Stopford A. Brooke

The Rev Stopford Augustus Brooke (14 November 1832 – 18 March 1916) was an Irish clergyman, royal chaplain and writer.

Early life and education

Brooke was born on 14 November 1832 at Glendoen, County Donegal to The Rev Richard Sinclair Brooke, a curate, and Anna Brooke (née Stopford), the daughter of the rector Joseph Stopford. The eldest of eight siblings, Brooke was the brother of the public servant, preacher, and educationalist William Graham Brooke. Following Stopford's death in 1833, Brooke's father took a curacy in Abbeyleix, County Laois before becoming the chaplain at the Mariners' church, Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) in 1836.

From 1847 to 1849, Brooke was a boarder at a grammar school in Kidderminster before attending Kingston Grammar School during 1849 and 1850. In the October of the same year, Brooke enrolled at Trinity College Dublin. Brooke graduated with his Bachelor's in 1856, and his Master's in 1862.

Career

Brooke was ordained in the Church of England in 1857 and held various charges in London. From 1863 to 1865 he was chaplain to the Empress Frederick in Berlin. In 1869 with his brother Edward he made long tours of Donegal and Sligo, and spent much time at Kells studying Irish antiquities. Between 1866 and 1875 he was the minister at St James's Chapel, a Proprietary Chapel, and after it closed he took services at Bedford Chapel, Bloomsbury where he continued to attract large congregations. In 1875, he became chaplain in ordinary to Queen Victoria. But in 1880 he seceded from the Church, being no longer able to accept its leading dogmas, and officiated as an independent preacher for some years at Bedford chapel, Bloomsbury.