Christopher Brooke (died 1628) was an English poet, lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1604 and 1626.
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, he was a member of Trinity College, Cambridge. [1] He subsequently studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and shared a chamber there with John Donne.
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 Lincoln's Inn, 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. [2]
He lived in a house of his own in Drury Lane, 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.
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:
Brooke also contributed verses to Michael Drayton's Legend of the Great Cromwell, 1607; to Thomas Coriat'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.
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, Solicitor General for Ireland, who died in 1618, she continued to be known as 'Lady Jacob' even after her marriage to Brooke. [4] She was the daughter of the merchant William Lynch (or Linch) of Southampton (d. 1617) [5] 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. [6] She had five children by her marriage to Jacob, [5] at least one of whom, Mary, survived her: and from her last marriage she had a son, John Brooke. [4] Lady Jacob had the reputation of a female 'wit' and once caused comment by ridiculing Count Gondomar, the Spanish Ambassador. [7] 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.
John Donne was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London (1621–1631). He is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His poetical works are noted for their metaphorical and sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs and satires. He is also known for his sermons.
Francis Quarles was an English poet most notable for his emblem book entitled Emblems.
George Wither was a prolific English poet, pamphleteer, satirist and writer of hymns. Wither's long life spanned one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of England, during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I, the Civil War, the Parliamentary period and the Restoration period.
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman who served in the House of Commons at various times between 1581 and 1621, when he was raised to the peerage.
Sir Edmund Shaa or Shaw was a London goldsmith, Sheriff of London in 1475 and Lord Mayor of London in 1482. Shaa lent money to Edward IV and, as mayor, was extensively involved in the coronation of Edward IV's brother Richard III. He was later knighted and made a member of the Privy Council.
Dr Samuel Brooke (1575–1631) was a Gresham Professor of Divinity, 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. In 1631 he was appointed archdeacon of Coventry.
The Rt Hon. Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway, PC, was an English politician, military commander, bibliophile and peer.
Sir Heneage Finch was an English lawyer, Member of Parliament, and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1607 and 1626. He was Speaker of the English House of Commons in 1626.
Cecily Bulstrode was a courtier and subject of poetry. She was the daughter of Edward Bulstrode (1550–1595) and Cecily Croke; she was a cousin of Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, in whose household she was a member in 1605. Two years later, she served as a Gentlewoman of the Bedchamber to Anne of Denmark.
Sir Edward Hungerford (1596–1648) of Corsham, Wiltshire and of Farleigh Castle in Wiltshire, Member of Parliament, was a Parliamentarian commander during the English Civil War. He occupied and plundered Salisbury in 1643, and took Wardour and Farleigh castles.
Sir Christopher Wray was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1646. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.
Sir Humphrey May was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1605 and 1629.
Sidney Godolphin, 14 January 1610 (baptised) to 8 February 1643, was a minor poet and courtier from Cornwall who sat in the House of Commons between 1628 and 1643. He served in the Royalist army during the First English Civil War and was killed in a skirmish near Chagford in Devon on 8 February 1643.
Sir Edward Leech was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1625.
Sir George More was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1625.
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 figures in the Irish administration during this period.
Sir Robert Brooke was an English landowner, magistrate, commissioner, administrator and MP who sat in the House of Commons between 1624 and 1629. He made his country seat at Cockfield Hall, Yoxford, Suffolk.
Bridget Markham (1579–1609), was a courtier to Anne of Denmark and the subject of poems.
Mary Woodhouse, Lady Killigrew, musician and correspondent of Constantijn Huygens, was the daughter of Henry Woodhouse (MP) of Hickling and Waxham, and Anne Bacon, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bacon. She may have been the "Woodhouse" appointed Maid of Honour to Anne of Denmark in December 1603.
Jonathan Browne was an Anglican clergyman, Dean of Hereford from 1637 until his death.