William Henry Brookfield
Encyclopedia
William Henry Brookfield (1809–1874) was an Anglican priest
, Inspector of Schools, and chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria
. His son was the playwright Charles Brookfield
.
at Sheffield
, where he was born on 31 August 1809.
He attended Leeds Grammar School
, and in 1827 he was articled to a solicitor at Leeds, but left this position to enter Trinity College, Cambridge
, in October 1829 (B.A. 1833, and M.A. 1836). In 1834 he became tutor to George William Lyttelton
. In December 1834 he was ordained to the curacy of Maltby
in Lincolnshire
. He was afterwards curate at Southampton
, in 1840 of St. James's, Piccadilly
, and in 1841 of St. Luke's, Berwick Street.
In 1841 he married Jane Octavia
, the eight and youngest daughter of Sir Charles Elton
of Clevedon Court, Somerset
. Julia Maria, wife of Henry Hallam
the historian was Sir Charles's sister. In 1848 Brookfield was appointed inspector of schools by Lord Lansdowne
. He held the post for seventeen years, during part of which time he was morning preacher at Berkeley Chapel, Mayfair
. On resigning his inspectorship he became rector of Somerby-cum-Humby, near Grantham
. He was also reader at the Rolls Chapel, and continued to reside chiefly in London
. In 1860 he was appointed honorary chaplain to the queen, and later chaplain-in-ordinary. He died on 12 July 1874. Mrs. Brookfield died on 27 November 1896 at Walpole Street, Chelsea
. One son, Arthur Montagu Brookfield
was an army officer, Member of Parliament, Diplomat and author. Another son, Charles Brookfield
, was a well-known actor and playwright.
According to the Dictionary of National Biography
, Brookfield was an impressive preacher and attracted many cultivated hearers. His sermons, which show no special theological bias, had considerable literary merit. He had an original vein of humour, which made even his reports as a school inspector unusually amusing. He had extraordinary powers of elocution and mimicry. As a reader he was unsurpassable, and his college friends describe his powers of amusing anecdote as astonishing. He had the melancholy temperament often associated with humour, and suffered from ill-health, which in 1851 necessitated a voyage to Madeira
. He was known to all the most eminent men of letters of his time, some of whom, especially Lord Tennyson
and Arthur Hallam
, had been his college friends. He was described by his friend Thackeray
as Frank Whitestock in the Curate's Walk, and Lord Tennyson contributes a sonnet to his memory in the Memoir. In the same memoir, written by his old pupil and friend Lord Lyttelton
, will be found letters from Thomas Carlyle
, Sir Henry Taylor
, Alexander William Kinglake
, James Spedding
, and others.
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, Inspector of Schools, and chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. His son was the playwright Charles Brookfield
Charles Brookfield
Charles Hallam Elton Brookfield was a British actor, author, playwright and journalist, including for The Saturday Review. His most famous work for the theatre was The Belle of Mayfair ....
.
Biography
William Henry Brookfield was the son of Charles Brookfield, a solicitorSolicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
at Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, where he was born on 31 August 1809.
He attended Leeds Grammar School
Leeds Grammar School
Leeds Grammar School was an independent school in Leeds established in 1552. In August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physically united in September 2008....
, and in 1827 he was articled to a solicitor at Leeds, but left this position to enter Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, in October 1829 (B.A. 1833, and M.A. 1836). In 1834 he became tutor to George William Lyttelton
George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton
George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton , was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician.-Early life:...
. In December 1834 he was ordained to the curacy of Maltby
Maltby, Lincolnshire
Maltby is a hamlet in the English county of Lincolnshire.It is located on the A154 road south-west of the town of Louth. The Knights Templar had a preceptory here but the Knights Hospitaller owned it later. It forms part of Raithby cum Maltby civil parish that, in turn, forms part of East Lindsey...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He was afterwards curate at Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, in 1840 of St. James's, Piccadilly
St James's Church, Piccadilly
St James’s Church, Piccadilly is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, UK. It was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren....
, and in 1841 of St. Luke's, Berwick Street.
In 1841 he married Jane Octavia
Jane Octavia Brookfield
Jane Octavia Brookfield was a literary hostess and writer, best known for her platonic friendship with William Makepeace Thackeray, and the four indifferent novels she wrote.-Biography:...
, the eight and youngest daughter of Sir Charles Elton
Charles Abraham Elton
Sir Charles Abraham Elton, 6th Baronet was an English officer in the British Army and an author.-Life:Charles was eldest of three sons of the Rev. Sir Abraham Elton, 5th of the Elton Baronets, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Durbin, alderman of Bristol, and was born at Bristol on 31 October 1778...
of Clevedon Court, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. Julia Maria, wife of Henry Hallam
Henry Hallam
Henry Hallam was an English historian.-Life:The only son of John Hallam, canon of Windsor and dean of Bristol, Henry Hallam was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1799...
the historian was Sir Charles's sister. In 1848 Brookfield was appointed inspector of schools by Lord Lansdowne
Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman...
. He held the post for seventeen years, during part of which time he was morning preacher at Berkeley Chapel, Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
. On resigning his inspectorship he became rector of Somerby-cum-Humby, near Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
. He was also reader at the Rolls Chapel, and continued to reside chiefly in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1860 he was appointed honorary chaplain to the queen, and later chaplain-in-ordinary. He died on 12 July 1874. Mrs. Brookfield died on 27 November 1896 at Walpole Street, Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
. One son, Arthur Montagu Brookfield
Arthur Montagu Brookfield
Arthur Montagu Brookfield was a British army officer, diplomat author and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1903.-Biography:...
was an army officer, Member of Parliament, Diplomat and author. Another son, Charles Brookfield
Charles Brookfield
Charles Hallam Elton Brookfield was a British actor, author, playwright and journalist, including for The Saturday Review. His most famous work for the theatre was The Belle of Mayfair ....
, was a well-known actor and playwright.
According to the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, Brookfield was an impressive preacher and attracted many cultivated hearers. His sermons, which show no special theological bias, had considerable literary merit. He had an original vein of humour, which made even his reports as a school inspector unusually amusing. He had extraordinary powers of elocution and mimicry. As a reader he was unsurpassable, and his college friends describe his powers of amusing anecdote as astonishing. He had the melancholy temperament often associated with humour, and suffered from ill-health, which in 1851 necessitated a voyage to Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
. He was known to all the most eminent men of letters of his time, some of whom, especially Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
and Arthur Hallam
Arthur Hallam
Arthur Henry Hallam was an English poet, best known as the subject of a major work, In Memoriam A.H.H., by his best friend and fellow poet, Alfred Tennyson...
, had been his college friends. He was described by his friend Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
as Frank Whitestock in the Curate's Walk, and Lord Tennyson contributes a sonnet to his memory in the Memoir. In the same memoir, written by his old pupil and friend Lord Lyttelton
George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton
George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton , was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician.-Early life:...
, will be found letters from Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
, Sir Henry Taylor
Henry Taylor (dramatist)
Sir Henry Taylor was an English dramatist.Taylor was born in Bishop Middleham, the son of a gentleman farmer, and spent his youth in Witton-le-Wear with his stepmother at Witton Hall in the high street...
, Alexander William Kinglake
Alexander William Kinglake
Alexander William Kinglake was an English travel writer and historian.He was born near Taunton, Somerset and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge...
, James Spedding
James Spedding
James Spedding was an English author, chiefly known as the editor of the works of Francis Bacon.-Life:He was born in Cumberland, the younger son of a country squire, and was educated at Bury St Edmunds and Trinity College, Cambridge; where he took a second class in the classical tripos, and was...
, and others.