John Brooke Johnson Brooke (born John Brooke Johnson, 1823 – 1 December 1868) was a soldier and Rajah Muda (heir apparent) of the

Raj of Sarawak The Raj of Sarawak, Kingdom of Sarawak or State of Sarawak, was a kingdom founded in 1841 in northwestern Borneo and was in a Protectorate, treaty of protection with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom from 1888. It ...

until disinherited in favour of his younger brother,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

. He was born in South Stoke near Bath, to Francis Charles Johnson, a clergyman and Emma Frances Brooke, an elder sister of

James Brooke James Brooke (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajahs, White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was born and ra ...

. James took John on a long cruise around the Mediterranean in 1837 in his yacht, ''Royalist''. John then joined the British Army’s 88th Foot as an ensign in 1839, and became a lieutenant in 1842, and captain in 1848. Captain Brooke, his preferred name by then, left the 88th Foot in 1848, but did not resign his commission. He was re-assigned to serve as aide-de-camp to James Brook, now the Governor of Labuan. Captain Brooke adopted the surname of Brooke on 23 May 1848 by Royal concession, and went to join his uncle in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

as Rajah Muda, taking effective charge of the country when James returned to England. He spent some time in

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

at first as James was establishing himself as its first governor, but was subsequently based in

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

. He has been largely ignored in the standard historical accounts of Sarawak, but substantial records survive which show how active he was, and his engagement with pirates in the Battle off Mukah in 1862 has attracted interest. Brooke married Anne Grant, a granddaughter of Lord Elgin, at Kilgrastron in Scotland in 1856. They went to live in Kuching where they had two sons, Basil (1857–1860), and John Charles Evelyn Hope (1858–1934), but Anne died shortly after Hope's birth. Brooke's second marriage was to Juliana Caroline Welstead: they had met in England and married in Singapore in 1861; Julia died a year later giving birth to a daughter, Matilda Agnes (1862–1943). Brooke died in

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

in 1868 after a long illness, and was buried in his father's churchyard at his childhood home of Whitelackington.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, John Brooke Johnson 1823 births 1868 deaths Sarawak royalty