Christopher Brooke (died 1628) was an English poet, lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1604 and 1626.

Life

He was the son of Robert Brooke, a rich merchant and alderman of York, who was twice lord mayor of that city. Anthony Wood states that he was educated at one of the universities; Sidney Lee thought it probable that, like his brother

Samuel Brooke Dr Samuel Brooke (1575–1631) was a Gresham Professor of Divinity (appointed 1612), a playwright, the chaplain of Trinity College, Cambridge and subsequently the Master of Trinity (1629–1631). He was known to be an Arminian and anti-Calvinist. ...

, he was a member of Trinity College, Cambridge. He subsequently studied law at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, and shared a chamber there with

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...

. Shortly before Christmas 1601 he witnessed Donne's secret marriage with the daughter of Sir George More, lieutenant of the Tower of London, performed by his brother, Samuel Brooke, and witnessed by the father of the bride, who opposed the match and contrived to commit Donne and his two friends to Marshalsea Prison immediately afterwards. Donne was released first, and he secured the freedom of the Brookes after several weeks' imprisonment. In 1604 Brooke was elected Member of Parliament for York. He was re-elected MP for York in 1614. He made his way at

, becoming a bencher and summer reader in 1614, and was a benefactor of the chapel. While at the Inns of Court he became acquainted with many literary men, among whom were John Selden, Ben Jonson, Michael Drayton, and John Davies of Hereford. William Browne lived on terms of intimacy with him, and to Donne he left by will his portrait of Elizabeth Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton. In 1621 he was re-elected MP for York. In 1624 he was elected for both York and Newport (Isle of Wight) and chose to sit for York. He was re-elected MP for York in 1625 and 1626. He lived in a house of his own in

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

, London, and inherited from his father houses at York, and other property there and in Essex. He was buried at St. Andrew's, Holborn, on 7 February 1628.

Works

William Browne had a high opinion of his friend Brooke's poetic capacity. He eulogises him in ''Britannia's Pastorals'', book ii. song 2. In the fifth eclogue of the ''Shepheard's Pipe'', 1615, which is inscribed to Brooke, Browne urges him to attempt more ambitious poetry than the pastorals which he had already completed. Brooke's works are: * An elegy on the death of Prince Henry, published with another elegy by William Browne in a volume entitled ''Two Elegies consecrated to the neverdying Memorie of the most worthily admyred, most hartily loved and generally bewailed prince, Henry, Prince of Wales'', London, 1613. * An eclogue appended to William Browne's ''Shepheard's Pipe'', London, 1614. * ''The Ghost of Richard the Third. Expressing himselfe in these three parts: 1, His Character; 2, His Legend; 3, His Tragedie'', London, 1614. The unique copy in the Bodleian Library was reprinted by John Payne Collier for the Shakespeare Society in 1844, and by Alexander Balloch Grosart in 1872. It is dedicated to Sir John Crompton and his wife Frances.

Thomas Rodd Thomas Rodd (1763–1822) was an English bookseller, antiquarian and Hispanist; Rodd purchased some Greek manuscripts for the British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the ...

the bookseller first attributed this work to Brooke at the beginning of the 19th century. The only direct clue lies in 'C. B.', the signature of the dedication. George Chapman, William Browne, 'Fr. Dyune Int. Temp.,' George Wither,

Robert Daborne Robert Daborne (c. 1580 – 23 March 1628) was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era. His father was also Robert Daborne, heir to family property in Guildford, Surrey and other places, including London, and a wealthy haberdasher by trade ...

, and Ben Jonson contributed commendatory verses. * ''Epithalamium—a nuptiall song applied to the ceremonies of marriage'', which appears at the close of ''

England's Helicon ''Englands Helicon'' is an anthology of Elizabethan pastoral poems compiled by John Flasket, and first published in 1600. There was an enlarged edition in 1614. The word Helicon refers to the Greek mountain on which, in Greek mythology, two s ...

'', 1614. * ''A Funerall Poem consecrated to the Memorie of that ever honoured President of Soldyership, Sr Arthure Chichester ... written by Christopher Brooke, gent.'', in 1624. This poem, to which Wither contributed commendatory verses, was printed for the first time by Grosart in 1872. The manuscript had been in the possession of

James Bindley James Bindley (1737–1818) was an English official and antiquary, known as a book collector. Life The second son of John Bindley, a distiller, of St. John Street, Smithfield, London, he was born in London on 16 January 1737. He was educated at ...

, Richard Heber, and

Thomas Corser Thomas Corser (1793 – 24 August 1876) was a British literary scholar and Church of England clergyman. He was the editor of ''Collectanea Anglo-Poetica''. Life Corser, third son of George Corser of Whitchurch, Shropshire, banker, and his wi ...

. Corser printed selections in his ''Collectanea'', and Joseph Haslewood described it in the ''British Bibliographer'', ii. 235. Brooke also contributed verses to Michael Drayton's ''Legend of the Great Cromwell'', 1607; to

Thomas Coriat Thomas Coryat (also Coryate) (c. 15771617) was an English traveller and writer of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean age. He is principally remembered for two volumes of writings he left regarding his travels, often on foot, through ...

's '' Odcombian Banquet'', 1611; to Henry Lichfield's ''First Set of Madrigals'', 1614 (two pieces, one to the Lady Cheyney and another to the author); and to Browne's ''Britannia's Pastorals'', 1625. He also wrote (20 December 1597) inscriptions for the tombs of Elizabeth, wife of Charles Croft, and of the wife of Thomas Crompton.

Family

Brooke married Mary Jacob on 18 December 1619 at the church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields by Charing Cross. Formerly married to Sir

Robert Jacobe Sir Robert Jacob or Jacobe (1573–1618) was an English-born lawyer, who was Solicitor General for Ireland between 1606 and 1618. He was a close friend and political associate of Sir John Davies, the Attorney General for Ireland; both were key f ...

, Solicitor General for Ireland, who died in 1618, she continued to be known as 'Lady Jacob' even after her marriage to Brooke.Will of Christopher Brooke 1628, UK National Archives, Catalogue reference prob/11/154 She was the daughter of the merchant William Lynch (or Linch) of Southampton (d. 1617)Will of William Linche 1617, UK National Archives, Catalogue reference prob/11/129 and first married David Targett, a sailor of Southampton (d. 1602) by whom she had a son, William (d. 1627), later a soldier serving in Denmark. She had five children by her marriage to Jacob, at least one of whom, Mary, survived her: and from her last marriage she had a son, John Brooke. Lady Jacob had the reputation of a female 'wit' and once caused comment by ridiculing

Count Gondomar Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, the Spanish Ambassador.Michelle O'Callaghan, 'Brooke, Christopher (c.1570–1628)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 Her numerous critics called her "Lusty Mall Targett". She predeceased Brooke in 1622, being spiritually supported in her last illness by his friend Dr. Donne.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, Christopher Year of birth missing 1628 deaths English lawyers 17th-century English poets 17th-century male writers Members of Lincoln's Inn 17th-century English lawyers English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 Inmates of Fleet Prison English male poets