Sir William Brooke (1598 – 20 September 1643) was an English soldier and politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Rochester, Kent.

Biography

He was the only son of George Brooke and Elizabeth Burgh, and in 1619 would have succeeded his uncle

Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham (22 November 1564 – 24 January 1618 (Old Style and New Style dates, Old Style)/3 February 1618 (New Style), lord of the manor, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was an English peer who was implicated in the M ...

Baron Cobham The title Baron Cobham has been created numerous times in the Peerage of England; often multiple creations have been extant simultaneously, especially in the fourteenth century. The earliest creation was in 1313 for Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron ...

, if the barony had not been under

attainder In English criminal law, attainder was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary titles, but ...

, because of his father and uncle's

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, both having participated in the

Main Plot The Main Plot was an alleged conspiracy of July 1603 by English courtiers to remove King James I from the English throne and to replace him with his cousin Lady Arbella Stuart. The plot was supposedly led by Lord Cobham and funded by the Spani ...

of 1603 against King

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 unti ...

. On 1 February 1626, he was invested as a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

. He served as the Member of Parliament for Rochester, Kent from 1628 to 1629. Brooke married twice; his first wife was Pembroke Lennard (daughter of

Henry Lennard, 12th Baron Dacre Henry Lennard (1570 – 8 August 1616) was an English politician and Baron Dacre, Baron of Dacre. Life Lennard was the son of Margaret Fiennes, 11th Baroness Dacre, Margaret Fiennes, who was Baroness Dacre, and Sampson Lennard and was bap ...

and Chrysogona Baker, daughter of Sir Richard Baker), and his second wife was Penelope Hill, daughter of Sir Moyses Hill of

Hillsborough, County Down Royal Hillsborough (Irish: ''Cromghlinn'', meaning 'Crooked Glen'Patrick McKay, ''A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names'', p. 81. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1999.), more commonly known simply as ...

, and his first wife Alice McDonnell and widow of Arthur Wilmot. He had surviving daughters by both wives, including Margaret and Frances. Margaret, Lady Denham (1642–1667), his fourth daughter, was a celebrated beauty who was painted by

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

and was the mistress of the future King James II. Her husband, the poet Sir

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denh ...

, is said to have murdered her in revenge for her infidelity, although in fact, her death was probably natural. Her sister, the Hon. Frances Brooke, who married Sir Thomas Whitmore, was another noted beauty. His two principal residences were Cooling in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

Sterborough Starborough Castle, known historically as Sterborough Castle, is a Neo-Gothic garden house of dressed sandstone near the eastern boundary of Surrey, built in 1754 by Sir James Burrow. It occupies the north-eastern portion of an artificial islan ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

he was

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the

Sutton-at-Hone Lathe Volunteers Sutton-at-Hone is a village in the civil parish of Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located 3.5 miles south of Dartford & 3.6 miles north east of Swanley. History The place-name 'Sutton-at-Hone' is fi ...

of the

Kent Trained Bands The Kent Trained Bands were a part-time military force recruited from Kent in South East England, organised from earlier levies in 1572. They were periodically embodied for home defence and internal security, including the Spanish Armada campaign ...

, and died from wounds received at the

First Battle of Newbury The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex. Following ...

.Sutton-at-Hone Lathe Volunteers at British Civil War Project.
/ref> As he had no sons, the barony (subject to attainder) fell into abeyance between his four daughters and co-heirs. His widow remarried Hon. Edward Russell, younger son of

Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford PC (1587 – 9 May 1641) was an English nobleman and politician. He built the square of Covent Garden, with the piazza and St Paul's Church, employing Inigo Jones as his architect. He is also known for ...

and Catherine Brydges, by whom she had several children including the leading Whig statesman

Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, (1653 – 26 November 1727) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of Solebay during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, he served as a captai ...

. She died in 1694.

References

1598 births 1643 deaths

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Knights of the Bath English MPs 1628–1629 17th-century English soldiers Kent Militia officers People killed in the English Civil War {{1628-England-MP-stub