Warwick Brookes
Encyclopedia
Warwick Brookes was a British businessman, yachtsman and Conservative Party
politician. As his retail
and other businesses prospered, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1916, but after an electoral defeat in 1918 he returned to commerce and prospered in amusements catering. However, excessive spending and a series of business difficulties and led to him being made bankrupt in 1931.
, the son of Warwick Brookes.
His youngest brother Gordon was an actor who served in World War I
as a Captain in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
. Gordon was killed in action on 16 September 1916.
he had an iron foundry
in Essex
, and was also involved in Eugen Sandow
's Institute of Physical Culture, an early gymnasium for body builders. Brookes and his father were both directors of the Piccadilly
-based company, Sandow (Limited), which was wound up in 1916.
At the start of the war he became managing director (MD) of the Junior Army & Navy Stores; later he set up a factory which manufactured equipment for the British Army
, such as canvas buckets and groundsheets. He was also MD of the Civil Service Co-operative Society (based in Haymarket) and of Booth & Brookes Ltd and T.T. Nethercoat & Co. Ltd. In the autumn of 1917 he visited the United States
to promote the Junior Army & Navy Stores, where he launched an advertising campaign which led to a big increase in custom from American servicemen based in the United Kingdom
. His various ventures made him a wealthy man, and by 1918 he was registered as the joint owner of No. 145 Oxford Street, and lived in Park Lane
, which was then one of the city's most fashionable streets.
When the Civil Service Co-op merged with the Junior Army & Navy in July 1919, Brookes was offered £250,000 for his stake in the former, but declined the offer.
He became MD of the Army & Navy, on a salary of £7,500 a year, and a few years later in the slump after the end of the Great War, he sold his stake for £25,000.
In the 1920s, he won the concession to establish the amusement park at the British Empire Exhibition
in Wembley
, and later secured the same rights at the Paris Exhibition. However, the Paris project failed entirely after an accident on the park's scenic railway. He was also involved with promoting British Controlled Oil Fields Limited, but his various joint ventures with James White ran into difficulties after White's death. At this point he was in grave financial difficulties, but began working to develop the British interests of a group of Amereican investors who promised him substantial reward. However those ventures did not proceed as the Great Depression
took hold, and the promised payments never materialised. Debts and loss of income combined with an extravagant lifestyle to force him into bankruptcy in October 1931, with liabilities of £50,000. When he sought a discharge from bankruptcy in 1932, only £39 had been realised in assets, with hopes of a further £252.
constituency, in South London
. He campaigned for the Conservative candidate at the by-election in Chelmsford
in November that year but at the general election in January 1910 he lost in Newington West to the sitting Liberal Party
MP Captain Cecil Norton
, by a margin of 412 votes (5.0%) At the December 1910 election, Norton, by now Assistant Postmaster-General
, saw off Brookes again, this time with a majority of 540 votes (7.2%).
Norton was elevated to the peerage in 1916 as Baron Rathcreedan
, triggering a by-election in Newington West
. Norton had already indicated his intention to stand down from the Commons at the next general election, and the City of London
merchant J. D. Gilbert
had already been selected as the Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate
. In ordinary circumstances this would have led to a by-election contested both by Gilbert and by Brookes, who had been adopted as the prospective Conservative candidate, but the war
had brought a different logic. The parties in the coalition government led by H. H. Asquith
had agreed an electoral pact for the duration of the war: when a vacancy arose in a seat held by the Conservatives, the Liberals would not contest the resulting by-election, and vice-versa.
It soon became clear that some sort of contest was likely. The Unionist Labour Party invited Lambeth Borough Councillor W. A. Perkins to contest the seat on its behalf, and the London Trades Union Protest Committee selected Joe Terrett to stand on a platform of opposition to the recently introduced drink orders introduced on liquor traffic by the Central Control Board. At this point Brookes was still considering whether to stand, so Terrett offered to step down if Brookes would agree to stand and oppose the drink orders. Meanwhile, the Executive of the Liberal Association in Portsmouth made a counter-offer: if Brookes stepped aside, it would agree not to contest the Portsmouth by-election
which had been triggered by the ennoblement of the Conservative MP Lord Charles Beresford
.
Brookes did step aside, in the interests of preserving the truce between the parties.
On 9 January, two days after the close of nominations in Newington West, a vacancy arose in the East London, in the Mile End division
of Tower Hamlets. Mile End's Conservative MP Colonel Harry Lawson
succeed to the peerage as Baron Burnham
, on the death of his father, and on 12 January Brookes was selected as the Conservative candidate. Noel Pemberton-Billing, who had resigned from the Royal Naval Air Service
to campaign for greater use of air power in Word War I, stood as an independent
candidate, promising that when the defence of London was in the hands of "practical airmen" the city would be safe from air raids by zeppelin
s.
Canvassing on behalf of Brookes began immediately. J. D. Gilbert
, who had won the Newington West by-election, sent him a letter of support asking Mile End's Liberals to support Brookes,
and B.S. Straus, who had been the prospective Liberal candidate in Mile End, offered to sign Brookes's nomination papers.
Campaigning in support of an intensified war effort, Brookes supported the "economic strangulation" of Germany
, and backed Military Service Bill which would introduce conscription
. He also supported the development of air defences, and advocated an air force given the same pre-dominance then held by the Royal Navy
. The writ
for the by-election was issued on 17 January, and with the campaign well underway The Times
newspaper commented the next day that it would be "unwise to speculate on the result". Many of Mile End's 6,000 electors were unable to vote, since they were away serving in the war. Some 2,000 of the voters were Jewish, and their support was seen as critical; many of them were shopkeepers, and The Times speculated that they might be attracted to Billings' commitment to end the blackout
. Billings made his speeches from the cockpit of an aeroplane and both candidates advocated similar policies for strengthening air defences. Nominations closed on 21 January, and the First Lord of the Admiralty, Arthur Balfour
, intervened to denounce the "criminality" of an implication by Billings that the air defence of the East End
had been neglected because the people there were poor.
Polling took place on 25 January, and Brookes was declared the winner with a majority of 376 votes (10.4%) over Billings.
Later that week, as a new Member of Parliament
(MP), Brookes joined a delegation of London MPs who visited Lord Kitchener
at the War Office
to discuss the protection of London from raids by aircraft.
Brookes did not stand again in Mile End, which was held with a huge majority by the Coalition Conservative candidate Walter Preston
. Instead he stood as a Coalition Conservative for the borough of Preston
, where he won neither of the two seats.
The Times observed that the "transference of an old London member to Preston did not suit local tastes".
in 1908,
1909 although he does not appear to have won any major races. By 1920 he was sailing Susanne, a 154-Thames Ton
schooner
built in 1904 to the designs of William Fife
,
and competing against the King's yacht Britannia
at Deal
and in Cowes Week
.
In 1922 Brookes raced in a 15-metre class
yacht Tuiga
and in 1925 he competed at Cowes Week in a 51-ton
cutter Hispania.
In 1928 he bought the steam yacht
Sea Fay.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. As his retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
and other businesses prospered, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1916, but after an electoral defeat in 1918 he returned to commerce and prospered in amusements catering. However, excessive spending and a series of business difficulties and led to him being made bankrupt in 1931.
Early life
Brookes was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, the son of Warwick Brookes.
His youngest brother Gordon was an actor who served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as a Captain in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. Its lineage is continued today by The Rifles....
. Gordon was killed in action on 16 September 1916.
Business
Brookes had a variety of business interests. Before World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he had an iron foundry
Iron Foundry
Factory: machine-music , Op. 19, commonly referred to as the Iron Foundry, is the most well-known work by Soviet composer Alexander Mosolov and a prime example of Soviet futurist music. It was composed between 1926 and 1927 as the first movement of the ballet suite...
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, and was also involved in Eugen Sandow
Eugen Sandow
Eugen Sandow , born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, was a Prussian pioneering bodybuilder in the 19th century and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding".-Early life:...
's Institute of Physical Culture, an early gymnasium for body builders. Brookes and his father were both directors of the Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
-based company, Sandow (Limited), which was wound up in 1916.
At the start of the war he became managing director (MD) of the Junior Army & Navy Stores; later he set up a factory which manufactured equipment for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, such as canvas buckets and groundsheets. He was also MD of the Civil Service Co-operative Society (based in Haymarket) and of Booth & Brookes Ltd and T.T. Nethercoat & Co. Ltd. In the autumn of 1917 he visited the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to promote the Junior Army & Navy Stores, where he launched an advertising campaign which led to a big increase in custom from American servicemen based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. His various ventures made him a wealthy man, and by 1918 he was registered as the joint owner of No. 145 Oxford Street, and lived in Park Lane
Park Lane (road)
Park Lane is a major road in the City of Westminster, in Central London.-History:Originally a country lane running north-south along what is now the eastern boundary of Hyde Park, it became a fashionable residential address from the eighteenth century onwards, offering both views across Hyde Park...
, which was then one of the city's most fashionable streets.
When the Civil Service Co-op merged with the Junior Army & Navy in July 1919, Brookes was offered £250,000 for his stake in the former, but declined the offer.
He became MD of the Army & Navy, on a salary of £7,500 a year, and a few years later in the slump after the end of the Great War, he sold his stake for £25,000.
In the 1920s, he won the concession to establish the amusement park at the British Empire Exhibition
British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley, Middlesex in 1924 and 1925.-History:It was opened by King George V on St George's Day, 23 April 1924. The British Empire contained 58 countries at that time, and only Gambia and Gibraltar did not take part...
in Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
, and later secured the same rights at the Paris Exhibition. However, the Paris project failed entirely after an accident on the park's scenic railway. He was also involved with promoting British Controlled Oil Fields Limited, but his various joint ventures with James White ran into difficulties after White's death. At this point he was in grave financial difficulties, but began working to develop the British interests of a group of Amereican investors who promised him substantial reward. However those ventures did not proceed as the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
took hold, and the promised payments never materialised. Debts and loss of income combined with an extravagant lifestyle to force him into bankruptcy in October 1931, with liabilities of £50,000. When he sought a discharge from bankruptcy in 1932, only £39 had been realised in assets, with hopes of a further £252.
Newington
In June 1908, Brookes was selected as the Conservative candidate for the Newington WestNewington West (UK Parliament constituency)
Newington West was a parliamentary constituency in the Newington area of South London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- History :...
constituency, in South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. He campaigned for the Conservative candidate at the by-election in Chelmsford
Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency)
Chelmsford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From the 2010 general election it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in November that year but at the general election in January 1910 he lost in Newington West to the sitting Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP Captain Cecil Norton
Cecil Norton, 1st Baron Rathcreedan
Cecil William Norton, 1st Baron Rathcreedan , was a British Liberal Party politician.Norton was the son of William Norton, Rector of Baltinglass, Ireland. He was elected to the House of Commons for Newington West in 1892, a seat he held until 1916, and served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and...
, by a margin of 412 votes (5.0%) At the December 1910 election, Norton, by now Assistant Postmaster-General
Assistant Postmaster-General
The Assistant Postmaster General is a defunct junior ministerial position in the United Kingdom Government.The title of Postmaster General was abolished under the Post Office Act 1969...
, saw off Brookes again, this time with a majority of 540 votes (7.2%).
Norton was elevated to the peerage in 1916 as Baron Rathcreedan
Baron Rathcreedan
Baron Rathcreedan, of Bellehatch Park in the County of Oxford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the Liberal politician Cecil Norton. He had previously represented Newington West in the House of Commons and served as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1905...
, triggering a by-election in Newington West
Newington West by-election, 1916
The Newington West by-election, 1916 was a parliamentary by-election held in England in January 1916 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the House of Commons constituency of Newington West in South London....
. Norton had already indicated his intention to stand down from the Commons at the next general election, and the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
merchant J. D. Gilbert
James Daniel Gilbert
James Daniel Gilbert was a British Liberal politician, banker and City merchant. He was born and brought up in West Newington, a part of London around what is now the Elephant and Castle and was educated privately....
had already been selected as the Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate is a term used in British politics to refer to candidates selected by political parties to fight individual constituencies in advance of a general election. This terminology was motivated by the strict limits on the amount of expenses incurred by an actual...
. In ordinary circumstances this would have led to a by-election contested both by Gilbert and by Brookes, who had been adopted as the prospective Conservative candidate, but the war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
had brought a different logic. The parties in the coalition government led by H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
had agreed an electoral pact for the duration of the war: when a vacancy arose in a seat held by the Conservatives, the Liberals would not contest the resulting by-election, and vice-versa.
It soon became clear that some sort of contest was likely. The Unionist Labour Party invited Lambeth Borough Councillor W. A. Perkins to contest the seat on its behalf, and the London Trades Union Protest Committee selected Joe Terrett to stand on a platform of opposition to the recently introduced drink orders introduced on liquor traffic by the Central Control Board. At this point Brookes was still considering whether to stand, so Terrett offered to step down if Brookes would agree to stand and oppose the drink orders. Meanwhile, the Executive of the Liberal Association in Portsmouth made a counter-offer: if Brookes stepped aside, it would agree not to contest the Portsmouth by-election
Portsmouth by-election, 1916
The Portsmouth by-election, 1916 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Portsmouth on 14 January 1916. The seat had become vacant when Lord Charles Beresford was elevated to peerage as Baron Beresford.The Conservative candidate, Hon...
which had been triggered by the ennoblement of the Conservative MP Lord Charles Beresford
Lord Charles Beresford
Charles William de la Poer Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford GCB GCVO , styled Lord Charles Beresford between 1859 and 1916, was a British Admiral and Member of Parliament....
.
Brookes did step aside, in the interests of preserving the truce between the parties.
Mile End
Brookes waited less than a week for another chance to enter Parliament.On 9 January, two days after the close of nominations in Newington West, a vacancy arose in the East London, in the Mile End division
Mile End (UK Parliament constituency)
Mile End was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Mile End district of the East End of London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
of Tower Hamlets. Mile End's Conservative MP Colonel Harry Lawson
Harry Levy-Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham
Sir Harry Lawson Webster Levy-Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham GCMG, CH, TD, JP, DL, was a British newspaper proprietor and a Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1916 when he inherited his peerage.-Biography:Levy-Lawson was born at St...
succeed to the peerage as Baron Burnham
Baron Burnham
Baron Burnham, of Hall Barn in the Parish of Beaconsfield in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1903 for the influential newspaper magnate Sir Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baronet, owner of the Daily Telegraph...
, on the death of his father, and on 12 January Brookes was selected as the Conservative candidate. Noel Pemberton-Billing, who had resigned from the Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
to campaign for greater use of air power in Word War I, stood as an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
candidate, promising that when the defence of London was in the hands of "practical airmen" the city would be safe from air raids by zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
s.
Canvassing on behalf of Brookes began immediately. J. D. Gilbert
James Daniel Gilbert
James Daniel Gilbert was a British Liberal politician, banker and City merchant. He was born and brought up in West Newington, a part of London around what is now the Elephant and Castle and was educated privately....
, who had won the Newington West by-election, sent him a letter of support asking Mile End's Liberals to support Brookes,
and B.S. Straus, who had been the prospective Liberal candidate in Mile End, offered to sign Brookes's nomination papers.
Campaigning in support of an intensified war effort, Brookes supported the "economic strangulation" of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and backed Military Service Bill which would introduce conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
. He also supported the development of air defences, and advocated an air force given the same pre-dominance then held by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. The writ
Writ of election
A writ of election is a writ issued by the government ordering the holding of a special election for a political office.In the United Kingdom and in Canada, this is the only way of holding an election for the House of Commons...
for the by-election was issued on 17 January, and with the campaign well underway The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper commented the next day that it would be "unwise to speculate on the result". Many of Mile End's 6,000 electors were unable to vote, since they were away serving in the war. Some 2,000 of the voters were Jewish, and their support was seen as critical; many of them were shopkeepers, and The Times speculated that they might be attracted to Billings' commitment to end the blackout
Blackout (wartime)
A blackout during war, or apprehended war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to navigate to their targets simply by sight, for example during the London...
. Billings made his speeches from the cockpit of an aeroplane and both candidates advocated similar policies for strengthening air defences. Nominations closed on 21 January, and the First Lord of the Admiralty, Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
, intervened to denounce the "criminality" of an implication by Billings that the air defence of the East End
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
had been neglected because the people there were poor.
Polling took place on 25 January, and Brookes was declared the winner with a majority of 376 votes (10.4%) over Billings.
Later that week, as a new Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP), Brookes joined a delegation of London MPs who visited Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
at the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
to discuss the protection of London from raids by aircraft.
Preston
At the post-war general election in December 1918United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
Brookes did not stand again in Mile End, which was held with a huge majority by the Coalition Conservative candidate Walter Preston
Walter Preston (UK politician)
Sir Walter Reuben Preston was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.At the 1918 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament for the Mile End constituency in the East End of London...
. Instead he stood as a Coalition Conservative for the borough of Preston
Preston (UK Parliament constituency)
Preston is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
, where he won neither of the two seats.
The Times observed that the "transference of an old London member to Preston did not suit local tastes".
Yachting
For two decades, Brookes was a regular competitor at yachting events in England. His 6 Metre-class yacht The Alien competed regularly in events at the Eastern of England Yacht Club in Burnham-on-CrouchBurnham-on-Crouch
Burnham-on-Crouch is a town in the Maldon district of Essex in the East of England. It lies on the north bank of the River Crouch.-History:Historically, it has benefited from its location on the coast - first as a ferry port, later as a fishing port known for its oyster beds, and most recently as a...
in 1908,
1909 although he does not appear to have won any major races. By 1920 he was sailing Susanne, a 154-Thames Ton
Thames Measurement
Thames Measurement, also known as Thames Tonnage, is a system for measuring ships and boats. It was created by the Thames Yacht Club, and was designed for small vessels, such as yachts. It was originally used for calculating the port dues for yachts; the formula was also used in some early...
schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
built in 1904 to the designs of William Fife
William Fife
William Fife III OBE , also known as Wm. Fife, Jr., was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders....
,
and competing against the King's yacht Britannia
HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht)
His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served him and his son, King George V, a long racing career.-Racing career:...
at Deal
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
and in Cowes Week
Cowes Week
Cowes Week is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily races, up to 1,000 boats, and 8,500 competitors ranging from Olympic and world class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world...
.
In 1922 Brookes raced in a 15-metre class
15-metre class
The International Fifteen Metre Class is a construction class, meaning that the boats are not identical but are all designed to meet specific measurements in a formula, in this case the International Rule. In their heyday, Metre classes were the most important group of international yacht racing...
yacht Tuiga
and in 1925 he competed at Cowes Week in a 51-ton
Thames Measurement
Thames Measurement, also known as Thames Tonnage, is a system for measuring ships and boats. It was created by the Thames Yacht Club, and was designed for small vessels, such as yachts. It was originally used for calculating the port dues for yachts; the formula was also used in some early...
cutter Hispania.
In 1928 he bought the steam yacht
Steam yacht
A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts.-Origin of the name:...
Sea Fay.
External links
- Brookes's yacht Tuiga