John Weston Brooke | |
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| Born | (1880-07-02)2 July 1880 Fenay Hall, nearHuddersfield, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 24 December 1908(1908-12-24) (aged 28) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1898–1902 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Yorkshire Dragoons,7th Hussars |
| Battles / wars | Second Boer War |
| Other work | Explorer |
John Weston BrookeFRGS (2 July 1880 – 24 December 1908) was aBritish military officer andexplorer.
Brooke was born atFenay Hall, nearHuddersfield, Yorkshire, England, the eldest son of John Arthur Brooke and Blanche Weston, and went to school atRepton. In 1898, he joined theYorkshire Dragoons,[2] aYeomanry unit, and served with theImperial Yeomanry in theSecond Boer War.[2] He was promoted tolieutenant in the Imperial Yeomanry on 10 March 1900.[3][4] An act of gallantry in the field won him a commission assecond lieutenant in the7th Hussars of the regularBritish Army, on the recommendation ofField Marshalthe Lord Roberts, the commission was dated 3 October 1900, and in November 1900 he returned to England and joined the unit at Aldershot.[5]
In September 1902 Brooke resigned from the army[6] and returned to England. There he met and worked with MajorFrederick Russell Burnham, the famous American scout and then a Director of the East African Syndicate. In April 1903, as part of the Syndicate, Brooke left England for East Africa and went on an expedition with John C. Blick, Mr. Bittlebank, and Mr. Brown. The party, known as the "Four B.'s", traveled fromNairobi viaMount Elgon northwards to the western shores ofLake Rudolph, experiencing plenty of privations from want of water, and of the danger from encounters with the natives.[7]
Brooke returned to England in April 1904 and applied himself to the study of scientific objects. He received his diploma for survey from theRoyal Geographical Society and was made a Fellow of the Society.[5][8]
In March 1906, Brooke went to India to organize an expedition toTibet to investigate the much debated question of the relation of theYarlung Tsangpo (then called the Sampo) andBrahmaputra Rivers. Because of a treaty betweenRussia and thegovernment of India, Brooke's party had to enter Tibet from the North, and this meant travelling viaHankou,Xi'an,Pingliang,Lanzhou, toXining, where the party collected ponies,yaks, and supplies. In October 1906, the 13thDalai Lama (Thubten Gyatso) arrived from Urgu, and Mr. Brooke obtained an audience to see him, the first for an Englishman. During this audience, Brooke was given permission to enter into Tibet.[7][8]
Brooke crossed Tibet and returned toShanghai in October 1907. He left Shanghai for a second expedition in December 1907 and travelled in WesternSichuan and Eastern Tibet until 24 December 1908, when he was cruelly murdered inNiuniuba owned by the Lolos (currentlyMeigu County,Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture,Sichuan).[5][8]
Brooke was the son ofSir John Arthur Brooke, 1st Baronet (1844–1920) by his marriage to Blanche Weston. His father was the first of theBrooke baronets ofAlmondbury, and his brother Sir Robert Weston Brooke was the 2nd Baronet (1885–1942).[9][10]
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