Cecil Joslin Brooks (1875–1953) was a British metallurgical chemist who also collected insects, plants (especially ferns), animals and butterflies. Educated privately and at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, he was a Fellow of the

Royal Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim ...

(1922) and Member of the

Institute of Mining and Metallurgy The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) was a British research institution, founded in 1892. Members of the Institution used the post-nominals MIMM. In 2002, it merged with The Institute of Materials (IOM) to form the Institute of Materials ...

. Brooks was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

on 7 May 1875 and educated at a private boarding school in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Ancestry.co.uk before going on to

. In 1906 he married Alida Johanna de Jongh in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

. Their children included Mercy Brookes (born

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

1908) and Cecil Jocelyn Talida Brooks (born 1913, educated at

Monkton Combe School (Thy Word is Truth) , established = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , founder = The Revd Francis Pocock , head_label = Head Master , head ...

). From 1896 to 1897 Brooks worked as an Assistant at Stanger and Blount's Laboratories and Testing Works in

Westminster, London Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckin ...

. He became Chemist to the Sussex Portland Cement Co.,

Newhaven, East Sussex Newhaven is a port town in East Sussex in England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A sheltered harbour was b ...

and then from 1897 to 1900 he was Metallurgical Chemist to Quirk Barton and Co., London. In 1900 he became Cyanide Manager,

Borneo Company Borneo Company Limited, formed in 1856, was one of the oldest companies based in East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah). History Brooke era The Borneo Company Limited (BCL) was registered in London in June 1856 with a capital of £60,000 and off ...

, at their gold mine at Bidi,

, prospecting for gold ore in new districts and research on the treatment of arsenical antimonial gold ore. From 1904 to 1906 he worked as a Metallurgist to Quirk, Barton and Co undertaking research in treatment of Cobalt silver ore and bismuth ores, ultimately erecting a bismuth plant and becoming Departmental Manager at the plant. Between 1907 and 1910 he returned to Sarawak as Cyanide Manager at Bidi and then later at Bau undertaking research on the Pahang Consolidated Co.'s tin ores, soils and agricultural matters. From 1912 to 1921 he was Chief Chemist and Metallurgist to the Simau Gold Mining Co., near Bencoolen in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. In 1911 he and his family were living in

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

where he owned property. In 1915 he sent a plant specimen of Amorphophallus titanum from Sumatra to the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

. He returned to England with his Dutch wife Alida in 1924. He remarried in 1927, to Ada Lilian Beatrice Greenbank, née Harbord, who was born in Cork in June 1875. He studied his collections, including butterflies held in the

British Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

, where he was made an associate. His collection of East Anglian moths is in the

Norwich Castle Museum Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

. Many species of fern are named for him (mainly by

Edwin Copeland Edwin Bingham Copeland (September 30, 1873 – March 16, 1964) was an American botanist and agriculturist. He is known for founding the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture at Los Baños, Laguna and for being one of the America's ...

); also Brooks' dayak fruit bat, '' Dyacopterus brooksi''; Brooks' wolf gecko, '' Luperosaurus brooksii'';Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2009). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xviii + 574 pp. . (p. 58). and Brooks' nose-horned lizard, '' Thaumatorhynchus brooksi''. A species of Sumatran snake, ''

Calamaria alidae ''Calamaria alidae'', commonly known as the Bengkulu reed snake, is a species of snakes in the family Colubridae. Etymology The specific name, ''alidae'', is in honor of Alida Brooks who collected natural history specimens in Sumatra with her ...

'', is named in honour of his wife, Alida Brooks.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Alida", p. 5; "Brooks, C.J.", p. 40). He died in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

in 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Cecil 1875 births 1953 deaths British pteridologists British entomologists 20th-century British botanists