Warwick Brookes (1875 – August 1935)
was an English businessman,
yachtsman
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
and
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician. As his retail and other businesses prospered, he was elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
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
Chorlton Chorlton may refer to:
Places
* Chorlton, Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England
*Chorlton, Cheshire West and Chester, in Cheshire, England
*Chorlton-cum-Hardy, in Manchester, England
**Chorlton (ward), an electoral ward of Manchester, England
**Chorl ...
, Manchester, the son of Warwick Brookes.
His youngest brother Gordon was an actor who served in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
as a
captain in the
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959.
The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd (Cornwall Light ...
.
Gordon was killed in action on 16 September 1916.
Business
Brookes had a variety of business interests. Before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he had an
iron foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
in Essex, and was also involved in
Eugen Sandow
Eugen Sandow (born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, ; 2 April 1867 – 14 October 1925) was a German bodybuilder and showman from Prussia. Born in Königsberg, Sandow became interested in bodybuilding at the age of ten during a visit to Italy. After a ...
'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
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, 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
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...
,
and lived in
Park Lane
Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from ...
,
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
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925.
Background
In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibi ...
in
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
,
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 American 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.
Politics
Newington
In June 1908, Brookes was selected as the Conservative candidate for the
Newington West constituency, in
South London.
He campaigned for the Conservative candidate at the by-election in
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...
in November that year
but at the
general election in January 1910 he lost in Newington West to the sitting
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
MP
Captain Cecil Norton, by a margin of 412 votes (5.0%)
At the
December 1910 election, Norton, by now
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. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established ...
,
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
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
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
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
had brought a different logic. The parties in the
coalition government led by
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
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.
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 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
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, stood as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
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
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
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 Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
.
The
writ
In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...
for the by-election was issued on 17 January, and with the campaign well underway ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' 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
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
,
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the ...
, 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
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
to discuss the protection of London from raids by aircraft.
Preston
At the post-war
general election in December 1918 Brookes did not stand again in Mile End, which was held with a huge majority by the
Coalition Conservative
The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...
candidate
Walter Preston. Instead he stood as a Coalition Conservative for the
borough of Preston
The City of Preston () is a city and non-metropolitan district in Lancashire, England. On the north bank of the River Ribble, it was granted city status in 2002, becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The ...
, 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
The International Six Metre class is a class of classic racing yachts. Sixes are a '' construction class'', meaning that the boats are not identical but are all designed to meet specific measurement formula, in this case International rule. At ...
-class yacht ''The Alien'' competed regularly in events at the Eastern of England Yacht Club in
Burnham-on-Crouch 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
William Fife Jr. (15 June 1857 – 11 August 1944), also known as William Fife III, was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders. In his time, William Fife designed around 600 yachts, including two contende ...
,
and competing against the King's yacht ''
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
'' at
Deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
and in
Cowes Week
Cowes Week ( ) is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily sailing races, up to 1,000 boats, and 8,000 competitors ranging from Olympic and world-class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest saili ...
.
In 1922 Brookes raced in a
15-metre class
The IYRU Fifteen Metre class yachts are constructed to the First International rule of 1907. A total of twenty 15mR yachts were built between 1907 and 1917, the four that have survived are still actively raced.
History
The IYRU International Ru ...
yacht ''Tuiga''
and in 1925 he competed at Cowes Week in a 51-
ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
cutter ''Hispania''.
In 1928 he bought the
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
The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used the term ...
''Sea Fay''.
References
External links
*
* Brookes's yach
''Tuiga''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookes, Warwick
1875 births
1935 deaths
British sportsperson-politicians
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
English businesspeople in retailing
English male sailors (sport)
UK MPs 1910–1918