), who married Mr H Jones, a teacher
Grace Mary, who married Mr Henry C Flashman of Gillingham, Dorset, in September 1935
Parents Paul Philip Brooke (b 1829) and Susannah Neale Stinchcombe (1838 - 1919). Children:
Henry (b 1862)
Emma (b 1866)
Albert William (1868 - 1912), baker from Bathford;
Francis Thomas (b 1871)
Arthur Paul (b 1876)
Reginald Gerald, who managed a drapery store in Lambeth, London, and was chairman of his local Liberal party;
John (24 May 1873 - 1963);
Walter, pastor in Croydon, Surrey;
Percy Gerald (b 1872).
John Brooke (25 May 1873 - 1963) married Virginia Aish (b 10 November 1871) on 14 May 1894. Children:
Arthur Philip John (1895 - 1969), radio officer Merchant Navy, married Gertrude Lydia Butt in 1947
Douglas R (b 1900)
Cecil Francis (b 1904), who worked for ICI, Birmingham
Gerald W (b 1906)
Eric Henry
Winifred (b 1902), who married Mr H Jones, a teacher
Grace Mary, who married Mr Henry C Flashman of Gillingham, Dorset, in September 1935
References
[1] The Wiltshire Times, 20 May 1944
[2] The Bath Chronicle, 21 May 1908
[3] The Western Daily Press, 22 July 1922
[4] Parish Magazine, August 1930
[5] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 10 December 1932
[6] Parish Magazine, August 1940
[7] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 22 June 1935
[8] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 22 February 1941
[9] The Wiltshire Times, 11 November 1944
[10] Parish Magazine, August 1940
[11] Courtesy Jim Browning and Ann Pothecary
[1] The Wiltshire Times, 20 May 1944
[2] The Bath Chronicle, 21 May 1908
[3] The Western Daily Press, 22 July 1922
[4] Parish Magazine, August 1930
[5] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 10 December 1932
[6] Parish Magazine, August 1940
[7] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 22 June 1935
[8] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 22 February 1941
[9] The Wiltshire Times, 11 November 1944
[10] Parish Magazine, August 1940
[11] Courtesy Jim Browning and Ann Pothecary