John Charles Brooke

John Charles Brooke (27 August 1748 – 3 February 1794) was an English antiquarian who served as Somerset Herald from 1777 until his death.

Early life Brooke was born at Fieldhead in the parish of Silkstone, Yorkshire in August 1748, the second son of Dr. William Brooke by his wife Alice Mawhood. He was a descendant of the Rev. John Brooke, Rector of High Hoyland, who had himself – in the previous century – been an antiquarian interested in the history of Yorkshire. John Charles Brooke eventually came into possession of some of the historical material collected by Rev. Brooke, and thus his "taste for historical and genealogical research" was "perhaps inherited." King George III had attended the theatre that day and was only told of the deaths of both Officers of Arms after he had departed. John Charles Brooke was buried in the Church of St Benet Paul's Wharf, in the City of London, a church closely associated with the College of Arms.