WILLIAM BROOKS
Born: 1890, Chelmondiston, Suffolk.
Died: 16th May 1921; age: 31; died of Pulmonary Phthisis and Cardiac Failure, at the Borough Fever Hospital, Ipswich.
Informant – brother Bertie I. Brooks, of 9, Ernest Street, Ipswich.
Residence: 9, Ernest Street, Ipswich.
Occupation: a Quay Labourer.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 20061.
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, transferred to (487735), Labour Corps.
Grave Reference:
LL.7.44.
Ipswich.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of Emma & the late John Brooks.
Brother to AMOS BROOKS & EDGAR BROOKS.
CENSUS
1891 66, Cavendish Street, Ipswich.
William was a year old and living with his parents & brothers.
John Tapler Brooks, 35, a Mariner, born Chelmondiston, Suffolk.
Emma Harriet Mallett Brooks (nee Wilding), 35, born Ipswich.
John Brooks, 11, born Chelmondiston.
Sidney Brooks, 9, born Chelmondiston.
Mitchell Brietwiser Brooks, 7, born Chelmondiston.
Bertie Ivor Brooks, 5, born Chelmondiston.
Edgar Brooks, 3, born Chelmondiston.
1901 34, White Elm Street, Ipswich.
William was 11 years old and living with his widowed mother & brothers.
Emma, 45, a Stay Corset.
Mitchell, 17, an Engine Marker Machinist.
Bertie, 15, an Engine Marking Drilling Machinist.
Edgar, 13, a Fishmonger’s Errand Boy.
Amos Brooks, 9, born Ipswich.
1911 9, Ernest Street, Ipswich.
William was 21 years old, an Iron Turner – Agricultural Works. He was living with his mother & brothers.
Emma, 55.
Sidney, 29, a Foundry Labourer – Agricultural Works.
Amos, 19 years old, a General Labourer.
William’s father, John Tapler Brooks, died by drowning in Oulton Broad on the evening of Thursday, 26th July 1893. The body was found floating on the Broad on Monday, 24th. At the Coffee Pot Café, Oulton Broad, the body was identified by the deceased brother, Edagr Brooks, a mariner, living at Tomline Road, Ipswich, who stated to the Coroner that John Brooks was 37 years of age, and left a widow and family of seven children.
The body of John Taplet Brooks was buried at Section L, Lowestoft Cemetery, Suffolk.
Ipswich Journal – Saturday, 29th July 1893 – AN IPSWICH BARGEMAN DROWNED IN OULTON BROAD – John Tapler Brroks, of 66, Cavendish Street, Ipswich, was drowned on Thursday evening in Oulton Broad. The deceased man, who was 37 years of age, was the skipper of the Ipswich barge Elsie Bertha, belonging to Mr. H. W. Mason, oilcake merchant, of Ipswich, which left there a fortnight back for London, where she shipped a cargo of barley for Messrs. Everett and Sons, of Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft. The barge arrived at Lowestoft on Monday week and proceeded up the river to the Broad, where she moored off Messrs. Everett’s stores. On Thursday, John Brooks left for the purpose of drawing his freight, and since that evening, nothing was seen of him until his body was found floating on the Broad on Monday evening.
The County Coroner Mr. C. W. Chaston, Esq., held an inquest on Tuesday evening, when it appeared from the evidence of James Quantrill, of Holbrook, Suffolk, and mate of the barge, that when he last saw John Brooks on Thursday, he was quite sober. He believed the deceased fell into the Broad in trying to get on board. A fisherman named Cable said he was acquainted with the deceased. They had a drink together in Oulton, and he left him on the road near the railway station when he said he was going aboard. Constable Phillippo said that the pathway in question was a narrow one and dangerous, but it was private property, although it was much used by barge and yachting men. The Jury returned a verdict of “Accidental death by drowning.”
William lost two brothers during the First World War:
Edgar Brooks, was KiA – 6th August 1915, aged 27. He was ranked a Private, service number 3/6964, of the Suffolk Regiment, 1st Battalion. Edgar was laid to rest at Loker Churchyard, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Amos Brooks died – 30th November 1915, aged 23. He was ranked a Private, service number 3/997, of the Essex Regiment, 1st Battalion. Amos was laid to rest at Hill 10 Cemetery, Turkey (Gallipoli).
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