Henry Brooker (1758-1848) is usually mentioned, almost in passing, as an attorney who commissioned Amon Wilds to build Hanover Crescent, Brighton. This may not sound too promising as an interesting life, but after a little digging, I can reveal that Henry Brooker was far from being just a property owner who sat back and enjoyed the returns on his land and houses.
At the time when Henry set up his legal practice in Brighton, an ‘attorney’ was an occupation we would now usually describe as a ‘solicitor’. The work was mostly concerned with wills, probate and property deeds, but sometimes could become more exciting. In 1802, his office was visited by Captain William Codling, whose brig ‘Adventure’ had sunk off Brighton, and having escaped drowning, needed to swear a ‘protest’ for the insurers that he could have done nothing to save the ship. However, it was later shown that the whole thing had been a conspiracy with the owners to scuttle the ship and defraud the insurance company. Henry Brooker and his clerk, John Colbatch were cross-questioned at the Court of the Admiralty in London by the now famous prosecutor, William Garrow, who skilfully showed that Henry Brooker and John Colbatch were not really convinced of Codling’s honesty, without calling their own integrity into question. Captain Codling was hanged at Execution Dock for the crime of attempting to defraud the insurers.
Such stimulation notwithstanding, there were apparently times when life as an attorney became a little dull. John George Bishop, editor of The Brighton Herald noted that on the window of his office in Princes Place, was scratched ‘with a diamond’ the name of Henry Brooker, whose office had previously been in that building. [i]J G Bishop. A Peep into the Past. Brighton Herald 1892
However, Henry Brooker left much more to the people of Brighton than his name scratched on a window. An industrious and devoutly religious man, he used his energy, expertise, and resources, to build chapels and schools for the benefit of the people of Brighton and the surrounding area.
Henry Brooker was a member and trustee of The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion, a nonconformist church with its origins in Methodism, and part of the 18th century evangelist revival. Henry had married Esther Vallance in 1785, also a member of The Connexion, but she sadly died in 1813 at their house in Dorset Gardens, after an illness of a few months. Esther was buried in a small burial ground attached to The Connexion Chapel in North Street. Henry, despite living and working for a further 35 years, did not remarry, but appears to have renewed his efforts to provide chapels for the Connexion. These included chapels at Heighton, Alfriston and Newhaven, sometimes built on land inherited from his family. By 1830, having acquired extensive land and houses in what we now call ‘Hanover’, but historically called ‘Hilly Laine’, Henry turned his attention and money to providing more chapel accommodation in Brighton. In 1826, he set aside a small plot just north of Hanover Crescent on which was to be built a school and burial ground, and his own house at No 14 was licenced with the diocese for religious worship. However, these projects were not carried out, and more ambitiously, Henry bought a plot and endowed the building of London Road Chapel in what is now Ann Street. The chapel stood on ground opposite the site of the future St Bartholomew’s Church, although at the time of its foundation the chapel was a lone building in open pasture. Henry commissioned the local architect, William Charnock Simpson, the chapel took one year to build and was opened on 23 July 1830. At first, worship was somewhat austere, but in 1840, Mr Tilly was appointed precentor to conduct the music, played by ‘1 violin, 1 cello, flute and others’ and an organ was hired in 1847. The same year, a schoolroom was built in Belmont Street, close by, and so before Henry Brooker died in 1848 at the age of 90, much of his original plans were realised. Henry was buried in the vault beneath the chapel, although he was re-interred when public health regulations required the removal of remains from town centre burial sites. The chapel itself continued to flourish and was much extended, but was closed in 1958, and demolished in 1976.
Before the London Road Chapel project, Henry had been involved in other plans to extend chapel services to Brighton people, particularly mariners and fishermen. In 1821, Chichester Diocesan Records show a Licence for ‘An Assembly or Congregation of Protestants in a certain fishing boat called ‘The Good Intent’ belonging to Henry Brooker and others, now lying upon the beach in front of the town of Brighthelmston’ [ii]EP2/25/3/f13. WSRO 11th Aug 1821 A chapel on the beach in an old fishing boat, probably a 19 foot Brighton ‘hog-boat’[iii]The Good Intent, hog boat, 19ft long. sold at The Golden Cross by John Miller Howell. Sussex Advertiser. 13/8/1792 pg 2, sounds strange, but other records of The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion show this was not unique occurrence. A letter from Mark Drury, the Connexion’s minister at Newhaven, to the Brighton Committee outlined his workload. He mentions Heighton Chapel, built by Henry Brooker and opened 6 Jan 1822, and a house rented by Henry Brooker at Piddinghoe opened to preaching, but not well-attended. ‘It is hoped that prayer will yet prevail for the inhabitants, who are in a very dark and pitiable state’. Drury also preached on board ‘the vessel’ in Newhaven Harbour, and had a Bethel Flag presented by the Bethel Seamen’s Union to hoist as a signal for worship, ‘which I hope will assure me frequent opportunity in the Summer evenings to proclaim the Gospel of Salvation to that useful but long-neglected class of men, British Seamen.’[iv]NH 1/3/6 Sussex Missionary Society Mins Mention of the Bethel Seamen’s Union links the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion to Rev George Charles ‘Boatswain’ Smith of Penzance, a Baptist who had joined the ministry when he was released from the Royal Navy at the end of the war with France, and worked to provide ‘floating chapels’ in London, Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol and others. He was also announced on several occasions as preaching at Brighton at the North Street Chapel, the beach, the Steine, and the Salem Chapel. Collections at the North Street Chapel when Boatswain Smith preached were donated to his floating chapel project in Wapping.
©The Regency Society
Henry Brooker’s connection with seafaring was a family affair. His grandfather William, was a Brighton master mariner who had moved to Newhaven with his family and became an innkeeper. William in 1749 left cottages in Brighton Pool Valley, The Steine, and a house in Ship Street. Two of his sons, Benjamin and Gabriel did not take up seafaring, but became Newhaven customs officials. This was a despised and sometimes dangerous profession, and when Gabriel decided that his only son, Henry would be better off as a lawyer, he was probably right. Henry lived a long and prosperous life, and his carefully prepared legacy endured. As Esther and Henry were childless, the estate was left to Henry’s great niece, Frances Page and Henry’s great nephew, William Stevens. William Stevens, as Henry’s articled clerk and partner continued the business, the development of the London Road Chapel, and founded a further Congregational chapel at Belgrave Street. Henry’s friendship with Esther’s family, particularly her brother, Philip Vallance led to his name being adopted by the Vallance family in the naming of John ‘Brooker’ Vallance. Street names such as Brooker Street, Brooker Place and Brooker Hall in Hove are a reference to the affection the Vallance family had for Henry Brooker, and ensure that Henry is not forgotten, as I hope does this blog post.
