JOHN JOSSELYN BROOKE
Born: 3rd June 1894, Mistley, Essex.
Baptised: 14th July 1894, at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Mistley. Parents: John William & Alice Julia Brooke.
Died: 4th October 1917; age 23.
Residence: 7, Bolton Lane, Ipswich.
Occupation: Barclay’s Bank, Ipswich.
Date of Entry Therein: 8th August 1917 – France.
Rank: Lieutenant.
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 2/6th Cyclist Battalion attached 3rd/4th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment).
Medals Awarded: Victory & British War.
Memorial Reference:
40 to 41 & 162 to162A.
West-Vlaanderen,
Belgium.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of Alice J. Brooke, of 7, Bolton Lane, Ipswich & the late John W. Brooke.
CENSUS
1901 West Hall, New Road, Mistley, Essex.
John was 6 years old and living with his parents & sister.
John William Brooke, 49, a Land Agent – Auctioneer – employer, born Capel St. Mary, Suffolk.
Alice Julia Brooke (nee Lafrentz), 43, born Clapham, London.
Joan Marjorie Brooke, 4, born Mistley, Essex.
1 governess
1 cook
1 housemaid.
1911 Elstow School, Kempston, Bedfordshire.
John was a Scholar at the independent school for 174 boys – headmaster, 50 year old, Charles Frederick Farrar.
In 1911, John’s mother, sister & maternal aunt were living at 29, Westerfield Road, Ipswich.
Alice, 53, living on Private Means.
Joan, 14.
Fanny Clara Lafrenz, 50, living on Private Means, born Clapham, London.
In May 1845, John’s maternal grandfather, Julius Peter Lafrenz, a merchant disembarked at the Port of London, he had departed from the Port of Hamburg. On the 12th April 1871, 12 year old Alice Julia Lafrenz and 9 of her siblings were listed on their father’s Certificate of Naturalization to an Alien – 46 year old Julius Peter Lafrenz, a merchant of 1, Angell Park Gardens, London was a native of Hamburg, Germany, he was married with children.
John’s father, John William Brooke, died October 1909, at 16, Fitzroy Square, London, a nursing home following a serious operation. Only a few months before he underwent a painful operation. His home address was at White House, Mistley, Essex. John was the eldest son of the late Mr. John Brooke, of Capel St. Mary, Suffolk. Born of Suffolk stock and closely related vis his paternal grandmother to another well-known Suffolk family – the Josselyns. John trained in the office of his uncle, the late James Josselyn, of Startford St. Mary. He was a land agent of the old school, and until his death was the agent of the Suffolk estates of the late Mr. Charles Eley, who died in 1902, of East Bergholt, and afterwards of his nephew and successor, Mr. Charles Cuthbert Eley. A sound land agent, a good accountant, plain spoken, and straightforward in all business matters, a man whose would could always be taken as bond, he was ever anxious to hold fairly and firmly the balance between landlord and tennant. A good sportsman, equally fond of a gun, a boat, a garden or the open country, he possesses a great fund of information respecting the life and customs of the district in which he lived, and which he loved so well. John was secretary to the Tendring Hundred and Samford Hundred Provident Societies, secretary and manager of the Manningtree and Dedham Gas Companies. An actice member of the Garden Show Committee, and for several years acted as stage manager to the Manningtree and District Amateur Dramatic Society.
The coffin was met at Manningtree Station, where a cortege was formed and proceeded to St. Mary the Virgin Church, Mistley. The service was conducted by the deceased brother, the Rev. William Brooke, of Carlow, Ireland, and the Rev. Canon Norman. East Anglian Daily Times – 25th October 1909
Mrs. Alice J. Brooke received her late son’s medals at her home – 9, Dalton Road, Ipswich. They were issued on the 15th January 1923.
Probate to Alice Julia Brooke – mother.
Soldiers’ Effects to Alice J. Brooke – mother.
John is also remembered on the war memorial at Mistley, Essex and at St. Mary at Stoke Church, Ipswich and St. John the Baptist Church, Ipswich and also St. Matthew’s Church, Ipswich. John is also commemorated on the Barclay’s Bank Limited Roll of Honour, Eastern District, and on a memorial panel at Head Office, 54, Lombard Street, London.
3rd/4th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment):
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